With Jan. 6 marking six months since deadly floods devastated parts of western Japan, many residents in the area are still living in temporary housing, towns with declining populations are seeing more people leave and some farmers with destroyed fields have decided to quit farming.
A cosmetics store that had been open for half a century quietly closed down in December. The shop in the town of Saka, Hiroshima Prefecture, was submerged and heavily damaged by the torrential rain last year.
The cosmetics shop also sold medicine, daily goods and clothing. Since the only supermarket in the district was closed following the disaster, Mayumi Tatehata, the 66-year-old owner, felt compelled to quickly reopen the shop after seeing that elderly people needed a place where they could get their daily necessities.