Wajima: Volunteers got to work in Wajima, an earthquake-hit city in the central Japan prefecture of Ishikawa, as the city started accepting disaster volunteers on Saturday.

Around 40 volunteers arrived in Wajima on a bus shortly before 11 a.m. After receiving an explanation, they were divided into groups and started their work including removing debris and cleaning up houses.

Some municipalities in Ishikawa first started accepting disaster volunteers on Jan. 27 following the magnitude-7.6 earthquake on New Year’s Day.

Eight municipalities now accept disaster volunteers. About 23,000 people in and outside the prefecture register as volunteers.

In Wajima, volunteers removed wet tatami mats from Oyado Tanaka, a guest house where rain leaks after roof tiles fell off due to the earthquake.

“Things are worse than I imagined. I want to do something to help,” said Takahiro Suzuki, a 29-year-old company employee from Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan.

Suzuki said he has decided to help people affected by the quake because he himself was helped by volunteers in the wake of a past typhoon.

Koichi Tanaka, the 60-year-old owner of the guest house, said: “It was helpful. I want to provide places where people who come for the reconstruction can stretch their legs.”

Kiyoko Yomaida, 72, who has asked for help by volunteers to clean up her house, seemed relieved, saying, “I wondered where should I start from, but now I can see ahead thanks to their help.”

“I want to keep doing it,” said Akira Takami, a 51-year-old company employee from Hakusan, Ishikawa, who helped Yomaida.

JIJI Press