Friday, December 30, 2011

Ishinomaki Case Study: Recovery of Maruka Pro Fish Shop

Maruka Pro shop in November 2011

Although this article is a little different than what we usually post on FVJ, I thought it might be interesting to look at the current state of businesses around Tohoku, and discuss the steps they are taking in order to re-open.  

In the case of the downtown of Ishinomaki, the first business to recovery quickly with a unique plan that I had come across was that of the Maruka Pro Fish Shop. 
Fig 1: Maruka Pro Shop shown during the initial post-tsunami clean-up.

There may have been a time when recovery from a disaster for small businesses just involved getting the mess cleaned out, the damage repaired, new product ordered in, and hanging a "business as usual" sign on the door. However, this is no longer the case. Even for small businesses, the business model today is complex and being able to continue following an interruption of any kind relies on a wide understanding of all the influences that could affect it as well as having carefully prepared plans to get those influences back together following the disruption.


Not only do small and medium-sized businesses need to struggle and work hard and fast to survive commercially, when battling against big-box stores and internet-shopping. While potentially being exposed to incidents that are outside their control, small businesses in most industries also need to operate within tight-industry regulation, and to stay on top of their own business processes, personnel and procedures.


"80 percent of businesses without a well 
structured recovery plan are forced to shut down 
within 12 months of a flood or fire."
(Source: London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 2003)

Sadly, as many as 80% of businesses hit by fire, storm damage, tsunami, or earthquake go out of business within a year because they have not planned effectively for recovery. The downtown Ishinomaki case makes this especially clear. Nine months following the disaster, many of the businesses in the downtown core, and the majority of businesses in the Watanoha district have failed to come back online. 


 May 25th Reopening poster for Maruka 




Estimates of the direct material damage of the tsunami are said to exceed ¥25 trillion ($300 billion), but insurance and government coverage will only be able to cover a fraction of those losses. Although there's not much that can be done in the cases where an entire business' physical location, and many of the management and staff members were lost, there are several other cases where the lack of a business continuity plan to resume business elsewhere, also contributed to the post-disaster closure of the business. The case of the Maruka Pro Shop in Ishinomaki is a strong case for following the Best Practices scenario for post-disaster Business Continuity Practices.


Business continuity planning is not only necessary to protect an organization against extreme disasters such as the big-three cases that affected the East Coast of Japan, it's also important to take into account the importance of preparing for electrical problems, IT failures, theft, damage, or irregular and unseasonal local conditions. What should a business do in the case that their best people suddenly resign? Or if one of their key suppliers goes under? Or a new competitor opens up nearby?  Creating contingency plans for all of these cases, on top of larger disasters, and understanding the impact on day-to-day business planning,  is essential for maintain both day-to-day business, and preparing for long-term profitability.


Despite being completely gutted by the tsunami, losing long-term access to the local fishing pier due to infrastructure damage, losing ice suppliers, and losing many of its customers in the local region, the Pro Shop Maruka managed to reopen its doors on May 25th (only 64 days after the tsunami) in the hard-hit coastal district of Ishinomaki, thanks to effective business continuity practices.
Pictures of the re-opening day of Maruka Pro Shop on May 25th.


The Maruka Pro Shop is managed by a Mr. Masahiko Sasaki and his wife, Mrs. Kazuko Sakaki. Mr. Sasaki has come to be known as the "Walking Fish Dictionary" thanks to his expansive knowledge of different types of fish, their habitat, uncountable ways of preparing and cooking fish, as well as knowing much about the deep link between the sea and Japanese folklore. He can always be seen first thing in the morning at the local sea ports, haggling and bidding for the biggest and heartiest fish to be caught.


Mrs. Kazuko Sasaki comes from a long lineage of fishermen. She is the eldest daughter of the president of "Miyamoto Fisheries" which has been operating since well before the Meiji Era. It was her idea to refocus Masahiko's business on the professional sector, to become a provider of top quality and bulk fish products for small and medium sized businesses across Miyagi.


The Sasaki's had lived through smaller disasters before. They were familiar with how a tsunami could affect local businesses and the fishery sector, by experiencing the tsunami generated by the Great Chile quake of 1970.  They knew that fishing supplies would be momentarily disrupted, and expected there to be damage to their main shop.


They studied the breakdown of their business, and worked hard in developing business continuity planning processes and practices that would ensure that, whatever the disaster, the day to day activities of their shop would be able to get back up and running quickly. This included clear processes for their employees so that there is no doubt what action to take, whatever the circumstances. In the case of potential tsunami, the shop workers were well trained in escape routes to nearby hills. The Sasaki's emphasized that personal safely was the first priority, and told their staff to drop what they were doing, and to run to the hills.  


Since Pro Shop Maruka is a middleman, acquiring fish directly from the ports, and selling it to smaller and mid-size businesses, rather than walk-in customers, they were very dramatically hit by the tsunami. Since most businesses in the downtown district had their first floors devastated, and partial flooding of the second floors, many businesses ended up going out of business completely. Since insurance companies refused to cover coastal businesses with tsunami or flooding insurance, and government compensation would only be enough to cover personal living expenses, most businesses without and effective business continuity plan have been unable to cope post-tsunami.


Employing teams of local volunteers, coordinated through local Volunteer Centers, and by visiting the temporary offices of Peace Boat and other local post-disaster NPOs, the Sasaki's were able to get their shop cleaned out, remove the tsunami sludge, and remove any rotting insulation within the first couple weeks following the disaster.


Once their store-front was moderately recovered by early April, they followed up with a plan to offer the front part of their shop to their pre-disaster customers. Since the majority of coastal businesses were devastated, this means that many of their own customers had also lost their shop fronts. An important element of disaster planning involves contingency plans for not only the acquisition of materials, and relocation, it also means finding ways to protect or recover your customer base.


In Pro Shop Maruka's case, they extended the offer to four of their local customers, who had lost their own businesses completely. The Takigawa Japanese restaurant, Baorai Sushi, Ishikawa Sukiyaki, and the Loulan Chinese Restaurant. With a date set for a May 25th opening, the Sasaki's invited the four businesses to set up small stalls in the front of the Pro Shop Maruka. They worked with the Ishinomaki 2.0 and IDRAC (Ishinomaki Disaster Recovery Assistance Council) to secure loans for buying new stoves, fridges, and supplies, and used the power of social media and local newspapers and radio broadcasts for promoting their business.


Pro Shop Maruka excelled at putting their Business Continuity Plan into action, and serves as a beacon for other tsunami, and disaster-affected businesses to prepare for worst-case scenarios comprehensively and effectively. 

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

We Will Always Remember You

In October, Kenji Araki, a director from NY came to Tohoku to film a video as part of another project, and joined the It's Not Just Mud crew for a couple days. This video is addressed to international citizens as a thank you message from the people of Tohoku, and really conveys a warm and encouraging message.

To the people of the world: there is a video we would like you to see.
On March 11, 2011, at 2:46pm, the Pacific coast of the Tohoku region of Japan was hit by the most powerful earthquake the country had ever experienced. As the overwhelming scale of the destruction from the quake and resulting tsunami became clear, and the number of lives reported lost continued to climb to reach over 10,000, the people of our country were devastated with grief and a sense of dejection.

It was during this time that you, the people from different countries across the world, called out to us with a message of strength and support: “Ganbare Nihon!”—Be strong Japan! You lifted out spirits and gave us the courage to keep our heads up and move forward.

Nowhere is this feeling of appreciation stronger than it is with the people of Tohoku. Anyone who has spent time helping with the rebuilding efforts knows how strong these people are, and how thankful they are.

This video by Kenji, titled “We Will Always Remember You” begins with a series of video footage showing the terrible disaster the earthquake wrought.It then turns the spotlight to Taylor Anderson (then 24), an American assistant language teacher (ALT) in Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture—one of the areas hit hardest by the disaster.

Anderson, was teaching at an elementary school when the earthquake hit, stayed with the frightened children until they had all been safely evacuated. However, on the way home, Anderson herself fell victim to the tsunami that came rushing in after.

Anderson’s students appear in the video and speak of their memories of their teacher: “Taylor sensei was really nice. She really cheered us up when the earthquake struck.”

There were many other touching scenes in the pre-production footage that Kenji showed the It's Not Just Mud crew when he stayed with them in October, and it's great to see the wonderful final product. As Jamie of INJM puts it "If you have been to Tohoku post disaster on any kind of relief mission, this video is relevant to you. Feel free to share."

It's only 7 minutes, but definitely worth watching. I'd recommend having a box of tissues handy nonetheless.


Update: Since the video was pulled from YouTube by the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of New York due to copyright infringement, despite the wish of the director for the video to find as large an audience as possible, we have embedded a version shared on a Japanese video sharing site below. Please check it out. 

 
Here is an earlier video also by Kenji Araki filmed on March 17th, and conveys a message of support and solidarity for Japan. Ice T and Robin Williams also make appearances in the film.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Please fill in the Survey on tokyo hazard vulnerability and preparation

Relief supplies for Minamisoma - During delivery by Rescue Japan

Please fill in the Survey on tokyo hazard vulnerability and preparation

This survey aims to gather information related to disaster preparedness from residents in Tokyo targeting 4 Wards (Edogawa, Koto, Meguro and Minato)

It focuses on the following hazards Floods, Tropical storms and Typhoons, Water scarcity, Fire, Extreme heat, Extreme cold.

Fill in the form here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dGVBWVFMNkUxZFdFeVRDdnlRb1VpV3c6MA

Results will be used for a presentation in December and essays to be completed by the New Year. Basic data will be posted in mid December (http://sarajeans-notes.blogspot.com/)

 

東京の災害に対する脆弱性とその防災意識調査

Please share this link for the J survey on hazard preparedness:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dFdZM29ONllzNVdsLWg5cHNRcU1jR2c6MA

東京の災害に対する脆弱性とその防災意識調査

こ の調査は、国連大学の災害と人道援助のコースの履修生によって行われています。東京都民の災害に対する防災意識についての情報を収集しております。洪水、 熱帯性暴風雨、台風、水不足、火災、猛暑、厳しい寒さといった天候に起因する災害に焦点を絞ってご質問させていただきます。 お近くにお住まいの地域の方々にもこのアンケートに答えてくださるようお誘いいただければ幸いです。東京の住民のウェブサイトにもお載せいたします。

お時間を取らせていただいて恐縮ですが、よろしくお願いいたします。