Ishikawa town builds giant squid with COVID relief funds

build a statue of a giant squid in the hopes of boosting tourism.

Considering the tentacles…..it might be of interest to hentai anime fans.

Seriously! Are there really people who would travel to visit this statue?

The publicity stunt works! Now the town of Noto on the radar, everyone knows of Noto now.

Long live NOTO, of Ishikawa. (Brilliant idea squid person).

You can't buy this kind of publicity.

This is rural Japan’s version of the Central government dumping billions on the Olympics.

What an eyesore! (and a squirt in the eye for the local community which could have put the money to much better use.) Once again the crass and clueless class of politicians and bureaucrats whose atrophied imagination does not stretch any further than kitsch and cash have imposed their characteristic imprimatur of bad taste on the public.

A Japanese coastal town in the western part of the country has drawn ire on social media for using some of the coronavirus relief funds it was given by the government to build a statue of a giant squid in the hopes of boosting tourism.

Your tax yen at work instead of going to relief for distressed workers in a pandemic.

Even if it works in the "goal" of bringing notoriety to the town and attracting tourism(what is with the obsession with promoting tourism in a pandemic?), the direct recipients of this largess with be local inn and restaurant owners already receiving subsidies, not the already downsized staff.

Long live the tentacled squid god of the LDP!

Ishikawa town builds giant squid with COVID relief funds

If this was not a serious matter and was an anecdote... it would probably be one of the best I heard the last couple of years!

Unbelievable and in way beyond hilarious!

I thought we saw this news last year?

an aid program aimed at boosting local economies amid the pandemic, according to domestic media.

I think this construction ugly and stupid, but it’s aim is a boosting tourism and economy, per the original aim of the aid program. We can see it like that.

¥25 million represents just 3.123% of the covid relief grant and hopefully will attract visitors once this crisis is over.

A permanent physical reminder of Covid-19 , but who wants to remember it!

Government workers and polititians should not be allowed anywhere near anything finance related. They have zero idea of business. Nanjo City has been operating a splendid new fleet of buses that run around the district for over a year now, with NO PASSENGERS.

I wonder how much of our hard earned tax money is wasted by inept government spending like the giant squid and the useless bus service.

Only the japanese domestic tourism to be attracted to these “attractions” as giant squids and so on.

Funniest thing you go there and actually hear lots of “sugoi”s and many camera flashes arould, like you are witnessing one of the 7 wonders.

Japan has some of the most beautiful spots in the world, but LOTS of “places to go” are giant squids alike lol.

I thought we saw this news last year?

Its funny that this sort of thing happens so often that it’s entirely possible that a completely different small town built a ridiculous squid statue with public money last year too.

Don't forget to add in the giant carbon footprint of a giant concrete squid. Utter travesty.

I can think of better ways to spend ¥25,000,000 of COVID19 relief aid!

What a disgusting waste of money!

Reuters called Noto's government but the person who answered was not authorised to speak with the press. Japan's government buildings were closed on Wednesday for annual Golden Week holidays.

So, call Thursday. I hardly think this is a Pulitzer Prize scoop in the works.

I'm in the right business, but need better contacts in government to cash in on this covid relief funding scam.

I'm afraid that most of the billions of dollars spent on covid19 came with no restrictions. This is on the LDP. They literally just threw money at anyone who asked.

Hense the squid

I'm afraid that most of the billions of dollars spent on covid19 came with no restrictions. This is on the LDP. They literally just threw money at anyone who asked.

Anyone except the working public. Their voices are never heard by the LDP.

This is the biggest problem. Central goverment give money out hoping it might help many businesses in times of need and hope that each city do their part but all these governors of each city and town do whatever they want with the cash once it end up in their hands. And then they go back crying again to ask for more fund. Is the same thing happening around the world. The US especially is gonna be in a world of pain if they keep printing more money to fund these so called cash stimulation.

In the meantime, Tokyo government probably will p!55 away 30M before lunchtime this morning, trying to find another way to pretend the Olympics are still viable.

You can't blame the provinces for trying to get a little slice of the grift money.

SAY NO TO NOTO?

The whole country is dotted with monstrous eyesores like this.

They could have fixed up their 80's looking aquarium, which is an actual tourist attraction. If I actually heard someone say, Hey let's travel to Noto to see the giant squid, I think I would cry from how pitiful that idea would be.

Unfortunately, the aquarium is not part of the town of Noto.

Honestly, there's nothing to see in Noto-cho...until now. lol It's just a place to drive through to get to Suzu.

to raise awareness about the town's fishing industry

I wonder what percentage of Japanese people don't know that you can eat seafood at the Japan Sea. It must be very low. "Raising awareness" must be the greatest justification ever, because you never have to demostrate any results for the money you are spending.

It may be ironic that they've chosen a huge squid, because the squid catch has pretty much collapsed, down about 80% (!) compared to 20 years ago. The individual squid that are being caught are also much smaller.

http://www.zen-ika.com/ika/data_2_gyokaku.html

The bay in the photo looks quite nice, so its a pity there is a gaudy statue and a tetrapod in the way.

I used to think the problem was corruption and incompetence.

But more and more I am starting to think dementia by most of those in government.

-You can't buy this kind of publicity.

You can. It costs 30m Yen.

It is a very nice giant pink squid and a good photo opportunity, but for 200,000 squid, sorry, quid, it seems quite pricey. For that figure, I'd expect it to glow in the dark, undulate its tentacles and sing a haunting enka tune when the sun goes down.

It has certainly put Noto on the map but they could have done that for free by streaming council meetings on YouTube wearing nothing but hats with (smaller) pink plastic squid on them.

In the last century, a lot of towns used to do stuff like this, building a giant version of something and then selling postcards featuring the world's biggest tomahawk or the world's biggest wine barrel, to publicise their local thing. Not sure whether Noto has the world's biggest squid or not. Any challengers?

Nobody has mentioned the concrete thing with the smiley faces on it yet.

Although ethically questionable, if the government handed over a sack of cash with no strings attached, building a statue of a giant squid may not be the worst thing they could have done, and it has certainly put them on the map.

The big question regarding the Covid Squid remains unanswered in this article - what is its name? Maybe they will just call it Noto, like the town.

”NOTO” Travel Campaign?

Reminds me of something.

The irony being, of course, that now they have a lot less money to use for what it was intended, the prefecture will suffer more from Covid, and there will be less if any tourism.

I mean.... usually they make a MODICUM of effort to try and cover misuse of funds. I guess not here.

A perfect example of wasting money in such times and a poor sense of responsibility.

So much for the whole narrative that Japanese have a higher morale compared to others.

Better look into the relationship with the artists, designers and builders with officials. I quite like it. But should not have been done with covid money. Fishy smell about this

Again, central government is the cause of the problem and not the solution.

Who would feel inclined to pay higher taxes when faced with this?

We need a smaller government, free enterprise and people who earn the money deciding how to use the money. Lest further will be wasted in such ways.

CUTE!!

It might be thinking out of the box. I think it was a good idea. Good advertising.

We need a smaller government, free enterprise and people who earn the money deciding how to use the money. Lest further will be wasted in such ways.

Why, so we can watch free enterprise waste money hand over fist on stupid stuff instead of local governments?

Cuz if you think free enterprise in small town Japan is incapable of building stupid eyesores then you've obviously never been to any small town in Japan.

Someone's friend got a well-paid gig.

The grants were not specifically earmarked for spending related to treating coronavirus patients, and Ishikawa Prefecture's infection rate is low compared to other parts of Japan, according to local media.

It may be a valid point.

However, some people took to Twitter to question whether those funds should have been used for other purposes.

Such criticism always happens almost anywhere and anytime, either peacetime or crisis. The central question is whether the fund was fairly redistributed and the process was transparent.

An irresponsible waste of money.

Ha ha ha, nationwide and international media too notice, job done.

Noto, I like your style

I guess that's a better move than putting it directly into corrupt politician's (redundant) pockets? It's not like the public was going to see any of it go to a more useful cause anyways. This is Japan, people.

Well then, Let’s just all say: “No to GoTo Noto”. - Societal shunning and shaming is the norm here for correcting incorrect behavior.

Unfortunately, the “good people of Ishikawa Pref” will suffer more for the local administrations financially-irresponsible thinking.

Someone (some people?) actually thought this was a good idea!

Squid is a local delicacy in Noto

Yeah, and in a thousand other places. Let me guess - it tastes better there, right? Give back the rest of the relief money. Now!

Nice to see that the government can throw money at nonsensical things like this instead of oh, I don't know...tackling the current pandemic and accelerating a vaccine rollout that is embarrassingly slow? Yikes.

This is hardly the first of its kind. There is a whole series of roadside "Big things" all across Australia that fit in nicely with the squid:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia%27s_big_things

And plenty across North America as well:

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/18-great-big-things-that-are-both-big-and-great

Why, so we can watch free enterprise waste money hand over fist on stupid stuff instead of local governments?

In free enterprise, people spend their own money as they see fit, and whether you think someone else is spending their own money in a bad way is irrelevant - it isn’t your money so why would you care. Let others love their lives as they please, and expect the same in return.

Cuz if you think free enterprise in small town Japan is incapable of building stupid eyesores then you've obviously never been to any small town in Japan.

I am not sure you understand what free enterprise means.

Someone (some people?) actually thought this was a good idea!

Squid is a local delicacy in Noto

Yeah, and in a thousand other places. Let me guess - it tastes better there, right? Give back the rest of the relief money. Now!

The fact that is a delicacy in other places is precisely why they need this statue to stand out. Good forward thinking instead of blowing the money on temporary measures.

In free enterprise, people spend their own money as they see fit, and whether you think someone else is spending their own money in a bad way is irrelevant - it isn’t your money so why would you care.

That isn't actually how most money controlled by "free enterprise" works in the world today. I mean, yes, if you run your own small business that is how it works, but small business owners don't control much of the economy. The people making decisions about how to spend money (mostly corporate executives, fund managers, etc) are never making decisions about how to spend their own money, but rather they are spending other people's money. And if we are going to evaluate their performance by the same criteria you are using to villify government then we'd have to conclude that the solution to all our problems is to eliminate free enterprise because (gasp) sometimes human beings working in complex organizations where they have to contend with multiple interests make decisions that are objectively stupid regardless of whether said organization is government or business.

I am not sure you understand what free enterprise means.

Its a term without a precise legal definition so I've been interpreting it, based on what you have said, as a preference for decision making authority to be placed in the hands of private parties operating in markets rather than in the hands of government.

I have a favorite restaurant there. Their squid dish is very, very delicious. I wish I go there now, but with losing my business and being forced to wear a mask on a plane, I can only dream.

Well, the money was for economic development and the squid was for increase tourism and more tourism means better economics..

Maybe in theory.

In the reality of the physical universe we actually inhabit however a 9 metre long concrete squid is never going to attract any tourists at all, nor is it going to have any benficial economic impact.

Even small town bureaucrats should know have known this and they deserve to be ridiculed for their sheer stupidity in approving this.

Just 30 millions, no drama here..

That is 30 million Yen being spent in a town with only 7600 households, which works out to about 4,000 Yen each. That is an insane level of waste for a FRICKING CONCRETE SQUID!

The squid looks awesome !!

That probably makes you the first person to say so.

People starving in the middle of a global pandemic, they decide to put the money into this.

Would love to hear how they came up with this idea.

This reminds me of the late 80s/early 90s when all the municipalities across Japan got a million dollars each from the national government to encourage investment in things to develop or strengthen their local commerce.

The results in many places, which many here have probably seen, are giant dinosaur parks, weird abstract art pieces, cartoon character hobby museums, turtle statues, etc.

What a great example of the profligacy of this government (indeed many others around the world) in just printing money indiscriminately. The squids are going to come home to roost someday.

In fact, it’s practically their own beforehand tax paid money, having come back by that corona pandemic government fund money. So it’s not our cup of tea, what they do with it. They have worked for it and can consume it as they like. They can of course feed the poor, support children and families , seniors, disabled, homeless people etc., put it in science and education, support all of the local economy, or like in this case do something completely stupid and throw it out if the window, putting a not even eatable squid on display.

People starving in the middle of a global pandemic, they decide to put the money into this.

Would love to hear how they came up with this idea.

Umm...to promote tourism during the pandemic so they don’t have starve?

The sculpture put people to work. It paid for supplies and labor to create.

In other words... jobs.

A great idea! Japan really comes up with winners every single time. Amazing! I am making plans to see this squid next week. I bought a new camera to take thousands of pictures. This is a highly intelligent way to get people to come to the area to see this statue. I love it. The design is spot on. Im taking a tour! Happy now!

; - 0

A squid???!!!! Looks like an elephant to me. And the pink hue is turning white.

This is soooo Japan! “We don’t need any Covid relief coz we have very few cases. Let’s use the money to build a giant squid so everybody will come and take a photo of it.” The fact they will also bring their Covid is irrelevant.

Don't forget they also bought useful things with the money !

Such as ... lawn mowers ...

https://www.fnn.jp/articles/-/174201

Their plan to generate more tourism has unintentionally worked. Lots of publicity. Now everyone in Japan knows where to go to visit the big pink squid.

The sculpture put people to work. It paid for supplies and labor to create.

In other words... jobs.

True but it is also possible to provide people with jobs that result in something actually useful being done.

That artist got a good contract! There's no way that structure cost even half that!

What a stupid idea and waste of money. Creative though I guess.

Lovely...not.

I bet they're going to apply for unesco status next.

Well Tokyo tower works ... Can you blame them ? Japanese love kitsch I

What a waste of money.

I would be curious to know on how this "tourist attraction" construction from public money has been attributed.

Open tender? At least 3 quotations...?

I can smell the brown fatty envelope from miles away.

That is by far the best giant pink squid statue I have ever seen. I would go as far as saying....

It is exceedingly good!

That thing will scare the Covid right out of you.

If they build statues of a giant bag of panko and a bottle of Bulldog Sauce I will put this town on my bucket list.

Building a squid statue is more than Suga has done to stem the pandemic.

this showed up on my Twitter feed. I guess if you want to have your name known that worked, but not the way you want

This is the stupidest and ugliest idea I've ever seen.

There were hundreds other and better ways to boost tourism. Above all, there were hundreds of other ways to use that money in this pandemic time