The Sonic statue in Mie gets repainted!

News from 2020.08.10 
Archived on 2020.11.25 

In my previous article from April 12th 2019, we took a look into the truth about the mysterious Sonic Statue standing in Mie prefecture, Japan.

Mystery of Sonic Statue in the mountains of Mie solved!

Sonic fans were glad to see its mistery finally uncoverrd, but many of u were also concerned about its worn-out status after it being left in moist air of montain region.

Now, there is an advancement in the situation - the statue got repainted!

The initial clues came from few Japanese Twitter users who found the statue in repainting process and posted photos:

🔵The Sonic Statue in Mie is now being repainted! https://t.co/FF8fmXMFyO

— ●SonicJPNews● (@SonicJPNews) August 10, 2020

🔵Looking good! https://t.co/k7IMoOxpZ8

— ●SonicJPNews● (@SonicJPNews) August 10, 2020

Read about the story of this Sonic statue here:https://t.co/NSh3TPsgst

— ●SonicJPNews● (@SonicJPNews) August 10, 2020

It was such a nice surprise! Sonic fans noticed this quickly and shared the information among them. 

This drew attention of the local news journal of Mie prefecture, which conducted an interview with the family of Kodera-san, the late owner of the statue, about how it has come to the repainting.

海外も注目「謎のソニック像」　設置者遺族が補修　伊賀市高尾 https://t.co/cbXKBhb3ED @igayouより

— 伊賀タウン情報YOU (@igayou) August 12, 2020

🔵And the story behind the repair this time, according to local news article:

•about a month ago, the family of Kodera-san decided to hire a painter for the repair from August 8th to 10th, right before Bon season
•the second son of Kodera-san told the interviewer: “While the - https://t.co/qxbe8LwJqD

— ●SonicJPNews● (@SonicJPNews) August 12, 2020

- statue has been gathering more and more attention, it has become too dirty. Now it is surprisingly cleaner. My father, who loved to gather people, would have let him get repaired too if he was still here, so he would be happy about this.”

— ●SonicJPNews● (@SonicJPNews) August 12, 2020

*In the Bon season in Japan, it is said that the ancestors’ spirits come visit their family.

— ●SonicJPNews● (@SonicJPNews) August 12, 2020

So it was the power of us Sonic fans who impressed the family of Kodera-san and resulted in protecting the statue. We should be thankful for the Kodera family for taking action. 

Creators of Sonic, Naka-san and Hoshino-san reacted to this news too: 

謎のソニック像って色塗り直したんですね。何となくですが、あの古い感じが歴史を感じて良い味を出していたようにも思うんですけどね。また見に行かないとですかね。

海外も注目「謎のソニック像」　設置者遺族が補修　伊賀市高尾 https://t.co/dUYw0SMpsq @igayouより

— Yuji Naka / 中　裕司 (@nakayuji) August 13, 2020

🔵Naka-san on Sonic statue repair:
“The mysterious Sonic statue has been repainted. I kind of liked the way the weathered look it had, one could feel a history behind it. I need to go see him again someday.” https://t.co/YWzq1tZAYd

— ●SonicJPNews● (@SonicJPNews) August 14, 2020

According to the article, the owner's family has fixed it.
https://t.co/andGzSz5Ws @igayou

— Kazuyuki Hoshino (@KazuyukiHoshino) August 13, 2020

And SEGA Forever too: 

Mad respect to whoever restored this secret Sonic statue! 🔵💨 https://t.co/OdQebxeHh0

— SEGA Forever (@SEGAForever) August 10, 2020

Tweets collected by: Tabiki
Texts by: Knuttunk
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Mystery of Sonic Statue in the mountains of Mie solved!

News from 2019.04.12
Archived on 2019.04.22

Big news! The mystery of the Sonic Statue in the mountains of Mie is finally solved!



Here is the article on J-Town Net which summarized the whole story:

三重の山奥にある「謎のソニック像」　設置主の遺族が、すべての真相を語った 
https://j-town.net/tokyo/news/localnews/277903.html?p=all


I summarized the article in a few tweets as follows, but I might also do a complete translation of it later.

↓　↓　↓

Naka-san on the mysterious Sonic statue in mountains of Mie prefecture

News from 2019.04.05-08
Archived on 2019.04.22

As the location of the mysterious Sonic statue in mountains of Mie prefecture was located on Google Map, Naka-san, who found an article about it, addressed the issue.

この記事にGoogleMapのアドレスがあるので、きちんとした場所がやっとわかりましたね。いつか見に行ってみたいですね。正月に三重県の伊勢や松阪に車で行ってたので、知っていたら見に行けたのにと思いました。しかし10年以上前からあるんですねこのままにしてほしいですね。 https://t.co/DxAWoYKnx8

— Yuji Naka / 中　裕司 (@nakayuji) April 7, 2019

🔵Naka-san on abandoned Sonic statue in Mie prefecture:
"This article has the address on Google Map, so finally I know where exactly to find it. I want to go see it someday. I drove to Ise and Matsuzaka in Mie prefecture for the New Year, so -

— ●SonicJPNews● (@SonicJPNews) April 7, 2019

- I could have visited it if I knew. It's surprising that it's there since over 10 years ago. I hope it will be left there."

— ●SonicJPNews● (@SonicJPNews) April 7, 2019

So now everyone can go and visit the statue there with our smartphone in out hand. The power of technology!

What is going to happen with the statue though? If it looks very old and damaged, it probably should be repaired.
Then next question would be, who is the owner of the statue? Will they let SEGA or us fans to restore it?

車と一緒に写真を撮るの良いですね。 https://t.co/DxGutpG1yr

— Yuji Naka / 中　裕司 (@nakayuji) April 7, 2019

"It's nice to take pictures of it together with a car."
- Yuji Naka

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