At the time of the earthquake

Could you tell us about the immediate damages caused?

We were to open a new support center called Workshop Fureai (hereafter Fureai) on April 1st in Shishiori district (where fishing boat Kyoutoku Maru was washed ashore). As the district didn’t have a bakery, we decided to try it out. We were ready to open the workshop when the earthquake hit and the tsunami followed. The city of Kesennuma was totally engulfed in fire on that day, and it was said that a site with propane gas cylinders across the street from Fureai was where the fire started. So, this area was in tremendous flames. Even after the fire was put out, we couldn’t come near to the area because of the heat. We could only come to the area where the building was after sometime. Fortunately there was no one killed by the incident among our trainees and the staff, however, some of the trainees lost their family members. There was neither water nor electricity, and our spirit was almost torn down.