Tokyo BK Can't Say Goodbye To Rival McDonald's Without A Little Trolling

It's always a little sad to say goodbye to a neighbor. In Tokyo's Akihabara neighborhood, when a McDonald's posted a sign announcing that it would be closing and thanking the neighbors for 22 years of patronage, the Burger King two doors down posted its own sign, appearing to pay its respects to its rival. In Japan Today's translation:

Thank you for 22 happy years.

Our neighbor two buildings over, McDonald's, will be closing today.

Esteemed rival, and fellow friend who loved Akihabara,

because you were close by, we also could do our best.

Without you here, McDonald's, thinking of the future fills us with sadness.

Selfish though it is for us to say this, everyone, please go to McDonald's today.

Challenging ourselves to be as good as McDonald's has been our goal, so with a smile, we say thank you.

But an eagle-eyed Tweeter noticed that if you take the first character in every line, there's a hidden acrostic message that reads, "Watashitachi no kachi," which translates as, "Victory is ours."

Japan Today was willing to concede that maybe this was a coincidence—despite Burger King's history of trolling its rival. However, BK's offer (also on the sign) to provide anyone with a McDonald's receipt with a free cup of coffee through February 6 appears valid.