Shelves still empty in disaster areas

People make purchases at a temporary supermarket set up in Rikuzen-Takata, Iwate Prefecture, on Saturday.

Many daily necessities are still scarce at supermarkets and convenience stores in areas hit by the March 11 disaster, but some outlets have begun taking steps to resume their operations, including opening temporary stores.
Shortages have been caused by disruptions in distribution networks and damage to manufacturers as a result of the earthquake and tsunami that struck northeastern Japan.
The Miyabiru supermarket in Miyako, Iwate Prefecture, is seeing about 20 percent more customers than before the disaster, as an increasing number of people are coming from other areas that were severely damaged.
However, the store has only a limited variety of products, such as rice and local vegetables, and the number of items on sale is about 60 percent of the prequake level. Meat and fish are in particularly short supply, according to the supermarket.
"Local livestock farmers and fishing ports suffered heavy damage, and transportation networks are being restored slowly. This makes it difficult for us to get stock," said Takanori Suzuki, the general manager of the grocery floor.
Many convenience stores have resumed operations in central Sendai, which suffered comparatively minor damage. However, a lot of their shelves remain empty.
A large number of factories that produce onigiri rice balls and bento boxes sold in the Tohoku region have suspended their operations for such reasons as damage from the disaster and a scarcity of ingredients.
A convenience store chain said its stock of retort-pouch products and other processed goods has run out, as the storehouse it used as a distribution base was damaged March 11.
Some major convenience stores have increased their deliveries of instant noodles to disaster areas to six times a week from three in ordinary times. However, some stores cannot assemble sufficient products for delivery, sources said.
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Improvising solutions
Supermarkets were also devastated in Sanriku coastal areas in the Tohoku region, and many consumers cannot go shopping because their cars were swept away by the tsunami.
"I think the delivery of relief supplies will stop in the near future. I don't know how I can get food," said Nobuko Suzuki, 76, of Onagawacho, Miyagi Prefecture.
Before the quake, Suzuki bought most of her daily necessities at the town's only supermarket, Onmaeya, or from the store's mobile sales vehicles.
Onmaeya's store was destroyed by tsunami, and it has suspended its mobile sales.
There is a major supermarket about 15 kilometers from Suzuki's home, but she cannot go by herself as she does not own a car.
Onmaeya's senior managing director Hiroki Sato said it will take at least two years before the store can resume operations, as the land around it has sunk.
In Rikuzen-Takata, Iwate Prefecture, supermarket Maiya's two stores were destroyed by tsunami. However, Maiya set up a prefabricated structure and tent in a vacant lot on a hill in the city and resumed sales there on March 14.
"I wanted to [set up a temporary store] so people could buy things," said manager Yoshihiro Niinuma.
The shop sells about 200 items such as rice, water and eggs--goods that can be kept for a long time without a fridge.
"Bread provided as relief supplies was a lifeline for a while. But now I can buy things, which is very helpful," a 76-year-old man said at the shop.
At customers' request, Sato said Onmaeya is aiming to resume mobile sales soon, using three cars.
It also is considering supporting the rehabilitation of the town by selling bento boxes to construction workers, he said.
The population of disaster-hit areas is rapidly aging, and there are reportedly many so-called shopping refugees, who have difficulty obtaining daily necessities due to the absence of stores in their neighborhood. But efforts for reconstruction have begun.

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