A Japanese town built a giant squid using COVID funds

If there’s anything that could turn our heads, a statue of a giant squid can do it in an instant. With hopes of reviving its tourism, a local town leader in Japan proposed to invest part of their COVID funds to build an enormous replica of the sea creature.

The town of Noto, Ishikawa, received 800 million yen, or around 351 million pesos from Japan’s central government for their financial aid. This is part of a program to assist in boosting their local economies in the middle of the pandemic.

According to NBC News, the giant squid statue has a dimension of four meters high and nine meters long, with ten large tentacles. Around 30 million yen in total was spent to cover the construction’s total cost.

However, locals from the town oppose the installation. As stated by a woman in local Japanese newspaper Chunichi Shimbun, ‘It may be effective in attracting customers in the long run, but there may have been a way to use it generously where there is an urgent need for support due to the corona disaster, such as medical staff and long-term care facilities.’

The development of the giant squid statue started in October 2020. Squids are considered a local delicacy in their town, and building the figure was part of a “long-term strategy” to promote awareness of the town’s fishing industry and heighten their tourism.

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Source: we the pvblic