撤去された

Word of the day: 撤去された (tekkyosareta)

Past tense of 撤去される (tekkyosareru), verb (passive form), meaning 'was removed'.

My spanking new bicycle was 撤去された by the City Council last week!

In Japan, you are not allowed to park your bicycle anywhere you want. The third day after I purchased my bike, I stupidly parked it outside a Pachinko shop and left it there for the whole day while I went on a school visit.

Said bike. New and nice and PURPLE. 

When I came back, it was gone and I thought it was stolen by some thief. I was really upset and had to walk all the way home after a super tiring day in the cold rain. 

So I thought it was gone for good, but after consulting the dorm manager and the staff of the bicycle shop, I decided to make a trip to the police station. The police then directed me to the City Council and at the City Council, I was informed that my bike was removed as it was parked illegally. I had to make another trip to the centre for removed bicycles and paid a fine of 1,500yen to get my bike back. I'm glad that it's not stolen by some bugger! 

Bicycles are only allowed to be parked in designated parking space, which usually requires a small fee. I saw everyone else parked all over the place and I thought it was okay to park it outside the Pachinko store as it was near the train station.    I know! How silly and ignorant of me! 

The City Council takes a firm stand on illegally parked bicycles as the big number of bikes could cause obstruction during emergencies and it is also an untidy sight. It makes perfect sense and I feel guilty for not responsibly checking the information beforehand. It was a good lesson learnt and I will be careful with parking from now on.