Getting engaged can be one of the biggest moments in a couple's life - from choosing the ring to finding the perfect place to pop the question, there's usually a lot of thought and effort that goes into making the moment just perfect.
However, one man pretty much outdid most other proposals ever, by pulling off a seriously impressive way to pop the question using GPS.
Yasushi Takahashi - who goes by Yassan - is a Tokyo-based artist who creates pictures using Google Earth - and he decided to incorporate this into his proposal by traveling around the Japanese islands.
Back in 2008, he spent six months travelling up and down a route he'd mapped out, with the final result spelling out "Marry Me" and a heart, thanks to GPS tracking.
GPS art, a blend of travel and creativity, involves generating large-scale digital drawings by following a preset route with a GPS device. Upon uploading the route onto mapping platforms like Google Earth, an artwork emerges.
Struck by this unique form of artistic expression, Yassan embarked on a grand plan: to traverse the length and breadth of Japan, charting a route that spelled 'Marry Me' and showcasing his expansive trip on Google Earth as a marriage proposal to his girlfriend Natsuki.
In June, Yassan decided to quit his job and set off on this meticulously crafted adventure, beginning from the island of Hokkaido and concluding on the shores of Kagoshima. After six months and an impressive 4,451 miles later, his 'Marry Me' masterpiece was ready to be unveiled.
Of course, Natsuki said yes.
Yassan explained: "I planned the route on Google Earth and then quit my job and left. I hadn't really ever gone outside of Tokyo. I was able to discover all kinds of things that I had only known about in books."
He added: "At night I camped out in my car. There was heavy rain, snow, and earthquakes but I never gave up."
Natsuki joked: "I kept thinking: 'Where are you going without me?'", adding: "Of course I answered 'yes'".
This heartwarming proposal earned Yassan the Guinness World Record for the largest GPS drawing in history. Now, he joins an increasing number of individuals leveraging platforms like Google Earth and Google Street View to craft GPS art.
The charm of GPS art lies in its seamless blend of drawing and travel, limited only by the imagination and how far a person is willing to travel to create an interesting picture.
Yassan has set the bar seriously high for everyone else's proposal, that's for sure!
