Outcry at thousands of fish frozen in Japanese ice rink

A Japanese skating park where about 5000 fish were frozen into the ice has apologised and dismantled the bizarre attraction following a barrage of criticism on social media.

Space World, in the south-western Japanese city of Kitakyushu, was lambasted for its "cruel" and "immoral" skating rink, which featured around 5,000 dead black fish, reported The Japan Times.

On Sunday the operators, Space World Inc, bowed to the criticism and closed the rink while issuing an apology.

“We deeply apologize to the people who felt uncomfortable over the Aquarium of Ice event. In accordance, we have stopped the event from today,” a statement from the operators said.

One of the photos apparently posted on the company’s official Facebook page showed dozens of red fish half-buried in the rink, their eyes and mouths wide open and exposed above the surface.

Another photo posted on the firm’s Twitter account showed a school of hundreds of black fish frozen in the ice, with some placed as if they were swimming around a pillar in the rink.

According to local media, the park managers bought small dead fish from a market and buried them in the ice.