NHK



 

A Japanese fishing town says a giant statue of a squid has had a huge economic effect, though it drew criticism for having been paid for with an emergency COVID-19 relief grant.

Noto Town in Ishikawa Prefecture on the Sea of Japan spent about 180,000 dollars in grant money to cover most of the cost of building the statue at a tourist facility. The statue is 13 meters long and 4 meters tall at its highest point. The town is known for its squid fishery.

Some people argued that it was inappropriate to use a grant provided by the central government for something that had no direct connection to the pandemic.

But the erection of the statue was covered by many media outlets and it has attracted a large number of tourists.

On Monday, town officials revealed that a consultant had estimated the statue had created about 4.4 million dollars in economic activity between October 2020, when construction began, through July of this year.

The tally includes hotel and restaurant bills paid by visitors.
A senior town official says he was surprised at the size of the economic effect. He went on to say the decision to build the statue had proven to be a good one.