Japanese Ice flag in My Neighbor the Totoro - Tonari no Totoro

The Cat Bus runs past the Ice Flag
Tonari no Totoro 1988

In 1988 a magical little creature was released from Japan - the Totoro. You could describe it as a rabbit mixed with squirrel and a dash of fairy magic.

To the left in this scene is an flag signaling that ice can be purchased. Although this film take place in the early part of the 1900s, for sale ice flags are still commonly shown in this manner. The colours of the flag are red, white and blue. The red Japanese Kanji-Chinese letter means ice. The blue shapes along the bottom are supposed to represent ice or water. To the left of the flag is a dog barking at the normally invisible to humans cat-bus.