Man travels 4000 miles to spell out 'marry me' on Google Earth and that's as romantic as it gets

Editor's note: This article was originally published on December 6, 2022. It has since been updated.

Wedding proposals are extremely special for a couple as it is a memory they cherish for a lifetime. Knowing this, Yasushi "Yassan" Takahashi decided to make it extra special for his girlfriend by going on a six-month journey across Japan while using Google Earth to track his route and spell out "Marry Me" with a heart over the country's map.

It was in 2008 that Yassan came up with the idea of proposing to his girlfriend, Natsuki, using GPS art. According to Google, GPS art is "the act of creating a large-scale digital drawing by traveling with a GPS device along a predetermined route. When the route is uploaded to a mapping tool like Google Earth, a form takes shape."

Yassan planned a route across Japan to spell "Marry Me," quit his job and set off from the island of Hokkaido to the shores of Kagoshima. It took him six months and 4,451 miles to complete the drawing for the grand proposal. Finally, he presented his completed trip on Google Earth to Natsuki in what is perhaps one of the most elaborately planned proposals of all time. Yassan's drawing also won him the Guinness World Record for the largest GPS drawing in history. And in case you're wondering, Natsuki said "Yes."

After the success of his proposal plan, Yassan started doing GPS drawings across the world. His website states: "He is a professional GPS artist with more than 1400 artworks. Drawn more than 100,000 kilometers in 24 countries."

Talking about Google Maps, a dog named Watermelon is a local landmark on Google Maps. The street dog that lives on a street called Amagleba in Tbilisi, Georgia, even has positive reviews on Google and her fans love to feed her as well, according to Bored Panda. She was named Watermelon because of her spherical shape and has a blue tag on her ear to signify that she is a stray who is harmless to others.

Watermelon is popular on the internet and many keep tabs on her. According to a Twitter user @Sve_tt, "It's a girl! She was fed by her grandmother who lives above the vegetable soup shop during the lockdown. The lady has built her a house out of boxes where the dog currently lives." Another user was surprised to know that the "spherical dog" he meets every day is a "local attraction." He wrote, surprised, "there are even reviews in Google maps."

There are 60 reviews about the dog on Google with most people calling her a "sweet bun." A Twitter user called @catchshirrecat even went out of his way to feed the dog and bought a can of food and encouraged others also to do the same. He wrote, "This is a sweet bun and you can still buy food for her and give it to the store near which it lies. They try to feed the bun only with certain foods because she's old and sick."

With the increasing popularity, more and more people are beginning to take care of the dog and there are chances that she might soon find a home.