“People are getting angry at us for actually swimming!”

The Tokyo summer heat is almost unbearable. That’s why it’s no surprise that Japan takes full advantage of sweltering summers by flocking to beaches, pools, and basically anywhere there’s water. Japanese youngsters have recently been attending Night Pool events, which are pretty self-explanatory – they’re pools that you can use at night. What’s special about them is that they often have light-ups,  electronic dance music, and other shiny, noisy things to attract a vibrant youth culture.

What might shock you is that there are a fair number of Japanese youth that attend these events for the sake of social media, with many saying things like, “I came here to upload it on Instagram.” The number of people who actually swim in the pool is close to zero.

That’s where Japanese YouTubers 6 Men Station come in. They decided to crash one of these Night Pool events and do the unspeakable: actually swim.

▼ Here’s what ends up happening when you get three serious swimmers into a pool (Japanese audio and subtitles only).

The trio start off by explaining what a Night Pool event is and why people go. One thing you’ll hear from young women in particular is, “I don’t want my makeup to come off, so I don’t want to get water on my face.”

Then comes the declaration: “We are going to actually swim.”

They hit up a Night Pool event in Tokyo’s Odaiba area. This is the kind of scene that greets you: music blaring in your ears, as many people in the water as out of the water, and bikinis for days. Or…nights, I suppose.

So, on to the dare. 6 Men Station took on a pool covered in white balls, charging through the water like the Olympians-in-training that they are. They got the kind of reaction you’d expect; some told the group off, and some asked them to stop bothering the other “swimmers.” “People are getting angry at us for actually swimming!” one of the YouTubers declared.

When they made their point (at one point yelling “What did you come here for? Swim!!!”), they decided to join in the SNS and EDM-hyped fun themselves. And you know what? They had a pretty good time.

Japanese netizens got a kick out of their antics, of course. Most were quick to pat them on the back for taking a stand and using the pool for its intended purpose, while others made some interesting comparisons.

“People got angry at you for just swimming? Hahaha!”
“I want more!”
“It seems like their translation of ‘night pool’ is ‘public bathhouse.‘”
“This isn’t half bad.”
“This takes guts.”
“I guess you’re free to do what you want. It might be a nuisance to people who purposely paid 5,000 yen (US$45.30) to take pictures to upload on Instagram, hahaha. You might get them wet or make it hard for them to take nice pictures.“

In this era of social media madness, would you admit to attending an event simply for the sake of uploading it on Instagram or Twitter? Would you consider attending a Night Pool event to either party, take selfies, or actually swim? Or, heck, why not all three?

Sources: YouTube/6 Men Station, Hamusoku
Featured image: YouTube/6 Men Station