A Japanese man trekked more than 4,000 miles to spell out 'Marry Me' via GPS drawing

A Japanese man trekked more than 4,000 miles to spell out 'Marry Me' via GPS drawing
(Image credit: Yassan's GPS Drawing Project)

Whatever happened to just taking your lady out for a nice dinner and hiding an engagement ring in the dessert? What used to be considered a "daring" proposal looks downright diminutive — literally — when compared to Yasushi Takahashi's big ask.

The Japanese artist also known as Yassan quit his job in 2008, got himself a GPS tracker, and proceeded to trek across the country, spelling out "Marry Me" over 4,451 miles and six months, Boston.com reports.

Yassan's journey is back in the spotlight thanks to Amsterdam-based ad agency this that + the other. The company created a "Walkumentary Series" highlighting people's reasons for walking, and "Yassan's Proposal" is one of the stories.

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Not to be a romance scrooge, but this has to be one of the more selfish proposals ever made. Not only did Yassan's girlfriend presumably find him hard to reach for six months, but his question to her was big enough to land the Guinness World Record for "largest GPS drawing," which is cool but doesn't exactly scream romance.

Still, she said yes, although not by walking across Japan, we hope, and Yassan even made his now-wife a nice, new GPS drawing this past summer. Check it out, below. --Sarah Eberspacher

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Sarah Eberspacher is an associate editor at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked as a sports reporter at The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus and The Arizona Republic. She graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.