A thousand days have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami disaster struck on March 11, 2011, which killed more than 15,000, and still more than 2600 people are missing. While 280,000 people still cannot settle in permanent houses, all related officials and industries have been working as a team on reconstruction of the region despite shortage of materials and labor.

In Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima, the three hardest-hit prefectures, quite a number of construction works started this year. It is said that completion of public housing for disaster victims are delayed, but the number of works in progress shows a steady increase. 248 projects of collective relocation of communities to highlands obtained consent of Land Minister by the end of October in Iwate and Miyagi, while 60 plans decided in Fukushima. (2013/12/04)