Adorable new ashiyu destination has no Pokémon battles, but injuries to the creatures are still occurring.
“Pokémon hot spring” sounds like something too adorable to possibly exist in our world, but reality beat the odds with the recent opening of the Wakura Pokémon Footbath in the town of Nanao, Ishikawa Prefecture. There’s trouble in Poké-paradise, though, as just a few weeks after welcoming the first visitors, nearly half of the Pokémon have been damaged.
At the time of its grand opening on May 12, the free-to-use footbath (or ashiyu, as such facilities are called in Japanese) had statues for seven different Pokémon species situated around the bath, On May 21, though, visitors noticed a crack in the tail of the Vaporeon, and a man came forward the next day to admit that he had leaned against it during his visit and caused the damage. Then, on May 30, someone noticed that Psyduck was missing a chunk of his left foot. The broken off piece was found elsewhere in the facility.
▼ Video showing the Wakura Pokémon Footbath, first on its opening day and later in its current state
The most recent Pokémon injury occurred on June 19, when one of Gyarados’ horns was damaged, this time by a visitor who said the statue was damaged “when they touched it.” The Gyarados damage was apparently minor enough that its statue is still in place, but both the Psyduck and Vaporeon have been temporarily removed while they undergo repairs.
Though there are posted signs asking visitors to not hit or climb on the statues, the Wakura Pokémon Footbath doesn’t currently have any no-touching-the-Pokémon policy, and both the Vaporeon and Gyarados incidents appear to have been honest accidents. Psyduck’s missing foot having been discarded elsewhere, though suggests that damage may have been intentional, or at least that the person responsible was very aware of what they’d done, and the city has filed a damage report with the local police precinct.
In the meantime, the footbath’s operators have installed new cautionary signage and are reevaluating the sturdiness of the statues. A representative for the city says that “Since we’re fortunate enough to have this popular attraction, we hope that everyone will handle [the Pokémon statues] with care. If damage continues to occur, we will have to consider prohibiting visitors from touching the statues,” and while things haven’t gotten to that point yet, fans visiting Wakura Pokémon Footbath are advised to be gentle with the Pokémon, even ones as canonically tough as Gyarados.
Source: Hokkoku Shimbun via Yahoo! Japan News, 47 News
Top image: PR Times
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