Japanese mayor responds to public after “spamusement park” onsen video reaches 1 million views

The mayor who pledged to create an onsen amusement park if his video received a million views now has another message for the public.

It was just a few days ago when we first heard of the ambitious new “Spamusement Park Project” announced by the mayor of Beppu, a city on the southern island of Kyushu known for its abundance of onsen hot springs. The mayor pledged that he would create an onsen amusement park in Beppu if their promotional video, which featured baths on carousels and roller coasters filled with hot spring water, reached one million views on YouTube.

In case you missed it, you can take a look at the video here:

News of the campaign spread quickly throughout Japan, and overseas, with people watching and sharing the unusual clip, quickly bringing it to its target view count of one million on 24 November, after being online for just four days. As the views kept ticking over, with 1.3 million views now being recorded as of this writing, everyone waited with bated breath to see how the mayor would respond and if he would in fact honour the pledge he’d made.

Today, the mayor’s office distributed a press release to the public, which included a photo of the mayor with the creative team behind the project, punching the air in jubilation.

The mayor was also pictured at his desk, signing a thank-you message written to the public in gratitude for their viewership, which helped to make the new “Spamusement” onsen amusement park a reality for Beppu.

▼ The note uses the Japanese kanji for hot water (湯), which is pronounced “yu“, to make the message read “Thank ‘yu〜’ Very Much”.

Loosely translated, the note reads:

“Message of Thanks
From the Beppu City Mayor, Yasuhiro Nagano.

Thank you very much for viewing Beppu City’s “Spamusement Park Project ‘Yu-enchi Project'” promotional video.

We were surprised by the rapid, speedy response, which allowed us to reach our target of 1 million views in just four days after the clip was uploaded to YouTube.The video was produced as part of an enterprise that began this November, called “Beppu Onsen Academia”.  “Beppu Onsen Academia” was conceived in order to verify the appeal of various hot springs and show the world new types of creative onsen in a city that boasts Japan’s largest number of source-fed onsen and largest yield of hot spring water.

In the video, we used an amusement park as a setting that everyone from children to adults would enjoy, to create the fantastic “Yu-enchi” onsen amusement park, an exciting, thrilling tourist spot that could represent Beppu. I believe that, as one of the world’s best hot spring tourist spots, the appeal of having an onsen theme park in the town creates an opportunity for the citizens of Beppu, particularly young residents, to feel that “Beppu is fun” and have a sense of pride for their hometown.

Requesting input from a large number of people, to make creative onsen and draw up concrete plans, a task force and professional teams will now look towards making the Yu-enchi Project a reality and we would like to go forward with your support.

Everyone, thank you very much. 

24 November 2016 
Beppu Mayor Yasuhiro Nagano

To really drive home the heartfelt sentiment of the letter, the mayor posed for this photo with a clenched fist of determination to succeed with the project, following everyone’s generous support.

In addition to the message of thanks to the public, the mayor’s office has officially confirmed that planning will now go ahead for the onsen amusement park, with further announcements to come in the future, once consultations and implementation details have been finalised. With several mentions of “creative” types of onsen in the mayor’s letter of thanks, we can’t wait to find out more about what types of amazing new baths we can look forward to when the amusement park opens!

Source, images: PR Times

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