Sign of the Week: STB 139

This week's entry is the sign at the entrance of STB 139, a posh night spot in Roppongi. I chose it not only for its interesting description, but also for its nifty projection format.


Passersby in the daytime might wonder what "STB" stands for in the restaurant's name. But at night, this sign tells us it's an acronym for "Soundful, Tasteful, herBful. Of course, the only one of these that is a actual word in English is used here out of context--they don't want to say it's a tasteful restaurant, but that its food is tasty.

You may feel it is a stretch to make the "B" stand for "Herbful." Maybe, you imagine, they could have come up with a better word--perhaps even one that starts with "B." But if you visit Tokyo, you will find the word "herb" (and variations of it, however novel) is used quite a bit in the names and descriptions of trendy restaurants. It is a very chic word here, and I'm sure they wanted to use it. So, since neither the "S" nor the "T" occur anywhere in herb (or herbful) they had to go with the "B."