Suckers! Japan’s Ubiquitous Octopus Playground Slides

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Thanks to the website of Tomakomai city in Hokkaido, we know the above octopus playground opened on July 3rd of 1973, possibly in connection with the town’s founding a century earlier. The slide looks to be in good shape and sports a relatively recent paint touch-up. Note the small “octopet” installed nearby, separate from the main slide. It’s a common feature of most Japanese octopus climbing frame installations oft-frequented by toddlers not quite ready to play on the main structure.

Octoprickly

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Looking rather like an alien aquatic lifeform turned inside-out by a poorly trained Galaxy Quest crewman, this faded pink playground installation slowly deteriorates in Komae, a town in the western part of metropolitan Tokyo. No telling how long this particular octo-slide has been around but it bears obvious signs of long term use, abuse and haphazard graffiti remediation.

Black Octopi Matter

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At least one of Japan’s classic octopus slides has escaped the country entirely, ending up in Superkilen: a Copenhagen, Denmark urban fitness & recreation area. Somewhere along the way, the molded monster donned an eerie jet black skin… the better to freak out Danish kiddies with!