Dubbed the “alien’s home”, Iinomachi district in Fukushima city, Japan hopes to be able to revive the economy by attracting tourists.
Once famous and prosperous for its weaving and silk production, now all over Iinomachi prefecture, items related to unidentified flying objects (UFOs) are displayed and related events are held.
According to Kyodo News, locals believe they are living in a “UFO hotspot,” due to the repeated appearance of glowing flying objects over the past four decades near the 462m-high conical Mount Senganmori.
Contrary to the recent tension in diplomatic relations between countries related to the Chinese hot air balloon suspected of being a spy device that strayed into US airspace, a Fukushima city government official said The local focus is on depicting extraterrestrial life from a more “romantic” perspective.
Extraterrestrial life
Previously, Iinomachi prefecture was known as Iino town but was merged into Fukushima city in 2008. The local population is currently around 5,000 people, and is on a decreasing trend. Mount Senganmori is speculated by locals to be an ancient pyramid, because it has a triangular shape and is covered with large rock formations.
Going to the Iinomachi district, visitors can easily encounter “closer” extraterrestrial life everywhere such as UFO-shaped street lights, bus stops, flags and even alien statues.
There is also a local museum called “UFO Fureaikan”, which was built halfway up Mount Senganmori in 1992, and displays about 3,000 books, photos, and documents related to aliens and UFOs. Some of the materials on display were donated to the museum by the famous UFO researcher Kinichi Arai. Every year, about 30,000 people from inside and outside Fukushima Prefecture visit the museum.
In 2022, the UFO festival, where participants dressed in alien costumes to parade and compete, was held for the first time to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the “UFO Fureaikan” museum.
On June 24, 2021, Iinomachi prefecture was also chosen as the site of the establishment of the International UFO Institute, which collects and publishes reports of UFO sightings around the world. June 24 every year is also known as World UFO Day. Because this is the first day US civilian pilot Kenneth Arnold reported seeing UFOs in Washington state in 1947.
UFO enthusiasts can become members of the International UFO Institute for an annual fee of 10,000 Yen (74 USD). Elite members, who sign up for a 3-year membership for a fee of 20,000 – 30,000 Yen, have the privilege of receiving special t-shirts and locally brewed sake. In addition, all members of this organization can attend UFO related events.
UFO interest is back
Global interest in UFOs increased again, after the US Department of Defense released videos in 2020 of phenomena involving unidentified flying objects in 2004 and 2015.
In 2021, the US government also released a preliminary assessment of UFOs, focusing on more than 140 reports collected since 2004 from military pilots and other sources. But this report does not provide a specific explanation for most of the cases.
Tetsu Konno (62 years old), a retired former employee of a large-scale chemical factory, also joined the International UFO Institute as a researcher in December 2022. He hopes to use his previous job’s sales and marketing experience to revive the economy of his hometown of Fukushima.
After being selected by the Fukushima city government to participate in the economic reconstruction project of Iinomachi prefecture, Mr. Konno said goodbye to his family in Osaka Prefecture, where he lived for more than 30 years.
“When I hear people say that they have seen a bright light when climbing Mount Senganmori, it makes me want to believe in UFOs even more. I want to see it once in my three years of work,” said Mr. Konno. speak.
