That Pool

About

That Pool (Japanese: 例のプール, Rei no Pool or あのプール, Ano Pool) refers 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^[5], 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]

Photos & Illustrations

Search Interest

External References

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