Japanese Hotel Loses $1.2 Million Gold Bathtub
On May 30th, A glittering bathtub made of gold, worth Y120 million ($A1.21 million) was stolen from a resort hotel near Tokyo.
A worker at Kominato Hotel Mikazuki in Kamogawa, south of Tokyo, notified police the fancy tub was missing from the hotel's guest bathroom on the 10th floor of its building, according to a local police official.
The round tub, 1.21 metres in diameter and 71 centimetres tall, was made of 18-karat gold weighing 80 kilograms, the official said.
The tub, flanked by two crane statues, has been a main feature of the hotel's shared bathroom.
Visitors can take a dip in the tub, but it is only available a few hours a day "for security reasons," the hotel's website said.
Someone apparently cut the chain attached to the door of a small section of the bathroom where the bathtub was placed, but not riveted, and made off with the tub, the police official said.
The cranes were left untouched.
"We have no witness information and there are no video cameras," the official said.
Direct from tokyo:
TOKYO, May 30 (RIA Novosti) - A gold bath worth an estimated $1 million has been stolen from a luxury hotel in the Japanese town of Kamogawa, near Tokyo, local police said.
They said a hotel employee discovered the theft during a routine check Wednesday, but when the theft took place remains a mystery.
According to investigators, it most likely happened early Wednesday morning.
An image from the hotel's website touting the 18k gold bathtub
The tub weighing 80 kilograms (approximately 176 pounds), stolen from a gentlemen's bathroom on the tenth floor, was one of three gold baths in the hotel chain. When not in use, this bathroom is normally locked.
Anyone seeing a gold bathtub being lugged around the streets of Tokyo, is urged to contact local authorities immediately...;-)