Cheerleader mannequins enforce social distancing at Tokyo bar

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Updated

A themed cafe is bringing cheer

with its fancy dress mannequins

Location: Tokyo, Japan

At this Ginza district bar

cheerleader waitresses have been joined

by uniformed dolls placed in seats

to aid social distancing measures

(SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) OWNER OF 'CHEERS ONE', ARATA FUNABARA, SAYING:

"We tried to put stickers on seats for social distancing, but it made the restaurant look dreary. So we decided to use mannequins to solve that issue. Also, we are open, but our customers are not back full-scale. So our restaurant looked very empty and we wanted to add more excitement. So we added mannequins for those two reasons."

Waitresses perform karaoke on request

and are geared up with

face shields, gloves, and pom-poms

(SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) 26-YEAR-OLD CUSTOMER, YU NAKAMURA, SAYING:

"Their dance is authentic. I heard from staff that they're like a school dance club, so I think women can come here. They're not doing business for the opposite sex. They are just cheering for everyone."