If you take a seat on the Yokohama subway next month don’t be surprised if a warlord from China’s Three Kingdoms period advises you on proper public transport behavior.

Wei leader Cao Cao showing you how to give up your seat, or legendary warrior Lu Bu advising you not to run onto trains are but two of the nine posters recently previewed online. Let’s take a look at them all!

The posters are a collaboration of the Kanagawa Kohoku Police, Yokohama City Transportation Bureau, and Koei Tecmo’s Three Kingdom video game series. This year marks the thirtieth anniversary of the first Romance of the Three Kingdoms game which would later spin off into the Dynasty Warriors franchise of games appreciated by people like me who very much prefer running around and hitting a bunch of people with a big club to allocating troops and managing resources.

The following nine posters were selected from a field of over 1,500 artist submissions and depict a popular character from the series telling you what’s what when it comes to riding the subway.

First, the cunning and ambitious Cao Cao shows us how to give up your seat without showing weakness.

▼ “I will not give you the Emperor’s seat, but I will give you this one.”

The next poster shows us why rushing into the battle of a morning commute may not be the wisest idea.

▼ “There is Lu Bu in these men! There is no rushing onto this train!!”

The brilliant strategist Zhuge Liang reminds you not to take that call while riding the rails, but not because it’s rude.

▼ “Wait. That call from your son… might be a trap. Look out for fraudsters.”

▼ “There might be an ambush around. Please refrain from things such as walking while using a smartphone at all cost.”

As they often did during the Three Kingdoms period brothers-in-arms Guan Yu and Zhang Fei work together in their posters.

▼　”Zhang Fei! You aren’t making a fool of yourself by getting drunk on the train, are you?”

▼　”Don’t worry brother! Drinking in moderation is okay, isn’t it?”

Firm but fair leader Liu Bei reminds us that everyone must work together to maintain a civil public transportation system.

▼”Although the days of our births are different, let’s pledge to uphold the manners of riding a train on the same day.”

▼ “Two swords, two keys. Multiple bike thefts, two locks on bikes.”

The young strategist Zhou Yu, who died before his time, concurred with the wisdom of a two-lock-bike philosophy.

▼　”A plan for a plan! Two bike locks for a bike!!”

Sun Quan who led his men to victory in the Battle of Red Cliffs but now faces his biggest challenge ever… escalator safety.

▼　”All units stop. No walking on the escalator.”

All beautifully illustrated, the posters are full of inside jokes for big fans of the stories of the Three Kingdoms period but should even leave a weird lasting impression on anyone unfamiliar with them as well. I know I’ll never forget that the Yokohama police and transit authority tolerate getting a buzz on while on trains yet draw the line at walking up an escalator.

Source: Three Kingdoms 30th Anniversary Website (Japanese)
Images: Three Kingdoms 30th Anniversary Website
Original Articles by Meg Sawaii
[ Read in Japanese ]