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Japanese net users speculate on a subtle design feature of the Toyota Prius…related to booze

Krista Rogers Mar 27, 2019
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Whether it was an intentional plan or a coincidental design, these net users’ imaginations have ensued in hilarity.

One of the first things you learn before driving in Japan is that the country has zero tolerance for drinking and driving. Even drinking just one beer and getting behind the wheel could result in a blood alcohol concentration that would land you with hefty fines and/or time in prison if pulled over by the police.

This fact, coupled with the ubiquity of drinking parties in Japan, makes it all the more curious that Japanese Twitter user @gesukosu recently discovered the following interesting quirk about his beloved Prius:

▼ “This will be an eternal mystery to me, but for some reason a bottle of alcohol fits perfectly inside the glove compartment of a Prius.”

これは永遠の謎ですが、プリウスのグローブボックスには何故か酒がぴったり入ります pic.twitter.com/puCRD5u3TJ

— ゲスコ (@gesukosu) March 20, 2019

Sure enough, as his photos indicate, a bottle of wine or beer fits snugly within the cleared glove compartment. In fact, it appears to be such a perfect fit that it raises suspicions about whether the compartment was intentionally tailor-made to encase a bottle of booze.

Other net users were quick to suggest a plethora of plausible explanations for the design, which ranged from the entirely ludicrous to the slightly more logical. One user replied by posting a still from Studio Ghibli’s 1986 anime film Laputa: Castle in the Sky with protagonist Sheeta grasping an empty bottle as she sneaks up on the evil Muska.

▼ “It’s for self-protection.”

護身用 pic.twitter.com/9YpMWKh709

— えふえふ交通 (@MidnightExp24D) March 21, 2019

Another posted a bizarre cartoon of Japanese Prime Minister Abe and American President Trump doppelgangers from an undisclosed source.

▼ “Abe: ‘Our country has a tradition of quieting impudent brats with beer bottles…’
Trump: ‘What a crazy tradition!'”

pic.twitter.com/O7lNlnekl1

— うめピクミン＠コミュ (@komyu01) March 21, 2019

Another commenter offered a more business-driven explanation, although one without the firmest grasp on U.S. law.

▼ “Under American law, it’s a violation to leave a bottle of alcohol rolling around in plain sight within your car (that’s why a liquor store will put it in a paper bag for you when you buy it). Then you’d probably put it in your trunk or something to take it home, but it’s probably OK to hide it in your glove compartment where it can’t be seen. Is this a premise for exporting the Prius? Lol.”

外から失礼しますm(__)m
アメリカの法律で、車内で酒瓶が見えるように転がしておくと違反になります（酒屋で購入すると紙袋に入れてもらえる）。なのでトランクなどに入れて持ち帰るのですが、グローボックスに隠すなら見えなくなるのでオッケーなのかもしれませんね。
プリウスが輸出前提？（笑）

— 寿限無@overload (@Ver_Ka2624) March 22, 2019

Regardless of whether the glove compartment design was coincidental or not, @gesukosu is sure to have had a good laugh after reading the net user comments as a whole:

“It’s so that you can have a bottle of champagne after a game of golf. The loser obviously has to drive and miss out.”
“The Prius is a hybrid car so its fuel is a mixture of gasoline and wine.”
“It’s intended to be a welcome drink…a haven of hospitality in a Prius.”
“I’ll work hard to build a cooler function and wine cellar in the car next.”
“By utilizing the vent on the left, you could offer an extensive selection of drinks from wine to hot sake.”
“It sounds like something that would go naturally with a Honda Fit, not a Prius!”

Now we’ll just have to wait for someone to tell us when this bottle-storage, self-protection, luxury-ride, post-golf game system actually comes in handy…just as we’re waiting to hear back about results for the traffic safety video intended for cats.

Source: Twitter/@gesukosu
Featured image: Twitter/@gesukosu
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