Rikuzentakata Mayor Taku Sasaki, second from left, and others unveil a tile mural from Crescent City, California on March 27 in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture.
17:04 JST, April 24, 2024
RIKUZENTAKATA, Iwate – The city of Rikuzentakata in Iwate Prefecture has received a mural of a city in the US where a boat floated ashore after the tsunami caused by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.
The tile mural, donated by Crescent City, California, was unveiled last month during a ceremony at the Rikuzentakata City Museum. The two cities have maintained ties since the Kamome, a training boat from Iwate Prefectural Takata High School, washed up 7,538 kilometers away along the US coast about two years after the disaster.
Officials from both cities attended the ceremony in which they renewed their commitment to further deepening exchanges.
The artwork of approximately 2 square meters is placed outside the front of the museum. It was created by Crescent City artists Harley Munger, 81, and his wife Jill, 65. It features giant waves inspired by Katsushika Hokusai’s “36 Views of Mt. Fuji” and flying seagulls, as well as the “wonder lonely pine,” a symbolic tree that remained standing after the 2011 disaster. There is also a red lighthouse, the symbol of Crescent City. Children from both cities are also depicted holding the Kamome.
The mural was installed in a location where the Kamome – the museum’s main exhibit – is clearly visible and can also be easily seen from the street. In addition to an information board, there is also a sign indicating the direction to the American city and the distance between the cities, 7,538 kilometers. The work of art has now become the face of the museum.
The two cities began exchanges as a result of events caused by the tsunami that occurred on March 11, 2011. The Kamome drifted away from the Mutsugaura fishing port in Rikuzentakata and eventually washed up on the other side of the Pacific Ocean on a beach in Crescent. City in April 2013.
The boat was returned to Rikuzentakata in October that year after local high school students and others conducted cleanup and fundraising activities. Through the Kamome, the two cities developed ties in economics, education and other areas.
An event was held in Crescent City last April to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the boat’s discovery. A work of art was installed to symbolize the friendship between the two cities. Later in June, a delegation from Crescent City visited Rikuzentakata to donate a similar work of art to the sister city. It was the first visit in four years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Blake Inscore, 62, a former mayor of Crescent City, said at the time that if people from the two cities got their hands on the artwork, they would think of each other.
The installation of the tile mural was not completed until March due to shipping delays and the time needed to prepare the framework that holds the artwork in place. The mural was finally unveiled during the ceremony, attended by 30 residents eager to see it, on March 27.
Rikuzentakata Mayor Taku Sasaki, who was first elected in the mayoral elections in February last year, made his first visit to Crescent City in mid-April this year to express his gratitude directly to those involved in the Kamome project.
“I believe the tile mural will become a symbol of exchange and further strengthen ties between the two cities,” Sasaki said.
Yasumori Matsuzaka, director of the museum, said: “Our cities have both been repeatedly plagued by tsunami, so in the future we must convey our wish to people not to be afraid of the sea, even if we are afraid of a tsunami.”
