Fukushima Airport has installed a 3-meter tall statue of Ultraman in their terminal building in hopes that the Japanese superhero will entice more passengers to use the facility.
The 3-meter-high statue was erected in line with the 15th anniversary of the airport’s opening. Combined with scenes showing other monsters and clothing used in the filming of Ultraman, it is the first permanent display of its kind in Japan.
The Fukushima town of Sukagawa, which lies next to the airport, is the hometown of the late Eiji Tsuburaya, who created Ultraman, and Tsuburaya Productions lent its full support to local residents keen to set up the display.
Fukushima Airport, which was part of the local airport building boom that swept Japan some time back during which every backwater in the country suddenly decided it needed an airport (most of which now sit idle), has seen its passenger volume decline as air lines have struggled to make ends meet by reducing the number of their routes and flights.
