Fudo no Yu, a famous hot spring located in Japan was once a place where people could go to relax in the mineral-rich waters, take a steam and just chill for a bit. But not anymore because now it’s closed due to the fact that so many people were taking advantage of it to have wild orgies – some of which eventually appeared online in videos.
After a year of complaints enough is now apparently enough.
The Guardian reports…
Only about 10 people can bathe comfortably at any one time, but it draws large numbers of visitors hoping to relax in its mountain forest setting.
However, the bath’s secluded location encouraged exhibitionists, who took advantage of the absence of a caretaker and its policy of collecting a modest 200 yen admission fee through an honesty box, according to Japanese media reports.
Local residents and other bathers had been complaining about witnessing lewd acts for about a year, but the last straw appeared to have been a succession of weekend orgies involving as many as 15 middle-aged men and several younger women, according to the Tokyo Reporter website.
The bath, part of the popular Shiobara onsen resort, is also thought to have been targeted by voyeurs armed with cameras, the site said, citing a report in the Mainichi Shimbun.
Probably just as well, I don’t think Fudo no Yu’s appeal as a tourist attraction was getting much help once it became widely known as a petri dish of god knows what.
“We are sorry, but it was breach of manners that was impossible to overlook,” an unnamed member of the local residents’ association told the Asahi Shimbun. “We had no choice but to close the bath.”
I’d like to just chalk this up to the usual, “only in Japan,” but they’re not the only ones who always make it impossible for us to have nice things. They’re just the latest.
H/T Death and Taxes; Image via Happy Place