Do red and yellow flags indicate a danger zone?: Exploring Japanese university students’ beach safety behaviour and their perceptions of Australian beach safety signage

•Japanese represent the fourth largest victims of coastal drownings in Australia among international tourists.•The terms used on Australian beach signs are not sufficiently clear for Japanese university students regardless of their English proficiency.•About 60% of Japanese university students do not know the Japanese term of rip currents, riganryuu.•About 60% of Japanese university students thought that red and yellow safety flags are signalling a danger zone.•The pictorial information on Australian beach signs is much more comprehensive for Japanese university students than the written terms. Coastal drowning is a tragic regular occurrence in Australia, and in the decade 2012–2022, 455 overseas-born beachgoers drowned. Being one of the top five countries of international visitors who drown, Japanese tourists are an at-risk group. This study investigates Japanese university students’ knowledge of beach safety and their perceptions of Australian beach safety signage. The present study conducted an online survey with 152 university students in Japan, comprising both closed and open questions. Although the survey was in Japanese, the signage terms used in the survey were in English as used in Australia. Descriptive analysis was conducted on the statistical data via SPSS and deductive thematic analysis was conducted on the open responses using Nvivo. 90 % of them planned to visit beaches and 64 % would enter the water when or if visiting Australia. However, 60 % interpreted the safer supervised zone denoted by red and yellow flags as signifying a danger zone. Regardless of their English proficiency, almost none fully understood terms commonly used on safety and warning signs such as submerged objects, shore dump, shore break and rip currents, and 60 % of them didn’t know the Japanese term of rip currents, riganryuu. Visual icons were understood much better than these English terms. This study explored a specific (i.e. Japanese) cultural perception and understanding of Australian beach signs beyond the scope of CALD communities. Future studies should continue exploring those of other cultures so Australian beach signs can be revised and improved based on scientific evidence.