The Hanshin Tigers set the magic number "18" to win the league title for the first time in 1 years. When they won the championship in 2003, many people jumped from the bridge in Dotonbori in Minami, Osaka, but experts who study the water quality of the river said, "E. coli has been detected and it is not a river that can be swam. It's like jumping into the toilet bowl."
When Hanshin wins, it is customary for many people to gather in downtown Osaka City to celebrate the victory, but when the league won in 2003, more than 5000,1 people jumped into the river from Ebibashi Bridge in Dotonbori, killing one person and injuring several others.
The following year, since 2004, the Japan College of Analytical Chemistry in Kita-ku, Osaka, has been investigating the degree of turbidity of river water and the number of bacteria.
Water quality is improving, and although the endangered Japanese eel was confirmed to live in November last year, the detection of E. coli, which is an indicator of dirt, continues, and in the August survey, it was about 11,8 per 100 ml of river water.
The standard for swimming pools set by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare is "that E. coli is not detected," and Takashi Miyamichi, director of the educational affairs department of the Japan College of Analytical Chemistry, points out that "it is still not a river where you can swim."
On top of that, he warns, "It's like swimming in the water that accumulates in the toilet bowl, which can lead to health hazards such as abdominal pain and diarrhea.