In Japan, everybody knows that a torii gate marks the entrance to a sacred space… and starting from this idea, someone from Kyoto developed a very unusual method to discourage passersby from littering: on the walls of the house there are several miniature torii, with a design similar to the ema votive plaques sold at Fushimi Inari Taisha.

By seeing these torii, the passersby will instinctively be more careful, avoiding littering and accidental wall damages… A very smart, psychological version of the Kyoto traditional inu-yarai…

Hiiragi-ya Ryokan, Kyoto

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Yesterday’s Japan Photo: Japanese Castle nicknames, Kumamoto the Ginkgo-nuts Castle