Business owners in quake-hit areas of Tohoku are haunted by concerns about the long-term viability of their communities, despite the positive effects of the billions of yen being pumped into post-quake reconstruction.
Business owners in quake-hit areas of Tohoku are haunted by concerns about the long-term viability of their communities, despite the positive effects of the billions of yen being pumped into post-quake reconstruction.
Some local economies have been transformed by the rebuilding effort.
The president of a construction materials company on the coast of Iwate Prefecture said: "Officials of construction companies who were high-handed and did everything to drive down prices are now bowing their heads and asking, 'Please sell to us.'"
Before the disaster, construction companies in the area had endured a long slump because of a shortage of public works projects.
The rebuilding effort in the disaster areas, including work to rebuild roads, sewage systems and clear the huge amounts of rubble left by the tsunami, has led to shortages in both construction materials and workers and climbing prices.
According to a survey conducted by The Asahi Shimbun of 60 small businesses in the disaster region, 86 percent of the construction companies reported sales increases.
The construction materials company only had a handful of employees before the quake, but now has about 40 workers. It has recently invested in equipment costing close to 300 million yen ($3.6 million) despite annual sales that are only about 100 million yen.
But the company’s president remains wary of over-optimism. He has only given his new workers one-year contracts.
"The demand for rebuilding work will only last 10 years at the most. Once it comes to an end, there will be no work. While I want the workers to stay for as long as possible, I cannot hire them if there is no work," he said.
Miyagi Koutsu Co., a taxi company in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, lost 24 vehicles in last year's tsunami and now has a fleet of 36 cars. Its revenue from each vehicle has increased since the disaster, partly because rival companies have folded.
But Hatsuei Igarashi, 78, the company president, warned: "We cannot return the number of vehicles to the level before the disasters because the community's population continues to decline."
Even before the disasters, the coastal areas of the Tohoku region faced declining as well as aging populations. The disasters have accelerated both trends.
Over the past year, the population of Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, has declined by 13 percent, while those of Ishinomaki and Kesennuma, both in Miyagi Prefecture, have declined by about 6 percent.
A school official in Miyagi Prefecture said, "The actual situation is much more severe because many disaster victims have moved outside of the city while not changing their residential records."
An official with a food retailer in Iwate Prefecture said, "There has been an increase in the ratio of senior citizens among our customers."
Shigeyoshi Oikawa, 43, the owner of a beauty salon in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, paid for 50 banners to be placed around his city saying "Ganbarou Kesennuma" because he felt “something had to be done to energize the community.” But he admits he has considered moving his focus to his branch in Sendai unless rebuilding accelerates.
His shop sustained relatively minor damage in last year's quake and tsunami, but the fishing and seafood processing industries that were the core of the city's economy have all but stopped operating.
Last May, as part of an effort to stop the outflow of workers and self-employed businessmen, Oikawa was involved in the establishment of Sunny Days Kesennuma. The group created 150 panels of photos and has cooperated with an organization publicizing local cuisine to support rebuilding efforts in Kesennuma. The photo exhibition has been taken to about a dozen locations around Japan.
But Oikawa remains worried about the slow pace of the rebuilding effort. While the city government compiled a rebuilding plan last October, a central government tax grant allocation program has only approved 40 percent of applications for rebuilding projects. Kesennuma Mayor Shigeru Sugawara has expressed concern about whether all the projects planned can be implemented.
Oikawa said: "Unless there are prospects for the future, even those people who may want to resume operations here will give up and leave. The actions of the government are too slow."
He says he wants to help Kesennuma, where he was born and raised, but warns, "Unless something is done, I may shift emphasis to my Sendai outlet, where business is more profitable."
Meanwhile, 10 small businessmen in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, established a group last September to help decide what could be done to help rebuild that city. They also started a project to encourage other operators of small businesses and started building a lodging facility that uses local lumber as part of its renewable energy system.
One member of the group, Junichi Hasegawa, 31, a construction company president, said: "I am a disaster victim myself, but, as a businessman, I want to create a catalyst to resuscitate my community.”
(This article was written by Masamichi Maeji, Tomohiro Yamamoto and Chisato Yokota.)