Model/celebrity finds confusing sign telling us to do, or not do, something involving small cats and big shoes.

Even in Japan, a country where the writing system seems designed to scare and confuse the unprepared visitor, there are still plenty of pictorial signs that we’ve come to think of as universal. Get caught short and a blue symbol of a man will lead you to the men’s toilets, while a red one will help you find the ladies’. In similar fashion, the green and red men on the traffic lights will tell you when you can or can’t cross the road.

Without any need for language the signs are designed to be immediately understandable. Sometimes, however, a sign will leave you wondering what it is you’re supposed to be doing or not doing. Japanese Twitter user @Fiiiiiin‘s photo is a perfect example.

▼ “I have absolutely no idea what this sign means!”

Japanese and non-Japanese social media users had a number of suggestions for what the sign might be trying to say:

“Surely it’s saying you mustn’t force a puss to wear shoes, unless they’re boots.”
“No cats riding big shoes allowed in that area??”
“Cats wearing trainers won’t be allowed in the club?”
“Cats may steal your shoes?”
“Sports shoes are allowed as long as they’re not Pumas?”
“You mustn’t kick the cats (but punching them is fine)?”

Any of those sound entirely plausible, and one respondent suggested it might well deserve some kind of bad design prize. At least the sign is family friendly, unlike some other toilet signs we’ve come across on our extended perambulations of the Japanese Internet.

According to her Twitter account, @Fiiiiiin is a model and celebrity originally hailing from the U.K. but now living and working in Japan. You can also follow her on her English-language account @Pampelmeister

▼ Is this the face of someone who would force a poor feline to wear garish footwear?

Whatever its message, the sign also makes you wonder who created it in the first place, especially given the slightly unprofessional design and odd placement. Maybe someone out there felt the need to put pen to placard, for the protection of park goers. Or cats. Or maybe even shoes. It’s a mystery.

Source: Twitter/@Fiiiiiin via Togech
Featured image: Twitter/@Fiiiiiin