About
That Pool (Japanese: 例のプール, Rei no Pool or あのプール, Ano Pool) is a nickname given to an indoor swimming pool in Hana Zono Room, a luxury apartment-style studio located in Tokyo, Japan. On the web, the studio has become a popular monument of Japanese pornography due to its frequent usage as a location set by idol agencies and adult entertainment companies.
Origin
Owned and operated by Japanese real estate company P Studio, Hanazono Room[1] was built in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district sometimes in the early 2000s. Due to its proximity to Japanese model agencies and production companies, the studio’s indoor pool became frequently used as a backdrop for swimsuit photo shoots and adult films, especially low-budget productions with limitations on location shoots. However, it is unclear exactly when people took notice of the location or coined the nickname “That Pool.”
Spread
Sometime in the mid-2000s, a few of users on BBSPINK, 2channel‘s sister board community for adult contents, began to take notice of an indoor pool commonly featured in idol magazine spreads as well as a few adult films. Several BBSPINK threads for talking about this pool were posted in 2005[2] and 2007.[3] During this period, BBSPINK users were able to identify the pool’s location as Hanazono Room and began referring to it as “That Pool,” though it mostly remained an in-joke within the community.
Shift-JIS Art for “That Pool” by 2channel user
Throughout the first half of 2009, discussions and mentions of “That Pool” saw a visible increase in online presence through male Japanese internet bloggers and Twitter users. By early 2010, the infamous pool had been used as the backdrop for erotic parodies of Miku Miku Dance videos on Nico Nico Douga, as well as illustrations on pixiv[6] and Nico Nico Seiaga.[7] In addition, the pool has been occasionally rented by amateur photographer for Doujin cosplay photo shoots.
Cosplay Photo Shooting Event at “That Pool”
Nowadays, even news outlets openly refer to this pool as “That Pool”.[8] In an article published on September 6th, 2012, Taiwanese news site NOWnews[9] introduced “That Pool” as one of the rooms recognized by more than 90% Taiwanese men. in In summer of 2013, Nico Nico Douga’s official gift-exchanging event for premium users listed the right to join in a shooting event at “That Pool” in one of the present items.[10] This event was live-broadcasted by Nico Nico Live on August 29th[11] and reported in an online article by a Japanese gossip magazine on September 5th.[12] The article also described the growing presence of “That Pool” on the web, noting that “every Japanese men has definitely watched it.”
Notable Examples
“That Pool” has been used in Miku Miku Dance videos since after its stage model data was uploaded to Nico Nico Douga on December 20th, 2009.[13]
【ニコニコ動画】【第4回MMD杯本選】爆乳音頭を踊ってみた\ パイ↑パ~イ↓/【ニコニコ動画】Tda式Appendミクを水着にしてみた
Left: “Big Boobs Dance”(爆乳音頭) by Bakunyu Sangokushi | Right: Hatsune Miku (Ver. Tda)
【ニコニコ動画】ミク得!【ニコニコ動画】【アイドルマスター】俺の春香がこんなに可愛いわけがない【MMD】
Left: Hatsune Miku (ver. LAT) | Right: THE iDOLM@STER
Photos & Illustrations
Search Interest
External References
Editor’s Note: Registration is needed to browse the original videos listed in this section.
[1]pstudio – pstudio 136 Hanazono Room (Japanese)
[2]mimizun.com – あのプールが出てくる作品をまとめるスレ / Posted on 10-10-2005 (Thread Archive, Japanese) [NSFW!!]
[3]mimizun.com – ☆なぞのプール あの女優がここでチョメチョメ☆ / Posted on 09-29-2007 (Thread Archive, Japanese) [NSFW!!]
[4]Wikipedia – Kōji Ishizaka
[5]niconico Video – Search results for 例のプール
[6]pixiv – Search results for 例のプール
[7]Nico Nico Seiga – Search results for 例のプール (Japanese)
[8]cyzo.com – "あのプール"で恵比寿マスカッツのTシャツに水鉄砲を噴射してきた!! / 12-21-2011 (Japanese)
[9]NOWnews – 台灣有一個 90%以上男人都認得的房間? / 09-06-2012 (Mandarin Chinese)
[10]ITmedia News – 「例のプールで撮影会」「マグロ解体ショー」「神崎かおりオフ会」――ニコニコ感謝祭のプレゼントがカオス / 06-26-2013 (Japanese)
[11]nico nico Live – 【例のプールから生放送】鶯谷フィルハーモニー 第5回 / 08-29-2013 (Japanese, Closed)
[12]日刊SPA! – 男なら知っている!「例のプール」でチュートリアル徳井も大興奮 / 09-05-2013 (Japanese)
[13]niconico Video – 【MMD】あのプール / Posted on 12-20-2009