Sewer swimming for Osaka

[Taro Toporific]

Today's Sankei Shimbun (in Japanese)) is reporting that the fun folks in the city of Osaka are planning a Dotonbori sewer swimming area. [floatl][/floatl]
According to Sankei Shimbun, local merchants are planing to create a "Pool Dotonbori" for swimming in the toxic Dotonbori Canal. Their plans are to line part of the foul canal with a hi-tech waterproof fabric and then fill that section of the canal with city tap water to create a swimming area that will be 1 km long and 12 to 14 meters wide.
The swimming area even plans to have designated diving spots so the drunks can safely enjoy their revelry. The fee for swimming will be 2,000 yen for two hours, and there are plans for commercial sponsors and advertising for sewer swimming.

[color="Silver"]m0Ar...[/color]

[Netherlander]

[Marked Trail]

[Typhoon]

Given a choice, I'd rather jump into Osaka tap water than sewer water.

[plaid_knight]

This sounds like the setup for a Bad Idea Jeans commercial.

[Coligny]

This sounds like the setup for a Bad Idea Jeans commercial.

Wait... Badi Dea Motor corp is still in business ?

My Wombat LE has been in backorder for the last 10 years...

http://budugllydesign.com/archivebud/badidea/badidea.html

[Greji]

Given a choice, I'd rather jump into Osaka tap water than sewer water.

'bout the same, isn't it?

[Osakadave]

Seems like just another case of sanitizing away the grubby charm of Osaka in a long line of attempts to clean up the place and turn it into just another sterile, characterless J city.

[cstaylor]

charm of Osaka

Rare as the unicorn, unless "charm" is used sarcastically.

[matsuki]

Haven't people died from jumping into that mess?

[tone]

kind of a cool idea, but im not wild about the bodies of water over here...

which is worse, living on a steady diet of fish caught off of heiwajima or swimming in that water once or twice in a lifetime

i did my ganges river dip while in india, that was supposed to be auspicious but i have to wonder what other possible thing could have latched on and become part of what ive got going on

[dimwit]

Haven't people died from jumping into that mess?

I have heard that some people have contracted some nasty skin conditions from diving in that murk, and I do seem to recall that during and last Hanshin Tigers penant win someone died, but whether it was due to hitting rocks or one of the many, many, many stolen bicycle that have been dumped in their over the past 50 years who knows?

I can't for the life of me figure out why they haven't just buried the thing.

[gaijinpunch]

This sounds like the setup for a Bad Idea Jeans commercial.

Haha -- I remember that sketch. Fucking hilarious.

I have heard that some people have contracted some nasty skin conditions from diving in that murk, and I do seem to recall that during and last Hanshin Tigers penant win someone died,

I lived in Hawaii when they had those biblical floods (40 days solid) and had to empty sewer mans into the Ala Wai Canal. One guy fell* in and died from flesh eating bacteria a few days later, only after having a leg fully amputated and his body swelling to levels where he was unrecognizable.

Have fun diving in that shit guys -- I will stick to sentous and indoor pools that have 3x normal chlorine levels.

*pushed, in a fight reportedly

[Netherlander]

I lived in Hawaii when they had those biblical floods (40 days solid) and had to empty sewer mans into the Ala Wai Canal. One guy fell* in and died from flesh eating bacteria a few days later, only after having a leg fully amputated and his body swelling to levels where he was unrecognizable.

Holy Sh_t! That's a scary story........

[Russell]

Holy Sh_t! That's a scary story........

I thought it might be educational to post some pics of the condition here, but after doing a Google image search, I decided to refrain.

WTFornicate. It is beyond fucked.

[Coligny]

I thought it might be educational to post some pics of the condition here, but after doing a Google image search, I decided to refrain.

WTFornicate. It is beyond fucked.

Come on don't be such a pussy, it can't be that bad coming from such a cuty:



A GIS later...

What The Faroulmadjalmahamadahadmaliha...

MAKE IT STOP...

[Russell]

Well, ..., if you guys insist...



This one is so bad that it looks Hollywoodesque, thus making it seem less serious (maybe).

At least the guy will be able to properly brush his wisdom tooth...
And he sure as hell has a captivating smile.
Dunno what those octopus legs do in the background, though.

Now I think of it, it kind of looks like my Avatar...

[FG Lurker]

Rare as the unicorn, unless "charm" is used sarcastically.

Rik is (mostly) a fetish photographer so as expected his site is NSFW (and definitely worth a visit.)

[cstaylor]

It would be wonderful if Osaka took a page from South Carolina's book and just seceded from the rest of the country, before they declare the Dotonbori a SuperFund site.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

Rik is (mostly) a fetish photographer so as expected his site is NSFW (and definitely worth a visit.)

Any relation to Dirty?

[FG Lurker]

It would be wonderful if Osaka took a page from South Carolina's book and just seceded from the rest of the country

Japan should just split along the 50Hz/60Hz line. You guys can keep Sony, all the fuckwits in the national government, and the nuclear wasteland. Have fun.

before they declare the Dotonbori a SuperFund site.

I'd sooner swim in the Dotonbori than have to live in the greater Tokyo area.

[cstaylor]

I'd sooner swim in the Dotonbori than have to live in the greater Tokyo area.

If Hashimoto runs under that slogan, he may have a chance!

[Cyka UchuuJin]

Rik is (mostly) a fetish photographer so as expected his site is NSFW (and definitely worth a visit.)

i have one of those.

i also have an idiot friend that jumped off the bridge on new year's eve. aside from freezing himself blue, he smelled awful and other than us sticking pocketwarmers all over him and leaving him in the corner of a bar to wallow, he seemed fine. he just kept saying 'it was so fucking cold and scary and dark, man'.

you can only guess his profession...

[Coligny]

you can only guess his profession...

French secret services ?

Japan should just split along the 50Hz/60Hz line. You guys can keep Sony, all the fuckwits in the national government, and the nuclear wasteland. Have fun.

w00t w00t... we stayz togezur forevur'

[Samurai_Jerk]

I'd sooner swim in the Dotonbori than have to live in the greater Tokyo area.

I love it when gaijin take on the regional or national prejudices of our hosts. It's so cute.

[FG Lurker]

I love it when gaijin take on the regional or national prejudices of our hosts. It's so cute.

My disdain for living in Tokyo has nothing to do with national prejudices. I used to have to travel to Tokyo regularly for business (2-3 times a month) and have absolutely no desire to live there. I don't even like visiting for the most part, it's "tolerable" at best.

[Coligny]

My disdain for living in Tokyo has nothing to do with national prejudices. I used to have to travel to Tokyo regularly for business (2-3 times a month) and have absolutely no desire to live there. I don't even like visiting for the most part, it's "tolerable" at best.

Seriously +1 +1 +1

A city where you can't see the sky because of the buildings and can't see the floor because of the crowd...

Thanks, but no thanks...

[Cyka UchuuJin]

Seriously +1 +1 +1

A city where you can't see the sky because of the buildings and can't see the floor because of the crowd...

Thanks, but no thanks...

+1

Out of curiousity, the first time you went to Japan, did you visit Kanto or Kansai?

I ask because my first trip there was to visit a friend in Osaka. I visited Tokyo on my second trip to Japan, but I kind of already 'knew' that I would very firmly be a Kansai girl when I moved there. I'm wondering if people's preference has anything to do with their first impressions of the country.

[Samurai_Jerk]

+1

Out of curiousity, the first time you went to Japan, did you visit Kanto or Kansai?

I ask because my first trip there was to visit a friend in Osaka. I visited Tokyo on my second trip to Japan, but I kind of already 'knew' that I would very firmly be a Kansai girl when I moved there. I'm wondering if people's preference has anything to do with their first impressions of the country.

My first visit was to Kobe but I've been in the Tokyo area the whole time I've lived here. Of course I came on JET and they put me in Saitama. The reason I prefer this area is because this is where my personal and professional networks are. Otherwise every place I've been in Japan is pretty much the same: ugly architecture, shitty infrastructure and poorly built homes. The only difference is the concentration of people and central Osaka isn't exactly empty. On the other hand if you live and work in Kanagawa or Western Tokyo it's not such a clusterfuck.

[Coligny]

I did not "visit" japan... I somehow knew that if I was doing a test drive I would never have stayed... To quote Marco Ramius:" When he reached the New World, Cortez burned his ships. As a result his men were well motivated."

So I landed straight up with cat and cargo in Nagoya... which is a pompous shithole... especially in July... especially when the day before I was still in the Latin Quarter of Paris... (in a library to check a map in order to know precisely where Japan was, because my last intel report stated something among the line "last piece of land in the right side of the map, shaky and not well liked by its neighbourgs"). The only thing keeping me from total insanity was regular trip to Meji Mura with the gut feeling that things just went downhill after this period... But going back home after this was like going cold turkey after an opium binge (I was told)

After I discovered Toyohashi... Which was much more in line with what I could stand from a cityscape when the whole TIJ bullshit have already taken its toll... Even the weather here is tamed (a bit) by the sea breeze... And the former city hall have sculted giant stones eagles to protect... from something...

My first trip to Tokyo was few month after and the big plus was the plentiful shops... but I immediately felt like some pressure on my chest and trouble to breath without panicking... entirely psychological ailment... due to heat/crowd/overconstruction. It was to the point where I was eager to go back to Nagoya... where the sky is still easier to spot...

Yokohama left me with good memories, mostly the architecture... the building try to have at least a bit of personality and don't just try to cram the maximum number of lemmings in the minimal footprint. But way too many dogs... it's like if people gave up on kids and try to fill the void with K9...