![](https://i.imgur.com/CLvY2jA.png")
17-09-2022, 12:05 PM
Master Blaster
11 hours ago
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On 16 August, Komono received a report from a contract worker tasked with collecting abandoned and illegally parked bicycles for impound. The reason was that near a free parking lot for bicycles beside a train station a large number of bicycles were found together on the side of the street. Moreover, they were standing upside down with their tires raised to the sky.
......
The official who received the report was also alarmed by the oddness of it and immediately took it to Mayor Takayuki Shibata who then said, “That was me.”
Starting last July, parking bicycles overnight was prohibited at the free parking lot near the station. So from July to September, Mayor Shibata had been going to the parking lot early in the morning, picking up abandoned bicycles, and then putting them upside down on the side of the street nearby.
......
Town Councilor Enkichi Yokoyama asked, “Isn’t it a little much? Thinking about it logically, putting the bikes upside down can damage the handlebars and the basket and make the chains come off. It’s possible you’ll be charged with damage to property.”
Mayor Shibata explained that because the bikes were locked, the easiest way to carry them was upside down by their frame. In addition, on some days he’d carry 30 bikes and was too tired from it to turn them right-side up again. He added, “In Tokyo and Osaka, they pile bicycles up on trucks and take them away, but I never heard of anyone held liable for damage to property. I also confirmed with the police that it’s not a problem.”
Town Councilor Kengo Fujita then called the act “irrational” and pointed out that part of the area where Mayor Shibata left the bikes was private property and that he could be charged with illegal dumping.
Mayor Shibata fired back, “First of all, [bicycles] are not garbage. These bicycles were infringing on the rights of the townspeople.” However, he also said he would take the council members’ comments seriously and deal with the problem in a different way from then on.
He also told media, “It won’t happen anymore. Honestly, I never thought it would cause such a fuss.”
https://soranews24.com/2022/09/17/bizarr...its-to-it/
11 hours ago
......
On 16 August, Komono received a report from a contract worker tasked with collecting abandoned and illegally parked bicycles for impound. The reason was that near a free parking lot for bicycles beside a train station a large number of bicycles were found together on the side of the street. Moreover, they were standing upside down with their tires raised to the sky.
......
The official who received the report was also alarmed by the oddness of it and immediately took it to Mayor Takayuki Shibata who then said, “That was me.”
Starting last July, parking bicycles overnight was prohibited at the free parking lot near the station. So from July to September, Mayor Shibata had been going to the parking lot early in the morning, picking up abandoned bicycles, and then putting them upside down on the side of the street nearby.
......
Town Councilor Enkichi Yokoyama asked, “Isn’t it a little much? Thinking about it logically, putting the bikes upside down can damage the handlebars and the basket and make the chains come off. It’s possible you’ll be charged with damage to property.”
Mayor Shibata explained that because the bikes were locked, the easiest way to carry them was upside down by their frame. In addition, on some days he’d carry 30 bikes and was too tired from it to turn them right-side up again. He added, “In Tokyo and Osaka, they pile bicycles up on trucks and take them away, but I never heard of anyone held liable for damage to property. I also confirmed with the police that it’s not a problem.”
Town Councilor Kengo Fujita then called the act “irrational” and pointed out that part of the area where Mayor Shibata left the bikes was private property and that he could be charged with illegal dumping.
Mayor Shibata fired back, “First of all, [bicycles] are not garbage. These bicycles were infringing on the rights of the townspeople.” However, he also said he would take the council members’ comments seriously and deal with the problem in a different way from then on.
He also told media, “It won’t happen anymore. Honestly, I never thought it would cause such a fuss.”
https://soranews24.com/2022/09/17/bizarr...its-to-it/
