I want my bike back

The other day my son and I were out on an adventure.  I don't typically ride my bike to the train station, but my husband wasn't with us and sometimes my son falls asleep on the train.  I figured he could rest on the bike while we rode back instead of whined about walking. 

I found a small bike parking lot, where I could pay ¥100 for 6 hours of parking (less than $1).  We parked the bike in slot number 3 (of 40 slots) and went on our adventure.

When we returned several hours later, there were two men working on the payment machine.  They tried to tell me that the bike park was closed!  I guess they were having issues with the payment machine. 

Once activated, the machines hold the bike's tires until payment is received.  I couldn't just go and grab my bike.  I told them my bike was in slot number 3.  They grabbed some tools and opened up the bike rack mechanism and manually reset the machine, releasing my bike.

My son was super interested that he could see inside this machine that we regularly use.  I paid the men.  It took us a little bit of time to leave because my son had the men explain how the machine worked.  It was an unexpected lesson in mechanics!