Some names are carved into the wood, others stand out in relief. To runs a store in Tokyo that sells seals, which are used to endorse documents. I suppose this is because building materials have changed. The name always used to be written vertically, but today people go for the horizontal look more. Nowadays, the names are often written in the Roman alphabet.
Some nameplates look like North American or European signs.
It seems that even nameplates in Japan are changing with globalization.