Once ship-bearing Tohoku guesthouse to be demolished 10 years after disaster in northern Japan

The Hamayuri sightseeing ship is seen resting on top of the Akabu guesthouse in April 2011. (Credit: The Yomiuri Shimbun)

OTSUCHI, Iwate -- Demolition work began Monday at a former guesthouse in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, that became widely known for the large ship that once rested atop it following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and subsequent tsunami.

Although, the Otsuchi municipal government had been raising funds to both restore the ship and preserve the building, it abandoned the plans after the fundraising endeavors failed to reach the necessary amount.

The 7-meter-tall two-story building was used as the Akabu guesthouse when the town was hit by the massive tsunami, which deposited the 27-meter-long, 109-ton Hamayuri sightseeing ship, operated by the Kamaishi city government in the prefecture, on the building's roof with only half of its hull on it. This resulting sight highlighted the tsunami's devastating impact. The ship was removed two months after the disaster out of concern of it falling from the roof.

Demolition work is in progress for the building that was once the Akabu guesthouse in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, on Monday. (Credit: The Yomiuri Shimbun)

An estimated total of 450 million yen was deemed necessary to restore the ship, but only about 4 million yen was raised.

The government will bear the expense of the costs of demolishing buildings damaged by the disaster on the condition that the work be completed by the end of this fiscal year. With the deadline approaching, the Otsuchi municipal government made the decision to tear the former guesthouse down. The site is set to become a vacant lot in March.

The former Otsuchi municipal government building, where 39 employees lost their lives, has also been demolished, leaving few scars from the tsunami remaining.

Otsuchi Mayor Kozo Hirano aims to carry on the memory of the tsunami without relying on the preservation of buildings damaged by the disaster. He is considering such options as creating a model of the Hamayuri boat and recreating the sight of the guesthouse and the ship through the use of augmented reality technology.

"Together with the municipal government, we'd like to discuss how to keep the memory of the disaster alive," said Kazuko Furudate, 75, who heads an Otsuchi-based nonprofit organization that worked to restore and preserve the ship.

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