MINAMI-SANRIKU, Miyagi Prefecture--Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko dropped by a makeshift market here July 23 to offer encouragement to store owners affected by March 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster.
MINAMI-SANRIKU, Miyagi Prefecture--Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko dropped by a makeshift market here July 23 to offer encouragement to store owners affected by March 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster.
The Minami-Sanriku Sun Sun Shopping Village, which opened in February 2012, has 32 shops and restaurants run by local business operators as part of efforts to rebuild the devastated region. It also features a purpose-built stage, where various events are held on weekends.
Shinichi Sato, owner of a photo studio, showed the imperial couple pictures he took of the area immediately after the Great East Japan Earthquake and the tsunami it spawned.
“It used to be such a beautiful town here,” the emperor said while comparing before and after images. “Everything is gone.”
The 48-year-old photographer said that he will continue to take pictures as reconstruction efforts make headway, to which the emperor replied, “Please continue to take pictures for as long as you can since they are valuable documents.”
A store selling “kamaboko” fish paste also welcomed the couple. According to the 61-year-old president of the shop, Zenyu Oikawa, the imperial couple enjoyed the shop’s kamaboko for their breakfast that day.
They told Tadahiko Abe, the president of a union which manages the shopping village, to persevere until the town makes a full recovery.
“They gave us courage to keep moving forward,” said the 52-year-old.
The temporary market is slated to become a permanent shopping center in autumn 2016.