There is a giant Sonic statue lurking in the woods in Japan. "Location published on Page 4"

[Badnik Mechanic]

8 minutes ago, Dere said:

Hence I think you should also make sure that they're reputable long time members.

Do I have to write up a list of proposed questions and tests for you to approve or something?

[Dere]

1 minute ago, Mayor D said:

Do I have to write up a list of proposed questions and tests for you to approve or something?

My bad, I shall question you no further

[Vector Reeves]

Wow look at that. Joined in to inquire about this and already there are skeptics about my interest in this. I feel flattered! Kinda odd that I would travel all the way to this forest just to vandalize a statue.

I frequently nose around these forums but have had no real intent to post anything until I came across this. Since I’m in Japan, and plan to do some traveling in August, I would certainly be interested in seeing this for myself. I did have an old account here but I honeslty don’t even remember my account name or email address.

As for proof I’m in Japan. I have nothing to prove to anyone. If he wants to give me information on this things location then I will give him whatever info makes him feel comfortable via private email. But I sure as hell am not going to go into detail about where and what I’m doing on public forums just so you can believe where I am located. I’m from the US and I’m working in Japan, that’s all you need to know.

[BaronGrackle]

I just found out about this statue, I love this thread, and I'm enjoying the years-long unfolding of this story.

Speaking of years-long, did anyone try asking a gray-haired SEGA representative about this?

[goku262002]

Hogfather has already been in the works about that, he'll let us know if anything comes up.

EDIT: Oh I thought you meant a current representative. I doubt we can find anyone from 1993 onwards that can even remotely remember what this was all about.

[Sega DogTagz]

Just poking in here, as I'm sure someone thought of this already,

 

but has anyone tried contacting the guys over at Sonic Team? Before it might have been a lost cause, as without an exact location available, the people over there might not have been too keen on that wild goose chase. However now that someone is able to provide that data, they might be more interested in going out to re-claim it or at least take some good photos with it.

 

This is the kind of thing their social media teams live and die for. Somebody get Aaron.

[Detective Kaito]

When I see Classic Sonic with a snowboard, the first thing I think of is Sonic 3 and Icecap Zone. Not sure if anyone has said this before, but maybe this is a really old statue from the early 90s made to promote Sonic 3 or something. lol

[Vector Reeves]

I’ve been asking a few local Japanese friends to find out info on this. Not only can they not find out anything, one of them didn’t even know who Sonic was, LOL!

[BaronGrackle]

Sonic was never popular in Japan. Sonic is wasted in Japan.

[boy-blue]

JUST heard about this from a friend and made an account so I could post here! I'm backpacking Japan and am staying in Osaka, a few hours away. My friend and I are going looking this weekend, please share what you know! @Mayor D

[Badnik Mechanic]

So I'm going to reply here for now... in hindsight I should have posted this earlier but some people get angry over stuff like this which is why I've kept quiet about it.

 

Basically. Since posting that I knew the location. Multiple people have said they would go and then suddenly go silent on me. 

Since about April of last year nobody has asked about it, which is why I've not posted in here since.

 

Now... about a month or two ago. Someone who I know very well who is an avid Sonic fan and a good friend of mine is going to Japan and wants to find the statue.

I have given him the location and he's going to go with the full intention of documenting it. He's going around Easter time so its not long to wait.

And because he's done a lot of organisation already with sorting out travel, scheduling and has managed to get his wife to agree to go as well, which is taking a full day out of his vacation, part of me feels that he should have first 'dibs' at trying to find this, since I know there will be a lot of interest and it will help with his online presence too.

And also, he's been a very good friend to me for quite a long time now so there might also be some loyalty there and I do want him to have that moment of 'wow I'm the first fan to see this in the flesh for years!' moment.

So what I've done, I've messaged him and asked him what he'd like me to do, if he wants me to keep it a secret still or not.

But either way. After is vacation, I will be making the exact location public.

 

I know this probably isn't what boy-blue wants to hear, but since this has come so out of the blue with barely a day to get to know you before you intend to go, I really don't know what's the best move here.

[Badnik Mechanic]

Update: spoken to my buddy. He's said it's ok for you to know. So sent you a follow up PM.

Just need some proof your actually in Japan.

[Badnik Mechanic]

Guys.... We found it!

(Video is basically a summary of this topic, as well as video of the statue itself which was taken at the weekend and the original location of the statue).

These pictures are less than 3 days old.

This is the location of the statue:

ソニックのオブジェ 〒518-0216, Takao, Iga-shi, Mie-ken 518-0216, Japan

We were actually amazingly close to it 3 years ago! We got the right area just the wrong road!

Why Make The Location Public Now?

On the issue of security. The location is very remote and not easy to get to (it's also expensive!), the issue of theft is very unlikely. On the subject of vandalism... well... see the next paragraph, nature is ahead of us.

 

But the main reason... The statue has deteriorated a lot, since the original photos from 3 years ago, and even the one photo from 2016, the statue is decaying badly. It desperately needs some maintenance, moss is growing over large parts of it, some paintwork has completely gone, parts of the statue have broken off, other parts have large cracks in them, even the supports for it are also showing signs of decay.

It desperately needs someone to take care of it.

 

What Else Do We Now Know?

The statue was originally in a Sega World a few towns over.

The following information comes from a local resident who lives nearby.

The area is prone to snowfall, making it look like Sonic is actually snowboarding down the street.

The Statue was purchased by a group of farmers and industrialists who work nearby, it was then placed (gifted?) to the local area. 

It's been in that area for between 10-15 years.

 

Any Other Pictures?

Yes Lots! Can someone name a good place to upload a zip file since I imagine there will be a lot of interest in this?

[goku262002]

It's over, a 3 year mystery is finally over. this is amazing we know all about this thing now I never thought I would see this day tbh.

But maintenance! it needs serious maintenance!! what's the next step in trying to preserve this historic timepiece?!

[Badnik Mechanic]

6 minutes ago, goku262002 said:

It's over, a 3 year mystery is finally over. this is amazing we know all about this thing now I never thought I would see this day tbh.

But maintenance! it needs serious maintenance!! what's the next step in trying to preserve this historic timepiece?!

Well.... The issue is, because of what the local resident said, it likely has an owner, that being the farmers who apparently bought it. So.... even if someone turned up and 'fixed it' that would be illegal. 

The only thing I can think of is... make people care for it, make it get noticed so it becomes a big deal and people want to save it?

[goku262002]

No way the owners can be reasoned with to at least let people who care about this statue try to fix it in anyway possible? it may be just they lack the resources to try to fix it on their own.

A social media push would do wonders for this thing though even in its remote location it would pose a danger of it getting stolen the more it gets noticed.

[AstroSeedP]

So glad to see actual footage of this. I will never forget when I saw it in the distance on google maps. "Is it... Is that it...? Yes! Yes, it is!"

[Shaun Shikeishuu]

That's really cool. Hopefully this statue can somehow be restored and maintained. It be a shame to see it be destroyed by the elements. 

[Multikaris]

2 hours ago, Shaun Shikeishuu said:

That's really cool. Hopefully this statue can somehow be restored and maintained. It be a shame to see it be destroyed by the elements. 

And that the ones in Australia can also be saved, along with this one.

[Badnik Mechanic]

So I've done an update video... Because there have been a few developments.

 

 

First of all, the statue is now a landmark on Google maps.

The statue now appears in Pokemon Go (No really it's there as a Poke'Stop)

 

But the big thing, a professional fabricator and prop maker has been to the statue and examined it.... He took some new pictures and video (Included in the above)...

But he also had some worrying news... The statue is decaying faster than anyone previously thought, parts of it are in really bad shape and some are at real risk of collapse. 

Not only that, but... the board itself is nearly completely rotted away and the main supports are also showing major signs of decay. By his estimates, it's got 5-7 years at the most before it will completely collapse.

 

Is there any good place I can upload the photos that were taken?

 

[Badnik Mechanic]

Oh my GOD! You guys... This happened on the Sonic Livestream today!
 

 

The chat erupted with people chanting for the Sonic statue... And they talked about it! It was the first thing they talked about! In fact the chat was so relentless they had to address it multiple times!

Aaron said he was aware of the story and thought it was amazing. He also said that, he would tell ask his counterparts in Sega of Japan if they could look into it, because it's clearly outside their field of influence. 

So to Review...

In less than a year, we've found the statue.

Got great pictures and video of it.

And now Sega are aware of it and have responded positively to calls to save it.

 

WOW!

[SaturnWolf]

This is great! Especially as a Sonic fan and a lover of weird pieces of history, to actually have the chance of having this restored is amazing.

[Badnik Mechanic]

So... The Japanese Sonic fan base is now aware of the find...

And it caught the attention of a certain stage designer!

 

[Badnik Mechanic]

Oh my God's!

 

[Shaun Shikeishuu]

On 3/30/2019 at 12:55 PM, Mayor D said:

Oh my God's!

 

What did he say?