Japan restaurant bans couples on Christmas Eve

A restaurant in Japan has banned couples on Christmas Eve - to stop single people feeling lonely.

According to Daily Life, the owner of PiaPia, a pasta restaurant in the Hachioji suburb of west Tokyo, has placed a handwritten sign in the window of the restaurant that reads: "We will be refusing entry to all couples on Dec 24, with no exceptions!"

The picture sees a blue stick man and a red stick lady with a heart between them and a big red cross slapped over them.

The picture has been shared on social media:

店長くっそわらったwww pic.twitter.com/NZOmNWIWAk
- まりか☻ (@nmura_mka) December 5, 2014

Speaking to the Telegraph, Takashi Kyozuka, an employee of PiaPia, said the sign was put in the window because singles would "feel sad that they are by themselves".

He added: "To start with, someone said we should ban couples as a bit of a joke, but then we realised that it's true. If you are single on Christmas Eve, then it's easy to get down."

According to the Jamaica Observer, Christmas Day is typically a normal working day in Japan, where Christianity is a minority religion. But a lot of Japanese people still celebrate on Christmas Eve, with couples often going out for meals and exchanging gifts.