TORONTO -- A Japanese coastal town is turning heads around the world with a new piece of public art that was paid for with government funds aimed at boosting a tourism industry hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.
Noto, a town that sits on the northeastern coastline of the Noto Peninsula in the Sea of Japan, now has a massive squid statue.
Complete with a sign that reads "Squid Station,” the pink cephalopod is said to measure four metres high and nine metres long, according to local media reports.
Construction of the statue began in October 2020, and it was moved to its current home in March.
Video of the new attraction was shared to YouTube by the user TheTonarinopoti and has garnered thousands of views since it was first posted on April 13. The accompanying translated caption appears to read, “’Giant squid’ completed with coronavirus grant.”
Noto is said to have spent 25 million yen (US$228,726) to build the statue, which it says will help increase local tourism and raise awareness about the town’s specialty fishing industry
The statue’s price tag was paid for with a portion of 800 million yen (US$7.3 million) in government coronavirus relief aid that Noto received to help kick-start slumping local economies.
Japan has recorded 10,499 COVID-19-related deaths and 617,854 cases, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University.
