 I saw people lighting up the chat about the Sonic statue. I feel like, what's the Sonic statue? There's this amazing story about this... Everyone has the same question. Why is the story in Japan, in the mountains, of this like Sonic statue is kind of like on a snowboard? Hidden somewhere in the mountains of Japan. And it's just like in the middle of the woods somewhere. 15 years ago, one man made a decision that would, in later years, bring an entire internet community together to locate one of history's last gaming mysteries. Right here in Japan, that is the mystery of the Sonic statue. Done with their totally not scripted walk-off camera. It's about time we start our journey across Japan to unravel the mystery of the Japanese Sonic statue. And that's precisely what brings me here to Japan, Tokyo in fact. This is the Meiji Jingu Gardens, inner gardens I should say. Which is a lovely little walk. Unfortunately because it's winter and we're doing this, everything is kind of dead. So I'd recommend not coming in winter. But if you need a break from the busy Harajuku Main Street, I would suggest coming here. We tried to record the intro there first. Spoilers didn't go very well. Excuse me, oh god. Can you see me? Maybe we should go somewhere else. This is the... cut, can we cut? So let's not waste any more time and catch the Shinkansen all the way down the country. So why? With that final piece the camera done, we caught the bullet train from Tokyo all the way to a town called Nagoya. These trains can reach up to speeds of 200 miles per hour. But not that this footage really does it any justice though. Told you. The Okonomiyaki that we had there looked so good I just had to record it. But I'm getting sidetracked, let's get back to the actual thing. Our second and final train was from Nagoya to Matsusaki. A train that was a lot slower than the Shinkansen. But finally we broke free from the constraints of the Japanese massive concrete jungles and into more of a rural area of Japan. As we approached Matsusaki, the mountains in the distance were a reminder of the journey we still had to face. And that somewhere in there was that mysterious Sonic statue. I'd peem ludicrous enough to come all the way here to find. The search for the Sonic statue begins. So we've just arrived in Matsusaki. Unfortunately the Sonic statue is all the way in the mountains, which is still about an hour and a half away from here. So we're going to need a different way of getting there. And something that I think Sonic would be really proud of. Some fast, sporty, you know, Zepixas. Also Japanese. Meaning it's small, a very tall guy. This little 850cc engine is actually a K-car made by Daiatsu and rebranded to be a Toyota. And in fact the whole Pixas line is. And with that we began our journey into the mountains. There was however a slight problem, that being the road. In the city the roads were completely fine. But in the mountains, as it turns out, the roads weren't designed for anything bigger than our little Toyota Pixas. And in some places it got quite hairy. Now it makes sense why nobody found this statue. This is crazy. Oh look at that. That is Jurassic Park. That's like an electric fence. That's like the Dolophosaurus exhibit. We've taken the scenery, I think a lot of people who have went to see the statue have not went this way. I've not went this way. I've got to admit. Oh look at that. What? That's not being used anymore, right? So while I drive through this beautiful yet deadly forest, let's talk about this Sonic statue. First discovered in 2015, completely by accident, by a biker riding around in the Mi Prefecture. And apart from these pictures that were posted, there was literally no documentation of it at all. It's like it didn't exist. A few members of the community dedicated themselves to try and find out more about the statue. They agreed that if anyone of them managed to discover its location, it would be kept a secret for fear of vandalism or worse, theft. Though their internet search was turning up nothing, they did manage to find one old blog which had this picture in it. The Sonic statue before it lost its nose, predating the pictures the motorcyclists took. And the date on the blog was from 2009. So it was pretty much anybody's guess how long this Sonic statue had been in the mountains for. Even though this discovery wasn't in itself much, it stood up a whole new found effort for the community to find where this statue was. And then, judging by the climate and the types of trees that were in the background of the images that were discovered, the community managed to find out exactly where it was by Google Maps. They scoured the area, I'm assuming, and managed to find the Sonic statue hiding away in a little country road. That agreement from a while ago was held true actually. The location of the Sonic statue, only a few people were allowed to know of it. They didn't know who owned the statue, who it belonged to, maybe Sega, a local, nobody knew. And it wasn't until a little while after that that a video or an old commercial for a Sega world in Japan, that statue was found in it. The same pose, Sonic, it looked identical. Who owned the Sonic statue? And more to the point, how did it even get there? Let's drive a little bit closer, shall we? And I'll tell you. Oh my God, there it is. Look at the phone, look at your phone. It was so close. Oh, this looks like it. Oh my God. And there it was, after a whole day of travelling, we'd finally made it to the statue. It's still here. I mean, well, I don't know what I expected really. Do you want to get out and see it? I ain't waiting all this time to not get out and see it. There he is. It's actually way bigger than I thought it would be. No, his nose fell off. Did you not know that? He seemed better days. It has to be said, he's definitely seen better days. It's safe to say I was a little excited. I spent the first half an hour taking in every bit of detail. It's a metaphor really, like Sonic, the franchise. It's not in a great place, needs a little bit of tender love and care. He's missing the underneath of his shoe. This is the end of the snowboard that was against the wall at the Sega world. I think that was probably always like that. I don't think that actually fell off. From that image where it was taken in the advert, it was about there. Look at the tree. It's growing around the rope that's holding it up. This was supposed to be like Knuckles' head somewhere under there. On the road, trees. Yeah. Oh wait, what's that? Oh, Sonic. Didn't see you there. I just like to think that when people look around and the cars go, what they do? Wait, what? The more I'm here, the more I get the feeling it's going to fall on me and that's going to be my legacy. He was killed by the mysterious Sonic statue. How did it get here? This massive, absolutely massive Sonic statue through, I think it was a Japanese news article who wanted to find out more about it. The team went to a local village. It's not too far away. They asked a bed and breakfast or a hotel about the statue and they said that they moved in or they took over the business 15 years ago. This was already here and it was found out that this very Sonic statue was owned by Mr. Cadeo. Now, when this statue was at the Sega world, it was being auctioned off when a lot of the interior was being renovated and either he or his son decided to take upon themselves and bring it right here. But why here, you might ask? Well, up this road just behind the Sonic statue lies Mr. Cadeo's residence and he decided to place it here because this country road really doesn't have any landmarks. So, as a way to welcome people to his house as well as a signpost, he decided to erect it right here. According to that article, when he did, he invited everyone from the local community to just enjoy it just as he did. He realised that there must have been something special about the statue and he wanted to preserve it and share it with everybody else. Thanks to his story and the legacy that this Sonic statue for years didn't have but now it does. Everyone on the internet could share in one of the last greatest gaming mysteries, physically that is, the mystery of the Japanese Sonic statue. But unfortunately, Mr. Cadeo passed away a few years ago so this amazing Sonic statue now belongs to his children and we really don't know what the future holds for this Sonic statue. In that same article, they managed to track down the children who told that story about when Mr. Cadeo put it up and wanted to invite everybody to enjoy the statue. They say that they are open to having it repainted and restored to its former glory. But not only that, Sega themselves have actually or at least behind the scenes are trying to look into restoring it. On a live stream on YouTube, the stream was swamped by hashtag save Sonic statue which provoked a response straight away. There's this amazing story about this story in Japan in the mountains of this like Sonic statue is kind of like on a snowboard and it's just like in the middle of the woods somewhere and for many years it was a rumor and then more recently people have been like looking into it and actually finding out and putting the poos together where is this thing and it's very real, they found it and so I think the requests that are coming in are like maybe find a way to save that statue out in the wilderness I gotta admit, I don't know who owns the statue or if Sega of Japan set up as a deal with somebody I don't know, I don't know guys but I can tell you that we will certainly ask our friends over at Sega Japan if they know anything about it and see what they say. And then not too long after that when other Sonic statues were on Earth I think it's Aaron, is it Aaron? So sorry if it's Aaron, Aaron, Aaron Aaron decided to give a kind of an update on the Sonic statue As an update on the other Sonic statue I know we told you guys we would love at some point to maybe see what we could do to try and get it renovated or see if there's anything we can do to help it Obviously it's not owned by Sega at this point so there's a lot of other stuff that has to go in behind the scenes to even see if that's possible So I just want to let you guys know we have not forgotten about it and as soon as we have any news on that we'll let you know So maybe this won't be the final resting place for this amazing Sonic statue a blast from the past of the early 90s Maybe Sega is working out some of the fine details to try and restore this back to its former glory I mean personally I would love to see it redone and then placed back here It doesn't need to be taken to Tokyo to put into some sort of Sega world or arcade there If anybody wants to go find it I think that's part of the fun The excitement was building when we were driving up here and seeing it just emerge around the corner like oh there it is, that's it and I think that's something that Mr. Kadeo would have loved I mean as you can see like we just have an in-depth look at it there's like so much moss and mould and paint chipping on the snowboard I mean we kind of knew that that was there anyway You got some rusting of the actual foundations of this statue It's been here for 15 years hopefully It'll last just a little bit longer until something's done to save it and it's all thanks to the community as well because without them this probably would have just stayed here until it crumbled into a mess on top of the road here In fact one thing I was wanting to have a look for was to see if his nose was on the floor If his nose did fall off it's possible it could have fallen into the drain So I think we need a full excavation team Oh also I want to say a big thank you to the Badnik mechanic for without him I wouldn't have been exposed to this amazing sonic statue and I doubt most of the majority of the internet wouldn't have either It's kind of like one of those I love it because it's just of the time I'm just glad that I got to see it like now when it's in this very like temporary kind of phase it's transitional phase from being a completely unknown to now having its own Google map search thing and that about wraps up the mystery of the Japanese Sonic the Hedgehog statue What's going to happen to it? Who can say? Maybe Sega will look after it Maybe they'll work with the Kadeo family Hopefully, because it would be such a shame to see a relic a piece of gaming history just neglected and to fall waste at the side of a road But if you enjoyed this video leave a like and until next time I'll see you later Bye bye Thank you so much for watching