A restaurant inTokyohas announced that it will refuse to serve couples on Christmas Eve because their happiness would serve to remind single members of staff of their loneliness.

因擔心情侶共度平安夜的場景會讓店內單身員工更感孤獨，日本東京一家餐廳宣布平安夜拒絕接待情侶食客。

The owner of PiaPia, a pasta restaurant in theHachiojisuburb of westTokyo, has placed a handwritten sign in the window of the restaurant that reads, "We will be refusing entry to all couples on December 24, with no exceptions!"

位于東京西部八王子市郊區的意大利面餐廳PiaPia在櫥窗上貼了一張手寫告示：“本店在12月24日拒絕情侶入內，沒有特例！”

The message is accompanied by an outline of a male figure in blue and a female figure in red and a heart with a large red cross through the image.

這份告示還配上了藍男紅女加桃心，上面加了一個大紅叉的簡筆畫，彰顯了店家的決心。

The message suggests that the presence of couples would upset employees having to work on Christmas Eve, stating that romantic duos "would cause severe emotional trauma to members of our staff".

它還指出，情侶們約會的模樣會讓平安夜還在工作的員工們心生不滿?！皾馇槊垡獾那閭H們會讓我們的員工情感受到傷害?！钡昙覍懙?。

Takashi Kyozuka, an employee of PiaPia, said that the sign was put in the window because singles would "feel sad that they are by themselves".

高知冢（音譯）是PiaPia的一名員工，他說這個告示之所以會貼出來，是因為單身狗們會為“自己形影一人的孤單而失落?！?/p>

"To start with, someone said we should ban couples as a bit of a joke, but then we realized that it's true," he said. "If you are single on Christmas Eve, then it's easy to get down."

“一開始，有人開玩笑說我們店應該禁止情侶入內。到后來，我們意識到這個做法其實是很合理”他說“如果在平安夜，你只有自己一個，那這時候你就很可能會消沉了。”

Christmas is not celebrated in Japan and is a regular working day ahead of the traditional celebrations centered on the New Year. In recent years, however, Christmas Eve has become an important occasion for young couples to exchange gifts and have a meal together, even if they are largely unaware of the religious significance of the holiday.

在日本，圣誕節只是傳統新年前一個普通的工作日。但是近些年來，平安夜已然成為小情侶們一塊吃飯、交換禮物的大日子。盡管他們壓根不知道平安夜蘊藏的重大宗教意義。

But Japan is experiencing a couples crisis, with people getting married later in life and having fewer children, meaning that the nation's birth rate is in decline at the same time as older people are living longer thanks to advances in medicine.

實際上，日本現正遭遇一場婚育危機。青年情侶們婚后并不生育下一代，導致國內人口出生率下降。與此同時，隨著醫學的發展，老人們壽命不斷延長。

The population of Japan currently stands at 126.6 million, although 25 percent of that total are aged 65 or older, an increase of 1.12 million people on the fiscal 2012 figure. Equally, the fertility rate of 1.41 babies per woman during her lifetime means there are not enough babies being born to sustain the population at its present levels.

日本現有人口保持在1億2660萬，但其中有25%是年過65歲的老年人。這個數字跟2012年比增加了112萬。但是每名女性終生只生育1.41個孩子的低生育率，反映出了現有新生嬰兒不足以維持現有人口水平。

If those trends continue, the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research has warned that there will be a mere 49.59 million Japanese by 2100, a decline of more than 61 percent on the 2010 figure.

日本國家人口和社會安全研究所一項研究指出，如果這個趨勢持續發展下去，在2100年全國人口將僅有4959萬。與2010年的人口數相比，降幅高達61%。

Nevertheless, commentators on social media sites are largely applauding the restaurant's stand against couples, with messages on Twitter and other sites proclaiming, "Good move boss! I support you!" and "I wish all restaurants would ban couples on Christmas Eve".

盡管如此，PiaPia餐廳“為單身狗發聲”的做法得到網友們的一致好評。一眾單身狗們在推特和各大社交網站上紛紛贊賞道：“宇宙好老板！支持你！”“我希望到了平安夜所有餐廳都像他們這樣禁止情侶入內！”

（翻譯：菠蘿油八戒 編輯：馬文英）