"Toge Marche" supporting people affected by Jan. 2024 Noto Quake
A facility serving as a cafeteria and supermarket is supporting the livelihoods of people affected by a powerful earthquake that struck the Noto Peninsula in central Japan two years ago.
Sumika Shibata, 60, one of those affected by the Jan. 1, 2024, disaster, played a major role in establishing the facility, Toge Marche, in the Toge district in the city of Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in late November 2025. Wajima was heavily damaged by the temblor, which measured 7, the highest level on Japan's seismic intensity scale, in the city located in the peninsula.
Shibata came up with the idea of launching the facility after she started volunteering to provide afflicted locals with hot meals following the quake.
While living in temporary housing, Shibata works with her husband, Kiyomitsu, 60, and residents in operating Toge Marche.
"I'm truly grateful to the shop," said 91-year-old former farmer Ryoko Kurosugi, who visited Toge Marche for the first time in late December. She bought goods such as eggs and chicken.
Her house was destroyed by the earthquake, and she now lives in temporary housing in the Toge district. Kurosugi, who has an issue with her legs, said she feels secure as the store is near her current home.
The store has about 70 to 100 customers a day.
Because the district is home to many elderly residents and has no other supermarket, staff workers at Toge Marche, as needed, drive customers to and from their homes free of charge. The store also takes measures such as selling rice by the kilogram.
Shibata's house was also destroyed by the Jan. 1, 2024, earthquake. Nevertheless, Shibata, a former school lunch cook, began volunteering to offer meals to affected locals the following day in cooperation with neighbours, believing that hot food would cheer them up.
In March 2024, Shibata and her colleagues formed a group aiming to launch Toge Marche, hoping to offer a place where people can gather.
To prepare for the launch of the facility, Shibata visited disaster-hit municipalities around the country to learn reconstruction know-how, including the town of Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, which was devastated by a tsunami from the March 2011 powerful earthquake.
The tour made her believe that she "can definitely rebuild" her damaged community.
In summer 2025, Shibata collected about 20 million yen from 527 people in a crowdfunding scheme. Also, by spending her own money, Shibata finally opened Toge Marche.
"We want the store to stay close to the local community and meet the needs of residents," Shibata said.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
