A Japanese amusement park faced a deluge of criticism after opening their themed ice skating rink featuring thousands of dead fish suspended in ice. Space World amusement park in Kitakyushu receives tons of criticism on social media after new ice rink unveiled to people on November 12. The theme park is located in the western part of Japan.
5000 Dead Fish Found In A Skating Rink In Japan
About 25 different kinds of fish could be seen under the 250-metre (820-foot) long ice skating circuit on the Space World Amusement park. The theme park in the city of Kitakyushu opened the “Ice Aquarium” as an “attraction never heard about.” A Japanese broadcaster showed the fish frozen in ice on a blue floor, so it looked like they were swimming on the ice. Some formed a school to spell out “HELLO" or make an arrow-shaped sign in the ice.
According to the newspaper Asahi Shimbun, Space World wanted visitors to "have a sense of sliding on the sea." The amusement park's website touted the rink as the first attraction of its kind in the world. In the face of mounting criticism, officials said the fish were already dead before they embedded them into the ice rink. “Misunderstanding spread on the Internet that the fish were frozen alive, but that was not the case. We should have explained more.”
The Issue on Social Media
The general manager of Space World, Toshimi Takeda, said many critical messages were posted on social media, some condemning the concept as abusing living things. "We received critical voices saying it is not good to use creatures as a toy, and that it is bad to let food go to waste." According to Seeker, here are some of the posts from the people who have seen the dead fish.
Social media erupted, with one visitor to the park's Facebook page writing: "An event on an ice rink with frozen fish... How sinful."
"This is not personal but a social issue. They made food into a toy where children go and play," said another.
