Around noon on May 26th, 1983, there was a magnitude 7.7 earthquake in the Sea of Japan off the Akita coast. It was a large-scale disaster, with over 9 billion yen in damages to the embankment that is it town’s lifeline, as well as agricultural maintenance facilities. The sand layer of the earth that makes up the embankment liquefied and began to sink. Rather than just repairing the embankment, steel plates were put in place between the lake and the embankment, further expanding its size. The construction cost a total of 32.77 billion yen and was completed in 1985. Hachirogatakasen Park was built to celebrate the completion and a monument was erected with the prayer that such a disaster never happens again.
