Only ten days after the devastating earthquake and tsunami, rebuilding has already begun in the zone of destruction. Temporary housing for some of the thousands currently housed in shelters is underway in the northern Japanese town of Rikuzentakata. The authorities in that town expect to be able to move people from cramped camps into the new houses by the end of the month. Currently the people are living in little more than mats in a junior high gym separated by from their neighbors only by cardboard.

Rescue workers are still looking for survivors and have been heartened by finding an eighty year old woman still alive in the rubble. She and her grandson had been trapped in the rubble of their home and living on the food in their refrigerator. Both were very cold, but are expected to make a full recovery. They symbolize the spirit of the Japanese people.