SHIOGAMA, Miyagi Pref. — Fumio Oikawa is determined to clean the mud out of his small seaweed salt factory in Shiogama, Miyagi Prefecture, and reopen as soon as possible.
"I've been coming here to clean up the mess every day from a day after March 11. At first, we couldn't even step into the place, but now it's getting much better," said Oikawa, 63, manager of Ganbare Shiogama, a "moshio" seaweed salt producer, which was hit by the March 11 tsunami.
"I thought it's over for our factory when I first saw its state. But later, when I found out that our (salt) kiln and an altar had survived the tsunami, I thought it's a sign for us to revive the business," he said. " We are going to restart."
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