Beppu, Japan—already famous for its hot springs—is promoting a whole new take on the standard amusement park. In the somewhat wacky YouTube video below, spotted by Gizmodo, the city shared its dream of building a spa-themed amusement park, or a “spamusement” park.
The viral video showcases jacuzzi-esque roller coaster cars, steam room carnival games, and merry-go-rounds that feature single-person hot spring pools. The city promised that if the video, posted on November 21, reached 1 million views, it would look into implementing the idea. Obviously, it easily surpassed that goal. (A week later, it’s at more than 2 million views.)
It’s uncertain what a spamusement park would look like in reality. It might be hard to make a jacuzzi roller coaster, but the steam room carnival games seem relatively simple to run.
The concept video comes from a city YouTube channel, named, according to Google Translate, something to the effect of “Hot Spring High Standard! Paradise Hell Beppu”—a reference to the city’s “Eight Hells” hot springs, which can reach temperatures of more than 300°F.
In a press release, the mayor confirmed that with the video surpassing its goal of 1 million views, the city hopes to now organize a task force that will help implement the whimsical idea.
[h/t Gizmodo]
Teaser image by Soramimi via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 4.0
November 29, 2016 – 1:30pm