I’m not too sure if this idea is a healthy one, but apparently if you opt to go to Japanese beach town resort Atami, and take along your iPhone, they have plenty of barcodes that enable the iPhone user to take a photo of them with a virtual girlfriend.

According to an article over on Gizmodo by Rosa Golijan and by way of a report by the AFP, Atami is loaded with landmarks sporting barcodes that when viewed with a smartphone camera such as the iPhone, the camera reveals the users virtual girlfriend.

Apparently there is even a hotel that has these barcodes in its guest rooms which apparently show the virtual girlfriend in “flattering summer kimonos.”

23 year old Shu Watanabe, showed off hit iPhone display showing himself next to a cartoon character named Rinko, and said, “Look, it’s like I’m in a snapshot with her.”

Okay, now maybe things are going a step too far when it comes to the girlfriend stakes, I mean forgive me if I’m wrong with this, but isn’t it better to have a real live girlfriend that a virtual cartoon you can see on your iPhone, or am I missing something here?