Fuji TV reports about a special annual bus tour that took couples to a cabbage patch in Gunma prefecture where men can stand on a podium and shout declarations of love:

For many participants, shouting “I love you” in a cabbage patch was an important first step.

Many local villagers showed up for the affair. They’d been skeptical when it began in 2006, but became such enthusiasts that, last year, they offered to help plan it. Local officials had backed the event because the financially strapped village needed tourists and media attention. Many even agreed to participate, at Yamana’s urging.

Like most of his colleagues, policymaker Motoyoshi Hashizume says he rarely expressed his love to his wife, Tomoko, in their 21 years of marriage. But since the 2006 shout-out, he continues, “I more often call her by name and appreciate what my wife has been doing.”