A fishing vessel that was swept inland in the tsunami that struck Japan two years ago and has since become a symbol of that natural disaster is to be dismantled.
Nearly 70% of the residents of Kesennuma in Miyagi prefecture voted last week to scrap the Kyotoku Maru No 18. There had been plans to preserve the boat as a monument. It is owned by Gisuke Gyogo, a fishing company in Fukushima prefecture, the BBC reports.
The magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011 left more than 18,000 people dead or missing in Japan. The tsunami hit the north-eastern coast of the main island of Honshu, sweeping away cars, ships and buildings.
Kesennuma, with an estimated population of 70,000, was one of the centres hardest hit by the tsunami.
After the disaster, people started visiting the marooned 60-metre boat to pray, take photographs and leave flowers. But the townspeople say they have too many painful memories.
