Can anyone here read Japanese?

[leehljp]

Wow -- thanks a bundle. Do you mind if I add a comment with this information to the blog post where I have those photos? I'll of course attribute it to you, but I think my other readers would find this very interesting, too.



Is it possible that the photo itself is flipped horizontally? (e.g. the negative was upside down when the positive was made?)

No, the negative is not flipped. 1. That is no uncommon to see some of those kind of banners to have the signs that the print goes all the way through. 2. On some of the signs on the building, the characters are in the right orientation. If it were not for that, I would say that there was a possibility for the negative to be flipped.

Just to see what would happen, I took the photo and flipped it in Photoshop - it was immediately obvious that you have it in the right orientation already.

[cgallery]

Just to see what would happen, I took the photo and flipped it in Photoshop - it was immediately obvious that you have it in the right orientation already.

That's odd. Maybe the signs are like flags and can rotate in the wind? Otherwise I think it is unusual to have signs facing the building.

[leehljp]

That's odd. Maybe the signs are like flags and can rotate in the wind? Otherwise I think it is unusual to have signs facing the building.

Yes, those are signs that flow with the wind; the signs are made from cloth, (good one are/were) therefore the ink goes through to both sides, depending on the process, cloth and ink used.

Looking close at the vertical wooden signs along the base of the building, those characters show the correct orientation of the picture.