You may recall around this time last year, we reported that a strange Sonic the Hedgehog statue had been discovered in the remote woodlands of Japan, some years ago. Now, a TSS reader has managed to travel once more to the exact location and take some more pictures of the statue in situ! Take a look.

At the time of 2018’s post, TSS staffer Dave offered to share the location of the statue (provided to us by SSMB Forum member ‘BxB-Meister’) if one of our readers was brave enough to take the trip there to report back to us. Someone did just that, and thanks to the SSMB Forums we can now share some new images and information on the Mysterious Snowboarding ‘Hog Between The Trees.

Ain’t he a beauty!?

According to Dave on SSMB, our recon-man revealed that the statue once belonged to an official SEGA World theme park, a few towns away from its current location. Sonic was purchased by a group of local farmers and industrialists who live nearby, and he has been living in the woods for around 10-15 years.

Residents living in the area also told us that the surrounding area, known for its remote tranquility and serene woodland, is prone to snowfall – making Sonic look like he’s actually snowboarding down the road! That’s pretty cute. Wonder if any of our readers would be brave enough to try taking some photos in the Winter..?

If you fancy taking a trip to see this wonderful piece of Sonic history, you too can take a bike or car and journey down through the winding roads of Mie prefecture, near Kanonji temple, on the outskirts of Nabari. Check the SSMB thread for the address, but be aware of a few things.

First, that it’s quite difficult to get to, and potentially expensive to boot. You’re probably not going to be able to fit this into a standard holiday itinerary to Japan, so you’d have to be pretty dedicated.

Second – and this is always worth pointing out – is to be super-respectful of the statue and the surrounding area. The last thing the locals need is a bunch of tourists causing a nuisance or, worse, damaging or tampering with what is quite literally private property (the farmers own Sonic!).

It’s a shame as well, because it looks like the statue really needs some tender-loving-care. As cool as it appears, it’s also clear that Sonic has deteriorated quite a lot over the years. Nevertheless, this is very much a pilgrimage that should be undertaken if you plan on leaving it well alone – if you try to fix it yourself, it might make the situation worse anyway.

But, one thing we can say is that after many many years, we have finally uncovered the mystery of the Sonic statue. How it got there. Why it is there. Who owns it. And where. It’s been quite a ride, and we’re definitely seeing if we can plan our next trip to Japan around a visit to what we will now respectfully call the Gnarly Sonic.

Shout out to Dave’s intrepid TSS reporting over the last year to make this happen, too – he’s made a video retelling this and last year’s report as well. You can find that on SSMB too, if you’re curious.

Source: SSMB