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Japanese Idols Are Selling Their Used Bathwater for $900 a Bottle

Japanese Idols

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    In a bizarre new take on the business of idol merchandise, two Japanese idols of a J-pop girl group sold their leftover bathwater last month.

    The Banana Monkeys

    Tenka no Chanyuki and Asuka Rei from The Banana Monkeys soaked in a tub that had turned purple from bath powder, which their label claimed to be particularly expensive.

    And so to recover the costs, their management decided to scoop out the leftover water and sell them in bottles.

    Tenka no Chanyuki

    “It’s water that idols soaked in, so it’s definitely clean,” The Banana Monkeys’ official Twitter account said, according to SoraNews24. “You can drink it or add a little to your own tub and feel like you’re taking a bath together with the idols.”

    Asuka Rei

    Recommending the leftover bathwater as a beverage can be questionable, but it’s also unclear whether the bottles made any sales. 

    They are sold each for a whopping 100,000 yen ($900) — which actually happens to be a sale price on Mercari, a secondhand online store.

    The listing has since been deleted, but no one has come forward to claim a purchase.

    Japanese Twitter users weren’t fans of the idea:

    “‘It’s clean because the idols soaked in’? WHAT?”

    “Someday I will start selling pee.”

    “Only an idiot would buy this.”

    “This is beyond ridiculous.”

    “It’s disgusting.”

    Images via Twitter / info_banamon

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