When I was in Osaka, Japan last year, I and my Swiss friend Cornel was walking around the block to where our hotel was and came across this quaint alleyway which has locks held together in a shape of a heart.
In circumspect, I took a photo of it and wondering why the locks were there. I asked a local resident about it and was told that the locks were called locks of love where couples, lovers or whatever (MU perhaps) can buy the locks with their names engraved in Kanji characters and then placed it in the heart-shaped wall and the keys are with them. No one can ever unlock it until one of the couple comes back and unlock the LOCKS OF LOVE.
beautiful story
yes it is. I just knew it when I went to Osaka in 2009. Thanks for your comment James