The famous hospitality of Japan’s old capital is being put to intimidating use to combat inconsiderateness outside this building.

Even in Kyoto, Japan’s most historically significant city, not everyone is kind and courteous. Recently, it seems the tenants of the Tsuru no I Building, located in the downtown Sanjo neighborhood, have been having a problem with people illegally parking their bikes in front of the building’s narrow entranceway.

▼ At least the area was clear on the day the Google Street View car came by.

kb-1

This is obviously irritating for the owners of the restaurant and rental studio located on the upper floors, since they’re only accessible via the stairway and elevators found inside the entryway. Because of that, someone, most likely the owners of the affected businesses or the building management itself, decided to put up a notice to discourage people from leaving their bicycles in this space, as photographed by Japanese Twitter user @tomoaki_hidaka.

https://twitter.com/tomoaki_hidaka/status/788015458960023556

But this is still elegant Kyoto we’re talking about here, and apparently whoever wrote the note thought that a simple “No bike parking!” would be too blunt and forceful. Instead, the note’s author decided to go with something indirect yet ice-cold, as it translates as

Bicycle disposal area
Please feel free to take any of the bikes found here.

“So that’s how people in Kyoto write ‘No parking,’” quipped @tomoaki_hidaka. Reactions online have been a mix between admiration at the clever tactic and concern that it’s essentially encouraging people to steal bikes, but it’s another example that sometimes there’s a hidden meaning behind communications in Kyoto.

Source: Hamster Sokuho, Twitter/@tomoaki_hidaka
Insert image: Google (edited by RocketNews24)