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Newspapers: Go Nagai Museum Burns Down After Earthquake

The Hokkoku Shimbun newspaper reported on Tuesday that the Gō Nagai Wonderland Museum in Wajima City has burned down after a 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck Ishikawa Prefecture on Monday. Kazushige Kobayashi, a photographer for the Asahi Shimbun newspaper, visited the Asaichi Street location of this museum dedicated to the acclaimed manga creator, and took a photo of the fire's aftermath just before noon (10:00 p.m. EST) on Tuesday.

Gō Nagai's studio Dynamic Production had released a statement earlier on Tuesday. The company stated that the safety of the residents of Wajima City is the top priority now, and it decided to not directly contact the city's local officials to confirm the reports yet. The company said it will release more information, once it has confirmed the details. The company added that Gō Nagai is currently in Tokyo, and is deeply saddened and concerned about the situation in his hometown.

Wajima, which is Nagai's birthplace, announced plans for a museum in 2005, and the museum opened at the city's historic Asaichi Street in 2009. The museum features many of Nagai's original art for such classic manga as Mazinger Z, Cutey Honey, Devilman, and Getter Robo, as well as a 1/9-scale statue of Mazinger Z's titular robot.

An earthquake of magnitude 7.6 struck the western coast of Japan, specifically the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture, on New Year's Day at 4:10 p.m. (2:00 a.m. EST). Buildings shook as far away as Tokyo and Osaka on the opposite coast of Japan. As of 3:30 p.m. in Japan (1:30 a.m. EST) on Tuesday, the public broadcaster NHK is reporting that 48 people have been confirmed dead, including 19 in Wajima. Rescue efforts are still ongoing.

Update: NHK is reporting that 57 people have been confirmed dead in Ishikawa Prefecture, including 24 in Wajima, as of midnight on January 3 (10:00 a.m. on January 2 EST). In addition, five Japan Coast Guard members en route to Niigata Prefecture died after their plane and a Japan Airlines (JAL) plane collided at Haneda Airport in Tokyo on Tuesday. One Coast Guard member and all 379 people aboard the JAL plane survived the resulting fire.

Update 2: NHK is reporting that 62 people have been confirmed dead in Ishikawa Prefecture, including 29 in Wajima, as of 8:00 a.m. on January 3 (6:00 p.m. on January 2 EST).

Sources: Hokkoku Shimbun Digital, Asahi Shimbun (西崎啓太朗) via Yaraon!, Dynamic Production's X/Twitter account