Cathy Hirano says it was "so painful to feel powerless in the face of such a huge disaster," recalling the day a year ago that the Pacific coast of Tohoku was hit by the huge earthquake and tsunami.
The feeling of helplessness is something that will likely linger among many others throughout the country, but Hirano, a ginger-haired long-term resident of Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture, and director of the charity Second Hand, was less powerless to help than many at that moment.
"It makes a huge difference to be able to do something," Hirano says. "I think what was really moving for me were these small acts — people coming to us at Second Hand, bringing things to send to the disaster area. You could see they were just longing to do something, you could see they thought 'Thank God, there's someone giving me a chance to help,' because it was so painful."