In Japan, a drinking establishment will often have a red paper lantern hanging out at front. Let's look at the reason for this custom. Chōchin are hand-held lanterns fashioned from paper-covered bamboo frames, illuminated by a candle. These lanterns, developed around the seventeenth century, provided a source of light to people when they ventured outside at nighttime. The paper was usually bleached so that the lantern could give off more light. But in due course, the lanterns also came to be used as shop signs, in which case they were often painted a conspicuous red. Hence the spread of the so-called aka-chōchin or 'red lanterns'. Many stores hang a red lantern at front, and the term has become synonymous with drinking establishments.