Kawaii Social Distancing in Japan - Stuffed Toys Are Keeping COVID-19 at Bay at Banks, Zoos, and More

The general consensus is that social distancing is still important as we go back to shopping, eating at restaurants, and all the other fun things we do outside our houses. So most places have been trying to gently remind visitors using simple signs and posters, placed 2 meters (6 ft) apart on the floor or hanging over counters. Clearly, not cute enough for Japan.

Other places have taken on a different strategy, like Forest Animal Restaurant Gibbontei, inside the Izu Shaboten Zoo. Some restaurants have placed fewer chairs at tables, spreading them out so people can eat together but still maintain an extended bubble of personal space. At Gibbontei, they're encouraging the social distancing using... capybaras. Enormous, fluffy, fuzzy, stuffed capybaras.

Thanks to the prodigious size of the capybaras, much larger than their beloved real-life counterparts, it looks like the method is somewhat effective. They create a real physical barrier.

Japanese bank Resona has taken on a similar approach for their banks' lobbies and waiting areas. While normal levels of health and safety might allow for people to sit three-to-a-bench, these are not normal days. But we can all be thankful that Resona decided that instead of boring signs, they would use stuffed toys of their bank mascot to keep people a safe distance apart. Yes, in Japan, banks have adorable mascots.

As such a purely adorable, fun way to enforce practical policies, the trend is clearly catching on across Japan. Other banks (like JA Bank above) and facilities of all kinds are using the method to keep people apart, in the best possible way, and it's hard to complain when the policy is both smart and kawaii!

Hopefully we'll all be safe to once again sit and speak normally someday soon, but in the meantime, let us know if you see any other charming ways that Japan is dealing with COVID-19 on the Japankuru twitter, instagram, and facebook.