Last month, the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) installed a single pair of heart-shaped hand straps on one of its lines in hopes of sparking romance among their passengers. However, with Valentine’s Day behind us it seems they aren’t through playing matchmaker.
This time JR Shikoku is strapping on some cupid wings by installing “Love Love Benches” in two of their stations. The seat of the bench slopes inwards so that no matter how two people sit on it they will quickly be brought together thanks the marvel of gravity.
Love Love Benches can currently be found in Ekawasaki Station in Shimontoshi, Kochi Prefecture and in Tsubojiri Station in Miyoshi, Tokushima Prefecture. You might understandably wonder why JR Shikoku chose to install these new benches in Ekawasaki, which has a population of 1,590, and Tsubojiri Station which sees an average of two passengers a day.
Worry not! There’s a convoluted reason for all of this. Ekawasaki is the nearest station to Nishitosamura where the highest temperature in Japan was recorded last year (41.0℃ on 12 August). So clearly JR Shikoku figured that it’s the place in Japan most conducive to get people hot and heavy.
On the other hand, Tsubojiri Station is a station located on a hairpin turn deep in a part of the mountains of Kochi inaccessible by car. Because of the switchback, trains must pass by at an extremely slow speed which JR Shikoku feels make a perfect setting for a romantic getaway where a couple may enjoy each other’s company.
So if you’re looking for a way to facilitate some romance with that special guy or gal, why not take a trek out to Shikoku and enjoy a Love Love Bench? Meanwhile, I’m going to try and find out how my mom managed to get on the board of directors of JR Group.
Source: JR Shikoku via Netlab (Japanese)
Ekawasaki Station Image: Wikipedia – Risa
Tsubojiri Station Image: Wikipedia – Spaceaero2
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