A popular sunfish in Japan lost its appetite and banged on the side of its tank after the aquarium it lived in closed for renovations.

An aquarium in Japan is getting creative when it comes to cheering up its fish! The Kaikyokan Aquarium in Shimonoseki, Japan, which is closed as it undergoes renovations, revealed in a post on X that its staff had to think out of the box to help one of its sunfish struggling with the change.

How do you perk up a lonely fish? This may sound like the start of a particularly silly joke, but it was a very real challenge faced by staff at a Japanese aquarium when they noticed their sunfish was ailing.

"When an aquarium in Japan closed to the public for restorations, the aquarium's beloved sunfish grew lonely without visitors and lost its appetite — until aquarium staff pasted cutouts with photos of human faces onto the tank," the video caption explains. That's right — they made people! Have you ever seen something so sweet?

TOKYO — A solitary sunfish at an aquarium in southwestern Japan lost its appetite, began banging into the side of the fishtank and appeared unwell days after the facility closed last month for renovations. As a last-ditch measure to save the popular fish, its keepers hung their uniforms and set up human cutouts outside the tank.

Staff members believe the sunfish stopped eating when the aquarium was temporarily closed because it was lonely.

A solitary sunfish at an aquarium in Japan appeared unwell for days after the facility closed for renovations.

Japanese aquarium staff used cut-out human companions to cheer up a lonely sunfish, leading to improved health.