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The fact that the word kawaii has now been accepted into the Oxford English Dictionary says a lot about Japan’s obsession with all things cute. If there’s a manhole cover or a health and safety pamphlet that needs brightening up somehow, you can pretty much guarantee that someone will design a cutesy character or scene to adorn it. That’s just how Japan rolls.

Never, though, have we come across barricades made to look like kneeling kimono-clad princesses before.

Barricades being held up with amusingly shaped pieces of plastic are nothing new in Japan. Wander through any urban area or take a drive through the country and you’re bound to find an orange monkey, lime-green frog or cartoon construction worker somewhere, smiling or bowing in apology for the disruption while holding up a sign or pole. In fact, there are so many of these things that the folks at YouTube channel The Japan Online Channel once went around capturing footage of the various plastic animals–and even mini Mount Fujis–holding up barriers around their town.

Something that you won’t see so quite often, however, are kimono-wearing princesses.

Spotted in the city of Kyoto by Japanese Instagrammer and cat lover Kyoxxxxx, these barrier supports have been wrapped in plastic made to look like traditional Japanese dress, giving the (already cute) pink-helmeted construction workers’ humble, downcast gazes an air of regality as they apologise for the dust and mess.

Screen Shot 2014-10-14 at 2.23.34 PMPhoto: Kyoxxxxx

Roadworks can mean anything from noise outside your home to being late for work as you sit in a seemingly never-ending line of traffic, but with rows of humble princesses apologising like this, it would be hard to get too angry at the disruption.

Source: Instagram via Japaaan