Japanese rescue crews and journalists have been left red-faced after they arrived to a report of a woman drowning in a local waterway only to discover it was a life-like sex doll bobbing about in the water.
The incident happened in the harbour city of Hachinohe on Japan’s north-east coast.
“The woman” in the water was first noticed by local YouTuber Natsuki Tanaka who was down by the water filming fishing footage.
Tanaka later tweeting: “While I was shooting a fishing video, I thought that a human corpse was floating and it was a sex doll.”
Another good samaritan then phoned authorities over the possibility of a corpse in the water which prompted the immediate arrival of the police, fire department, ambulance and local news crews.
According to media reports, one person even dove into the water to attempt a rescue; however, the efforts all came to nought when everybody soon realised they were dealing with a Latex situation and not a real human one.
Another spectator, Twitter user @PowerSportsVoW, later tweeted: “Off Hachinohe,” they wrote alongside an image of the doll being dragged out of the harbour. “Illegal dumping of oversized garbage!” They then thanked authorities for all their “hard work”.
According to other media reports, sex dolls being mistaken for dead people aren’t a new occurrence.
Back in 2018, Fox 59 News reported a deflated sex doll had also been mistaken for a body in the Colerian Township in Ohio in Cincinnati the the US.
The report noted: “Authorities say Hamilton County engineers called Colerain police Thursday afternoon when they spotted a ‘body’ near Richardson Forest Preserve. Police say the figure wrapped in a garbage bag had been abandoned on a hillside.
“Colerain Police chief Mark Denney says officers pulled the figure out of the bag and discovered it was turned a life-sized female sex doll. Authorities say the doll looked lifelike from a distance. They referred to it as a ‘recreational mannequin’.”
