Two 19-year-old boys in Mie Prefecture have been arrested for causing an onsen to overflow after pouring shampoo into the natural hot spring last August. The suspects, who cannot be named because they are minors, were charged with forcible obstruction of business, Fuji TV reported Wednesday.
According to police, the two boys visited the Kumanogawa Onsen Satsuki facility in Shingu, Wakayama Prefecture. They filled the men’s onsen with shampoo and body soap provided by the bathhouse, causing an excessive amount of bubbles to overflow into the bathing area.
At the time of the incident, a total of eight empty shampoo and body soap bottles were found in the men’s bathing section. The damage forced the bathhouse to close for a day.
Police managed to identify the suspects after reviewing video footage from surveillance cameras.
The boys were quoted by police as saying they did it just for a prank.
© Japan Today
28 Comments
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Ex_Res
At 19 years of age they should have known better. They are not boys, they are juvenile delinquents. (A growing problem in Japan).
Perhaps their parents should take some of the responsibility too.
veejay
These kids are twats. Most are but they still need to be shamed so that they can avoid doing such stupid stuff in the future. If I were on holiday and it were ruined by such twats my response would be a lot more physical
lostrune2
Some do this on the outdoor water fountain in the city
There's much bubbles overflowing for everyone
Tom Webb
There are no 19 year old boys in this world. Japan pampers their kids until middle age !!! Onsen operator should have tanned their hides and strung them up by their thumbs.
Mocheake
At least those bubbles smelled good.
pacint
Age of adulthood is 20, soon to become 18.
Age of voting is 18.
maybeperhapsyes
I think the "forcible obstruction of business" charge carries some weight in Japan, because not only is there damage, but loss of income too.
That trumps criminal damage.
I may be wrong though.
BurakuminDes
The scary thing is these two children are now permitted to vote here!
Im guessing mum and dad are gonna be footing a pretty large compensation bill to the onsen for lost business. These kids are grounded for a decade.
Strangerland
Can you imagine how many bubbles 8 bottles of shampoo would create!
Strangerland
They may have been at the entrance, not necessarily inside.
yokohamarides
My brother, when he was about 13, poured a box of laundry detergent into a fountain outside a train station in my hometown. The entire parking lot, was covered in 10 feet of bubbles.
Goodlucktoyou
I can see it funny in a public fountain, but a natural spring onsen? That water is special.
sir_bentley28
Am I the only one who is uncomfortable with this? In an onsen?
Strangerland
Age of adulthood in Japan is 20.
Luddite
Boys? They are 19, they can vote and get married, they are not boys.
inkochi
In a comedy movie, funny - maybe (maybe would be a stupid movie too).
Real life, not funny.
It is in the news now, so just wait for some other idiot to copy or try to out-do.
Strangerland
They would have to clean out the tub of all the shampoo. If there was no damage, nothing would have to be cleaned. Maybe it's not permanent damage, but it's damage nonetheless.
Which at a private business that requires profits to continue, is obstruction of business. You know, that thing they got charged with.
Strangerland
Does that charge exist in the Japanese legal system? And what are the punishments for the two charges? Which one is worse, and by how much?
Maria
Funny? For the onsen owners it was expensive to fix, and lost them a day's profits. It is also very wasteful - all that water which, even if it is used elsewhere afterwards, had to be replaced before it needed to be.
Idiots.
Strangerland
It would have been funny to see I'm sure. That said, it would appear they dumped eight bottles of shampoo into the water. That's a lot of shampoo. It would require shutting down that tub, dumping all the water, then rinsing it incessantly until the shampoo until it was all gone. That's a lot of time (cleaning the pool, buying replacement shampoo) money (paying salaries to clean the pool and replacing the shampoo) and hassle (visitors staying that night would not have been able to use one of the pools).
It's vandalism. Kind of funny, but vandalism nonetheless, and the arrest in this case was correct.
It's not meaningless at all - their actions did obstruct the business. It looks to be an entirely appropriate charge.
Geoff Gillespie
Umm...sorry, but isn't this funny? Am I the only one here who sees the humour in this?
Probably, yes....