Poster thefts and complaints

Osaka, Sannomiya — It’s been an odd month for poster campaigns in Kansai. At Sannomiya’s subway terminal, a campaign to prevent suicides has been causing controversy, while in Osaka, some town renewal campaign posters have proved so popular they’ve been pinched. Last month, huge black and white text posters, featuring quotes from at-risk people, were put up in Sannomiya in a bid to prevent more Human Damage Accidents. The idea behind it was to make depressed people feel they aren’t alone and seek help. Phone calls to the city ward almost doubled when the posters first went up, but it was mainly from people wanting to say how negative they thought the campaign was. Over in Osaka, there’s a town renewal project being promoted by a picture of a man’s lower half, with a real loincloth attached, inviting the public to take a look. The public have taken it a bit further, however, and actually nabbed some of the posters, even cutting the wires they were hanging from to do so.