Store owners in Kobe's Nagata Ward, battered by a powerful earthquake 30 years ago, are welcoming students on school trips from all over Japan to help revitalize the area.
Kiyoto Morisaki, 72, president of Kinki Taxi, who proposed the program to show the current state of Nagata Ward, said he wanted to bring back the liveliness of the area after the quake on Jan. 17, 1995, caused immense damage there.
Morisaki said that although the company's headquarters and his home were spared from damage, he was "stunned" seeing the area burned to the ground in a fire that occurred soon after the temblor.
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