Akie Hoshi never imagined she would be able to find work in her hometown of Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, just a year after the tsunami spawned by the Great East Japan Earthquake smashed into the coastal city, erasing entire districts.
Yet Hoshi has been working for Yagisawa Shoten, an established maker and seller of soy sauce and miso paste in Rikuzentakata, since April 2012. Her current job involves placing orders and serving customers.
Like many other businesses in Tohoku that were shattered by the March 11, 2011, catastrophe, Yagisawa Shoten's factory and storehouse in the city were swept away by the 10- to 15-meter tsunami, killing its sales manager.