- An otter became Japan's darling overnight for predicting the country's fate in a World Cup match.
- Taiyo, an 8-year-old otter, deposited a mini soccer ball into a bucket bearing the Japanese flag.
An oracle otter in Japan has become the talk of the town after accurately predicting Japan's shock 2-1 victory over Germany at both countries' first World Cup match.
Taiyo, an 8-year-old otter at Maxell Aqua Park Shinagawa in Tokyo, was brought out on November 22 to try to predict the winner, per Sankei News. This was one day before Japan's November 23 match against Germany, who were the favorites to win that match-up.
But Taiyo snubbed the red bucket with the German flag and the yellow bucket with the word "draw" on it. Clutching a miniature soccer ball in his claws, he scooted over to a blue bucket — representing Japan's Samurai Blue soccer team — and plopped the ball in.
A day later, Japan beat four-time world champions Germany 2-1.
Following Japan's win, Japanese soccer fans started praising the otter for being "amazing" and "extremely competent," reported The Mainichi.
Some Twitter users, too, were elated by Taiyo the otter's accurate prediction.
"Lmao the otter made me $150. Ty Mr otter," wrote one Twitter user.
—Jeffrey J. Hall (@mrjeffu) November 23, 2022
Japan has used otters in the past as a means of predicting World Cup match victories. But an otter named Chippu in Himeji mistakenly predicted Japan's loss during a 2014 match against Greece. The otter picked Greece to win, but the match ended in a draw.
Japan's next match is against Costa Rica on November 27.