The Kyotokumaru, a fishing vessel stranded during Japan’s 2011 tsunami, is both a painful reminder of the devastation and a tourist attraction that brings some prosperity to the city of Kesennuma.
Kesennuma announced last week that it will destroy the 330-ton ship, according to Japan Today.
Japan Today cited an opinion poll from July that showed that of about 14,000 people polled in the city of 70,000, 68 percent voted to have the ship destroyed and only 16 percent voted to keep it.
“It’s just a constant reminder of the terrible disaster,” Yoshimi Abe, a 72-year-old Kesennuma resident, told Japan Today. “When I walk by it every morning, my heart aches.”
On the other hand, Shigeru Saito, 80, told Japan Today: “My son owns a store in the temporary market near the Kyotokumaru. Many of his customers are out-of-town visitors who drop by to see the ship.”
