A Rope Gate?

At Takatsuki Station in Osaka, I saw something I had never seen before. The platform was gated off, but instead of traditional gates, some platforms had these ropes!

When the train comes and stops, the ropes would be lifted above our heads so that we could walk under the through. It kind of felt like walking under the badminton net to get to the other side of the court.

On hindsight though, it is a very smart and cost-effective design. It also makes it really easy to be replaced, if someone walks into and breaks the flexible ropes somehow. I would like to see more stations use them, even if they are not the coolest looking things.