Last November, Tokyo-based firm Biomass Resin opened a factory in Namie to turn locally-grown rice into pellets. The raw materials are reborn as low-carbon plastic cutlery and takeout containers used in chain restaurants, souvenirs sold at one of Japan's largest international airports, and most recently, in shopping bags at a BMW pop-up showroom in Tokyo.
Eleven years after a broad swath of the northeastern Tohoku region was devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, the government is stressing the progress made in the recovery and reconstruction of disaster-hit areas.