Overview
- Staff discovered the vandalized vending machine beside the Ōkawa Earthquake Memorial Museum on the morning of Sept. 10 and found the lock broken and cash missing.
- The vending machine’s operating company filed a damage report and Kahoku Police Station has opened an investigation, with no suspects identified so far.
- Museum staff reviewed overnight surveillance but saw no clear footage of perpetrators, leading them to suspect the thieves used camera blind spots.
- The monetary loss is small—reported at a few thousand yen—but custodians say even minor crimes cause deep emotional harm at a site where 74 students and 10 staff died in the 2011 tsunami.
- The incident follows similar local cases, including a 2025 donation-box theft, and could lead to more security upgrades at preserved tsunami sites in Ishinomaki.