For me, writing Unseen Japan has definitely brought new meaning to the phrase “you learn something new every day.”
Up until the other day, for example, I had never heard of “love locks.” The phenomenon apparently originated in Europe in the 2000s. Couples write their names or initials onto a padlock, then lock it to something. Then, they throw away the key.
Spots for attaching love locks have sprouted up all over the world. In Japan, there are several sites where fences or other structures have been taken over for this purpose. There’s even an NPO, the Area Activation Supporting Center (地域活性化支援センター), that certifies love lock sites. With Japan’s declining birth rate and burgeoning singles culture, some view the sites as a way of encouraging more couples to walk down the aisle by providing a romantic spot to affirm their commitment. The practice bears a similarity to the tradition of hanging an ema (絵馬), or votive picture, at a Shinto shrine to pray for luck in love.
One such fence is at the Iyonada Service Area on the Matsuyama Expressway in Aichi Prefecture, a spot famous in Japan for its stellar nighttime views, and thus a favorite attraction for couples passing by. Unfortunately, there’s some bad news for everyone who’s professed their love there through a ponderous lock: according to NEXCO Japan West, which runs the service area, the locks have grown too heavy for the fence, and the whole thing has to be removed before it collapses and injures or kills someone.
What sucks is that it’s not like people were just willy-nilly putting locks on this fence without permission. That has happened in Japan and elsewhere in the world. Eventually, the weight of the locks threatens the structural integrity of their supporting artifice. This can create a particularly dangerous situation when the thing they’re attached to is, say, a bridge railing. And even when the locks don’t threaten a structure, they sometimes obstruct views. Such line of slight pollution draws a hue and cry from residents and other tourists.
But the Area Activation Supporting Center approved the Iyonada service area. Officials specifically crafted the area as a love lock site. NEXCO erected the fence, and marked the spot with a giant key made of stone. It seems, in this case, NEXCO simply screwed up. They thought an ordinary metal fence could withstand the weight of everyone’s devotion.
Other areas in Japan has dealt with this issue by erecting more solid structures. In Kobe, for example, the city sought to prevent residents from attaching locks to the railing of the Venus Bridge by building a reinforced steel structure with metal cables for attaching locks.
NEXCO Japan West says they’ll follow suit by building an alternative monument that can bear the weight of everyone’s love.
Folks on Twitter are taking the news in stride. Many joked that the couples who sealed their relationships at the fence are now doomed to split. Unseen Japan, of course, doesn’t wish this fate on anyone. We pray that the vows made at the Iyonada Service Area are built of stronger stuff than NEXCO’s fences.
