NPO Provides Job Assistance and Income for Disaster-Hit Area

Copyright On the Road

Japanese nonprofit organization (NPO) On the Road won a Nikkei Social Initiative Award in the Support for Reconstruction in Tohoku category, and was honored at the awards ceremony on May 23, 2013. The Nikkei Social Initiative Awards, hosted by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper company, are given to pioneering ventures that aim to solve social issues through business.

The NPO launched Ishinomaki Genki Shoten, an online shop that sells seafood, meats, sweets, and other products from Ishinomaki, an area in Tohoku hit by the tsunami. The online shop is located in the "Department for Reconstruction," an online shopping mall launched by Yahoo! Japan and other entities to help support employment and secure income for disaster-afflicted areas.

On the Road receives and ships orders, advertises and plans products, designs websites, and promotes sales, for example by producing Web commercials, ｔo help stores that were damaged in the disaster and lack the skill to operate an online shop.

The NPO employs local youth as staff and is working to hand over operation of the project to a local entity. The project looks set to become a model for economical revitalization projects in other disaster-hit areas.