Famous mountaineer joins efforts to erect "tent village" for Noto quake volunteers

Starting on March 24, up to 200 volunteers aiding quake-hit Nanao City, Ishikawa Prefecture, can stay in tents set up by mountain climber Noguchi Ken and regional governments.

The ruins of post-quake Nanao City remain largely untouched due to a lack of accommodation for relief workers. At present, volunteers are making arduous day trips from Kanazawa City and other distant locations, greatly limiting the amount of work they can do.

A partial solution has arrived in the form of a tent village to be erected by Soja City, Okayama Prefecture, alongside nonprofit Peak Aid, which is headed by Noguchi, and five other municipal governments.

Soja City Mayor Kataoka Soichi says, "We want to support the recovery of the affected areas as a way of repaying the help we received after the torrential rains in western Japan."