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Tokyo Metro Manner Posters Recaptioned

2009 February 26
by reesan

The Tokyo Metro ‘Manner Posters’ (マナーポスター) is a ‘good manner’ campaign that has been running for roughly 35 years. Each year they have a new theme and every month a new poster is released describing the type of behaviour that is not tolerated on Tokyo’s subways.

This years theme is “Please Do It”. Although the posters talk for themselves, I have recaptioned them with the ‘good manner’ message that I interpret.

If a pervert is around, act dead.

Please do it at home

Please watch out for perverts lurking in the train

Please do it at the pub

If you are going to read porn on the train, please let the other passengers read with you.

Please do it at home

When you are picking up chicks on the train watch out for one-legged perverts spying on you.

Please do it at home

Never let your arms get caught on the inside of the train when a pervert is standing behind you.

Please do it at the beach

Always have your eye-gauging weapon ready in case perverts are watching in the background.

Please do it at home

When a pervert is watching you, please call four of your closest friends to let them know of your predicament.

Please do it at home

Do not interfere with pervert exorcisms.

Please do it at the pub

Sword fighting with bees while being watched by a pervert is twice as dangerous as regular sword fighting with bees.

Please do it in the yard

Keep all perverts away from your incredibly lazy girlfriend by packing your Santa sack full of bacon.

Please do it on the mountain

Tripping perverts and stealing their shoes is a good way to meet girls.

Please do it at home

Play your music loud enough to facilitate synchronized ear cleaning.

Please do it at home

32 Responses Post a comment
  1. February 26, 2009

    Fun! I’ll try to stick with your pervert theme and help out with the remaining ones. Funny entry, by the way!

    飲屋でやろう:Do not interfere with pervert exorcisms.

    家でやろう(1):Play your music loud enough to facilitate synchronized ear cleaning.

    山でやろう:Keep all perverts away from your incredibly lazy girlfriend by packing you Santa sack full of bacon.

    庭でやろう:Sword fighting with bees while being watched by a pervert is twice as dangerous as regular sword fighting with bees.

    家でやろう(2):Tripping perverts and stealing their shoes is a good way to meet girls.

    • February 26, 2009

      @Deas, those suggestions rock!

      Dude, and how quick you were to respond? Impressive! I’ve updated the posters in question with your captions. Classic man, thanks.

  2. February 26, 2009

    These are great posters. I saw the first one – the passed out guy – when I was in Tokyo in Dec and thought it was awesome, I think I even took a picture. I didn’t realise there was an entire series. I didn’t notice the lurking pervert until I had read half of them. They certainly have covered off almost every possible scenario. It would be interesting to think of what they still missed there have got be a few…keeping your feet within the line when sitting, letting a pregnant lady have a seat, keitais that interfere with pacemakers or how about the yamanote line halloween event…that could be a series (or post) on its own…

    • February 26, 2009

      Hey Rob, yeah. The posters are pretty cool. Here is the link to source of the collection over at the Tokyo Metro site.

      It looks like there is one more to go in the series (for March) and then a new series will begin. Let’s see if the new series covers of your suggestions. I’m intrigued now by Yamanote Line Halloween event. I’ll have to look it up.

      • February 27, 2009

        Thanks for the link. These posters are collectors items. I love this campaign… I remember the thing that struck me as odd about the poster when I saw it in Dec (the passed out guy) is that it is suggesting that it is OK to be passed out drunk at home, which clearly is also not a great situation. I also wonder about the poor mountaineering folks who need to take the train to get to their next hike it doesn’t seem fair.

        Yamanote Line – I am pretty sure it was Halloween. You meet in Shinjuku in the front car (ikebukuro direction)…every stop you run out of the front car and into the car behind it and then back to the front car at the next stop. I did it once in 1997 I think – it was absolute bedlam, people crawling on top of the luggage racks etc. You ride all the way around to Ebisu, get on the subway and head to Roppongi to finish the night off.

  3. February 27, 2009

    LOL that was too creative from you and Deas :D now I will never see those manner posters with the same eyes again! ^^

    BTW stumbled your post for the lulz

  4. February 27, 2009

    Hey these are pretty funny. Do you happen to have some of the other years?

  5. February 27, 2009

    These are great. An obvious pervert theme. That pervert gets around.

  6. February 27, 2009

    Haha! I actually had this very article drafted for my blog, but yours is way better. Glad the idea finally came through for one of us!! :)

  7. Goddess Carlie permalink
    February 27, 2009

    Ha! This is awesome. I too love those posters and wish I had taken better photos of them.

  8. February 27, 2009

    I remember one of my students saying one day; `It is pointless! No body cares about such things.`

  9. February 27, 2009

    I have found many “better” Tokyo Metro manners posters and posted them on my site. For example here.

  10. March 1, 2009

    thanks for the comments.

    @rob: taro 3yen has covered something about the Yamanote halloween train party here.

    @hao: thanks for the stumble!

    @ben: good idea! i’m gonna go searching.

    @the tokyo otaku: once you see the pervert, you can’t unsee him. :-)

    @mike: sorry mike. great minds!

    @goddess carlie: thank you. :-)

    @freedomwv: if you are referring to the poster campaign being ineffective, i agree.

    @taro 3yen: some good stuff on your site!

  11. March 3, 2009

    Ah, poor pervert. He just seems like the shy type, glum because life’s passed him by. He consoles himself with Blanton’s on a Friday night.

    No wait, that’s me. Dang, I identify with the pervert.

    • March 13, 2009

      The pervert seems to be a pretty consistent theme on these posters, or is that just an unfortunate coincidence?

  12. August 8, 2009

    A couple of posters I hadn’t seen before. The creepy guy has a creepy girlfriend. They really do come across like vampires in these two posters.
    Manner poster

    Manner poster

    • August 8, 2009

      hahaha, awesome @emuu. Thanks. The pervert has a pervert girlfriend! :-)

  13. June 1, 2010

    this is soooo funny!!

  14. June 15, 2010

    Shall I keep sending you the new finds? I realize that the iPhone’s camera is poor but they’re still producing new ones.

    But then I guess when you’ve been running an ad campaign for 35 years there’s no reason to stop. Even if selling manners to Tokyosiders is like selling snow to the Inuit.

    • June 16, 2010

      please do emuu. appreciate you sending them on. just need to find the inspiration for an angle on the new ones, like “the perverts got a girlfriend”. :-)

  15. Aleister permalink
    February 6, 2011

    I was thinking about creating a similar post on my blog about the current “Please Do It Again” campaign and came across this.

    (http://www.google.co.uk/images?um=1&hl=en&biw=1239&bih=680&tbs=isch:1&sa=1&q=please+do+it+again&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=)

    …but reading your interpretation was so funny that I’d like to propose you do it instead. Any chance?

    • February 7, 2011

      aleister thanks for dropping by. wow man. i just checked out the 2010 ‘good manner’ campaign posters. some good material there. very tempting…

  16. November 21, 2011

    HAHAHAHA,,, this has litterally left me in tears ~ ~ ~ ~

    • November 26, 2011

      Once you see these posters through the eyes of a pervert, you can’t see them any other way!

  17. Cranston permalink
    November 27, 2011

    “Always have your eye-gauging weapon ready in case perverts are watching in the background.” hahaha awesome!

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