Kesennuma - More than two years
after Japan's devastating tsunami, workers have begun dismantling a stranded
fishing boat that was swept inland of the northern port city of Kesennuma.
The stranded vessel was swept
around 500 meters inland by the tsunami on March 11, 2011. It also survived a
subsequent fire that engulfed the small city on Japan’s northeast
Since then, the blue and red
vessel has rested in the center of a residential district, drawing visitors who
pray and leave flowers at the site.
On Monday, workers started
scrapping the large fishing boat.
Some local residents wanted to
preserve the ship as a monument. The No. 18 Kyotoku-maru became a much-visited
site in the city, and a place to pay homage to some of the more-than 18,000
people who perished.
However others found it a painful
reminder of the horror that occurred in March 2011.
In a recent opinion poll, nearly
70 percent of locals wanted it removed, so the order was given to break up the
ship and scrap it.
According to officials in the
city of Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, a ceremony was first held, in which the
ship was blessed, and then workers started dismantling the 60-meter vessel,
The city of Kesennumawas
flattened during the tsunami in 2011, when huge waves rushed ashore.
Local television showed residents
and visitors looking on as construction workers began driving stakes into the
ground to erect noise baffles around the vessel.
According to a female visitor
from Hokkaido, northern Japan, “I don’t know if it should be scrapped or not. I
have mixed feelings.”
Yoshimi Abe, a 72 year-old
housewife and Kesennuma resident, was among those who wanted to get rid of the
ship.
"It's just a constant
reminder of the terrible disaster," she said. "When I walk by it
every morning, my heart aches."
Shunsuke Kumagai, an official at
the city's tourist information center said:
“I personally feel such disaster
remains should be preserved so that we can keep our memories of the tsunami
alive as a bitter but important lesson.”.
“But it can’t be helped as the
feeling of a majority of residents is more important than anything else,"
“However, there still are many
other structures here showing the power of the tsunami. By encouraging visits
to such places, we can explain the full extent of the horror of the disaster to
many people.”
Reportedly the information center
has organized a "disaster tour” where survivors take visitors around the
area to help them understand what happened and how it is still affecting those
whose lives or livelihoods were ruined.
Kesennuma is one of several destinations
for people from other areas of Japan to witness the aftermath of the
devastation left by the tsunami.
Another is Rikuzentakata, where
the sole surviving pine tree from a forest of 70,000 has had 150 million yen of
reinforcement added to prop it up and is now a must-see for visitors.
The Jiji Press news agency quoted
the ship’s owner as saying: “I apologize for troubling sufferers with the
presence of the ship, but it helped show the dangers of the tsunami.”
According to officials, work on
the ship is scheduled to end by October 19. The raw materials salvaged will
reportedly be recycled to part-pay the 50 million yen bill for dismantling the
ship.
Source:
digital journal. 10 September 2013
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/358068
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