How did this Japanese theme park try to create the ‘feel of the ocean’?
The park operator has issued an apology and said the rink would be shut down
An amusement park in southwestern Japan has closed its ice-skating rink after public outrage over the rink’s key feature: 5,000 dead fish frozen into the ice itself.
Space World, a theme park in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka prefecture, had opened its new attraction November 12. The rink was packed with 25 types of fish purchased from the city’s fish market, according to Mainichi Shimbun. Photos of whale sharks and rays also were placed into the ice, the newspaper reported.
We had intended to give the feel of the ocean to this ice skating rink, with the image of fish swimming in the ocean
Photos of the rink that were previously on the park’s Facebook page showed that some of the fish had been embedded with their mouths agape and their heads partially protruding from the ice. Others were laid out in circular and arrow patterns. One “school” of fish spelled out the word “hello”, according to The Guardian newspaper.
“We had intended to give the feel of the ocean to this ice skating rink, with the image of fish swimming in the ocean,” Space World general manager Toshimi Takeda told the newspaper. “And we intended to make visitors have fun and learn more about fish.”
Instead, the park was flooded by complaints from patrons and on social media.
“It’s as if the fish are alive,” one woman told NHK news. “I feel kind of uncomfortable letting my kids skate on them.”
On Twitter, one person said the attraction had been done “in poor taste”.