Risa Hikata used to listen with half an ear whenever her father praised Kyoto Prefecture, their hometown, as a "great place." But when the kudos came from visitors from afar, somehow she was able to accept it genuinely.

Now as an "outsider" herself helping out in the posttsunami reconstruction of the Kitakami district in the city of Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, Hikata believes her role is to "praise Kitakami to the skies." Walking side by side the city's residents almost two years after the devastating March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami, she hopes to be able to provide as much encouragement as possible.

The 29-year-old native of Kyotango, Kyoto Prefecture, is one of 67 "reconstruction supporters" working in the three disaster-hit prefectures of Fukushima, Iwate and Miyagi as of the end of January.