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Squid King

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Squid King
Statue of a giant pink and white squid in a grassy field
Squid King in 2024
Map
Year2021
Mediumfibre-reinforced plastic
SubjectJapanese flying squid
Dimensions400 cm × 800 cm × 1300 cm (160 in × 310 in × 510 in)
Weight5 tonnes
Location

Squid King (Japanese: イカキング, Hepburn: Ika Kingu) is a statue of a Japanese flying squid in Noto, Ishikawa, Japan. Designed to promote tourism and the town's fishing industry, the statue attracted widespread criticism as its construction had mostly been paid for with ¥25,000,000 (equivalent to ¥27,186,312 in 2024) from the town's COVID-19 relief money. According to the town, the statue and resulting media coverage resulted in a boost to the town's tourism industry.

Description

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One storey long brown building with a grey sloped roof
The Squid Station Mall, where the statue is located

The Squid King is a fibre-reinforced plastic lifelike statue[1] of a "giant"[2][1] pink and white[2] Japanese flying squid (Todarodes pacificus).[3] The statue is 13 metres (43 ft) long,[2] 4 metres (13 ft) tall,[1] 9 metres (30 ft) wide,[4] and weighs around 5 tonnes (11,000 lb). It has long legs, "goggling eyes",[1] and there is a hole in the statue located where a real squid's mouth would be, to allow people to look out from inside the squid.[1][2] Squid King is located in front of Tsukumo Bay [ja][1] in Noto, Ishikawa's Noto Tsukumo Bay Tourism Exchange Center (のと九十九湾観光交流センター, Noto Tsukumo-wan Kankō Kōryu Sentā), also known as the Squid Station Mall (イカの駅つくモール, Ika no Ekitsuku Mōru).[4] It was officially named Squid King (イカキング, Ika Kingu) in June 2021 after a public contest; the town received 909 submissions for names. During the naming ceremony, the town installed a plaque by the statue.[5] Squid King has an official X account.[3]

Construction

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The statue's construction cost ¥27,000,000 (equivalent to ¥29,361,217 in 2024), with 25 million coming from COVID-19 relief funds and grants given to Noto by the Japanese government and the rest coming from the town.[1][2] Noto had been given ¥800,000,000 (equivalent to ¥869,961,977 in 2024) by the Japanese government to help it through the COVID-19 pandemic.[2] According to Noto town, the Squid King was designed to aid the town by promoting tourism[2] and the town's fishing industry.[4] The theme of the statue was chosen so tourists could eat squid at the local shops and be "eaten" by a giant squid themselves.[6] The town additionally planned to build a "shop, restaurant, tourist information center and exhibition corner", later the Noto Tsukumo Bay Tourism Exchange Centre, starring Squid King.[1] The mall itself cost ¥520,000,000 (equivalent to ¥565,475,285 in 2024) to build.[7]

Reception

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A display showing a rack of neon fishing lures and a model fishing boat in front of black and white signs
A display in the mall about squids and Noto's fishing industry

Squid King was revealed to the public in April 2021[8] and met with widespread criticism because it had been constructed with COVID-19 relief funds.[7] Several residents felt that their money should have gone to healthcare workers or other causes more directly related to the COVID-19 virus.[2][1][9] The resulting controversy was covered in non-Japanese media such as the BBC and The New York Times.[8] After a while it gained a following,[1] partially resulting from its international coverage.[3] According to the Mainichi Shimbun, the statue had become "symbolic" of the town.[6] A study published by Noto township in 2022 said that the town's economy had experienced a ¥604,000,000 (equivalent to ¥656,821,293 in 2024) boost from tourism and 45% of the 439 tourists they surveyed answered that they had come to Noto to see Squid King.[4]

The statue survived the January 2024 Noto earthquake and resulting tsunami with little to no damage.[10][3][7] In the immediate aftermath, the Squid King official Twitter account posted "I didn't return to the sea."[3] The statue's survival was seen by some residents, especially city officials, as a symbol of recovery and hope.[10][3][7] However, others were more indifferent.[7] Squid Station Mall, which was closed as a result of the earthquake, re-opened in April.[11] In October 2024, the town made Squid King the honorary chairman of their Junior Police Officer program (少年補導員), as part of a move to educate the children of Noto about crime prevention.[12] In June 2025, the Hokuriku Chunichi Newspaper [ja] sponsored a festival to commemorate the opening of the statue, with performances and demonstrations by local children.[13][14]

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Kojima, Hiroyuki (June 6, 2021). "Squid statue paid for with COVID-19 funds inks following in Noto". The Asahi Shimbun. Archived from the original on 2025-03-22. Retrieved 2025-03-21.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 McCurry, Justin (May 5, 2021). "Japanese town spends Covid-19 funds on huge squid statue". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-03-21.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Kimura, Makoto (March 22, 2024). "Giant Squid Monument Withstood Jan. 1 Quake, Tsunami; 'King' Now a Beacon of Hope for Reconstruction". The Japan News. Yomiuri Shimbun. Archived from the original on 2025-02-14. Retrieved 2025-03-25.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Giant squid statue in Noto, Ishikawa Prefecture, generates economic effects of ¥600 million, 22 times of construction cost". The Japan News (in Japanese). Yomiuri Shimbun. August 22, 2022. Retrieved 2025-03-21.
  5. ↑ 【石川】命名 イカキング 能登町のモニュメントに愛称：北陸中日新聞Web. Chunichi Shimbun (in Japanese). June 22, 2021. Retrieved 2025-03-21.
  6. 1 2 北陸オブジェ！：／8止 石川・能登 イカの駅つくモール 食うか、食われるか. Mainichi Shimbun (in Japanese). Retrieved 2025-03-21.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Hagami, Tarō (April 30, 2024). 《全長13m、高さ最大4mの巨大モニュメント》「イカキングを復興のシンボルに」という動きに、地元住民の反応が鈍いワケ. Shūkan Bunshun (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2024-09-03. Retrieved 2025-03-21.
  8. 1 2 Kojima, Hiroyuki (April 19, 2022). BBCも取り上げたイカキング、賛否両論だったけど…1年後の効果：朝日新聞. Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2025-03-21. Retrieved 2025-03-21.
  9. ↑ Ji, Yao (Nancy) (March 28, 2022), "Rural Revitalization in Times of COVID-19: A Small Island Community in the Seto Inland Sea", Chiri-Kagaku, vol. 73, no. 3, The Japanese Society for Geographical Sciences, p. 147, doi:10.20630/chirikagaku.76.3_140, 3, retrieved 2025-03-21
  10. 1 2 "Noto symbol 'Squid King' stands resolute amid quake devastation". The Japan Times. Jiji Press. March 13, 2024. Archived from the original on 2024-03-13.
  11. ↑ 石川 能登町「イカの駅つくモール」約3か月ぶりに営業再開. NHK (in Japanese). April 8, 2024. Retrieved 2025-03-25.
  12. ↑ イカキングが少年防犯の名誉会長に 委嘱式「ついてイカない」児童誓う｜地域｜石川のニュース｜北國新聞. Hokkoku Shimbun (in Japanese). October 2, 2024. Retrieved 2025-03-22.
  13. ↑ "イカキング前で演奏 能登・駅５周年フェスにぎわう｜地域｜石川のニュース｜北國新聞". 北國新聞 (in Japanese). June 22, 2025. Retrieved 2025-07-17.
  14. ↑ "イカキングと祝福ダンス つくモール５周年フェス". 47NEWS (in Japanese). Retrieved 2025-07-17.
[edit]
  • Wikimedia Commons logo Media related to Noto Tsukumo Bay Tourism Exchange Center at Wikimedia Commons
  • Squid Station Mall (in Japanese)
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