A solitary sunfish at an aquarium in Japan lost its appetite, began banging into the side of the fishtank and appeared unwell days after the facility closed last month for renovations.

An aquarium in Japan has come up with a unique and out-of-the-box idea to cheer up its lonely resident sunfish after the facility closed for renovations.

The aquarium noted, “We didn't know the cause [of the fish feeling unwell] ... but one of the staff members said, ‘Maybe he's lonely without the visitors?’ "

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

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.

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?

The ‘sociable’ fish’s unusual behaviour during the temporary closure of the aquarium prompted the unorthodox intervention by staff

A solitary sunfish at an aquarium lost its appetite, began banging into its fish tank days after the facility closed for renovations.

A solitary sunfish at an aquarium in Japan lost its appetite, began banging into the side of the fish tank and appeared unwell days after the facility closed last month for renovations

SHIMONOSEKI, Yamaguchi Prefecture--The aging ... the suspension of Japan’s research whaling after taking issue with Tokyo’s claim it was killing whales for scientific purposes.

SHIMONOSEKI, Yamaguchi -- A sunfish at a municipal aquarium undergoing renovation in this west Japan city became unwell, but recovered after its tank was decorated with staff uniforms and pictures ...