--- description: A Japanese amusement park faced a deluge of criticism after opening an ice skating rink featuring thousands of dead fish suspended in ice. title: A Japanese Skating Rink Froze 5,000 Dead Fish in the Ice. People Were Not Happy image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb451f3d8e0f04c1e/6988afc8524fc02050dfa5ac/japan-dead-fish-frozen.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # A Japanese Skating Rink Froze 5,000 Dead Fish in the Ice. People Were Not Happy by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 28, 2016 3:27 PM CUT  A photo shows a thousand of dead fish frozen into the ice at a skating rink at the Space World amusement park in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture on Nov. 27, 2016. A photo shows a thousand of dead fish frozen into the ice at a skating rink at the Space World amusement park in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture on Nov. 27, 2016.Kengo Umeno—AP by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 28, 2016 3:27 PM CUT A [Japanese](http://time.com/1422/japanese-fishermen-slaughter-dozens-of-dolphins/ "undefined") amusement park faced a deluge of criticism after opening an ice skating rink featuring thousands of dead fish suspended in ice. Space World, in the southwestern city of Kitakyushu, closed the aquarium-themed skating rink on Nov. 17 after an online campaign called the attraction, “immoral,” “cruel” and “disrespectful of life,” [reports the _Guardian_](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/28/anger-as-japanese-skating-rink-freezes-thousands-of-fish-into-ice-as-gimmick "undefined"). The outcry began after a local TV report on the rink, which featured about 5,000 dead mackerel and other fish embedded in ice. Some of the frozen fish were positioned to spell out “hello,” while others formed arrows to guide skaters in the correct direction around the rink. According to the newspaper [_Asahi Shimbun_](http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201611270034.html "undefined"), Space World wanted visitors to “have a sense of sliding on the sea.” The amusement park’s website touted the rink as the first attraction of its kind in the world. In the face of mounting criticism, officials told _Asahi Shimbun_ that the fish were already dead before they embedded them into the ice. “Misunderstanding spread on the Internet that the fish were frozen alive, but that was not the case. We should have explained more.” The park plans to hold a memorial service for the fish next year. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4583375/japan-skating-rink-frozen-fish/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4583375/japan-skating-rink-frozen-fish/"},"headline":"A Japanese Skating Rink Froze 5,000 Dead Fish in the Ice. People Were Not Happy","datePublished":"2016-11-28T15:27:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:00:15.779Z","description":"The rink shut down after protests that it was \"immoral\" and \"cruel\"","url":"https://time.com/4583375/japan-skating-rink-frozen-fish/","keywords":["viral","Japan"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb451f3d8e0f04c1e/6988afc8524fc02050dfa5ac/japan-dead-fish-frozen.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tara John","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tara-john/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb451f3d8e0f04c1e/6988afc8524fc02050dfa5ac/japan-dead-fish-frozen.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"5000 frozen dead fish under the ice rink in Japan","caption":"5000 frozen dead fish under the ice rink in Japan","creditText":"Kengo Umeno—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4583375/japan-skating-rink-frozen-fish/","name":"A Japanese Skating Rink Froze 5,000 Dead Fish in the Ice. People Were Not Happy"}}]}] ```