An innovative Japanese dad is being praised online for an ingenious creation that allows his young son to play while also giving him a relaxing massage.
Ken Kawamoto, a Google software engineer by profession, recently tweeted about his specially designed T-shirt that makes good use of his son’s love for trains.
In a Twitter post by @kenkawakenkenke, a video clip demonstrated how a shirt with a train track graphic on the back can be both a child’s play activity and a father’s quick remedy for a sore back.
The front of the shirt is plain white but the back has drawings of multiple tracks, a handful of station signs, and even a pond for decoration.
Kawamoto designed the shirt that way to serve as the track for his son’s toy trains. During playtime, all he needs to do is to lie face down and let his son run his trains over the tracks on his back.
Kawamoto has accurately dubbed the brilliant piece of garment as “the T-shirt that gets you a massage from your kids just by plopping down on the floor.”
To target specific areas on his body, he just needs to ask his son to run his trains along routes at designated stations marked with helpful signage: “Right Shoulder,” “Left Shoulder,”“Spine,” and “Lower Back.”
Instructing his son to “send the express train from Spine Station to Right Shoulder,” means the trains must go extra-fast, allowing him to get a “more vigorous” massage.
Netizens were impressed with the cleverly devised shirt creation, Soranews24 reports.
“This is the greatest idea I’ve seen in years,” one user wrote.
“You can play with your kid and get a massage at the same time? Awesome!” another noted.
“You’re a genius,” said another one.
Some even offered their own suggestions to improve upon Kawamoto’s original idea, such as a shirt with tracks on the front or a jumpsuit so that the calves or hamstrings can be targeted as well.
Other parents also suggested a shirt with illustrated streets instead of tracks for those whose kids might fancy cars over trains.
Kawamoto, who also previously created an equally impressive shirt with rock-climbing wall grips, is offering his train/massage shirt to other parents via online retailer Club T for 2,400 yen ($22).
Featured image via Twitter / kenkawakenkenke
