With the start of the new fiscal year Tuesday, schools and companies in the areas hit by the March 2011 disasters welcomed newcomers as a breath of fresh air in the region's efforts to rebuild.
At Ryori Elementary School in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, which was heavily damaged by the 3/11 earthquake and tsunami, 15 new first-graders attended an entrance ceremony, with all of them in kimono — a tradition at the school.
The school welcomes new students every April 1. However, in 2011, the ceremony was delayed for three weeks as the first floor of the building was still flooded from the tsunami.