DTW Has Airport Signs In Japanese. Why? Blame Delta

As written in Medium a few years back, although English is the primary language of the United States, we have no official language. The Founding Fathers believed it would be divisive and undemocratic in a multi-lingual country such as ours to have an “official” language.

18 languages were spoken on Manhattan Island [now part of New York City] as early as 1646. The Dutch, Flemish, Walloons, French, Danes, Norwegians, Swedes, English, Scots, Irish, Germans, Poles, Bohemians, Portuguese, and Italians were among the settlement’s early inhabitants.

Vincent N. Parrillo, Diversity in America, 2008, p. 45

In areas where there is a large population of non-English speakers, some cities will have titles on certain signs. It is just a matter of courtesy, just like you can see English subtitles on signs in non-English speaking countries that have a lot of English-speaking visitors.

The PC iscropped by Destron Commander.

The McNamara Terminal at Detroit's Wayne County Airport has been subtitled in Japanese for many years.

Imgur is a computer program.

There is a sign for the Express Tram.

There is a PC that is connected to the internet.

All of the outside signs are written in English.

The PC is connected to Facebook.

So what’s up with that?

People thought the subtitles were because of the automobile industry. Detroit used to be a major player in the car design and building industry. During the first half of the 20th century, Japanese executives made a lot of visits to Detroit, but during the second half, they stayed away.

If the airport signs were for visitors from Japan, you would think the signs in all the terminals, not just McNamara, would have Japanese translations, and the signs outside the building would have subtitles as well.

The auto industry doesn't have anything to do with why the signs have Japanese translations. It's possible that Delta Air Lines is to blame for the subtitles. Sort of. It's time to read...

Northwest Airlines was the primary carrier of the McNamara terminal. Northwest used to be known as Northwest Orient Airlines. The terminal displayed signs in Japanese to help passengers get to Detroit from Japan.

They are an example of a courtesy sign.

Delta and Northwest merged in 2008. At McNamara, Delta was the hub carrier. Delta still offers flights between Detroit and Tokyo or Osaka, so you can choose which one you want.

There has never been a change to the sign. Donerson suggests that they might not have the Japanese subtitles anymore.

Now you know?

H/T axios.

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He asked where I've traveled after learning about my travel hobby. He said that he never traveled overseas because he didn't speak the language. He asked if it could be done.

In travel.

I like flying on Delta and send my share of shade in their direction. They've been ahead of their competitors when it comes to allowing passengers to use technology.

In airlines.

We haven't seen Japan in a long time. We haven't visited in four years, and we were going to change that in 2020. We were going to go to the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic, but decided against it. I have airfare for November.

There is funny stuff.