Recovery and reconstruction efforts are continuing six weeks after a devastating New Year's Day earthquake struck central Japan.

Volunteers are helping out in the Noto Peninsula where most of the damage occurred. But accommodation for them is scarce.

They need to travel by bus for the time being between their activity bases and Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture, which has better infrastructure.

Aid supplies from across the country are arriving in the hardest-hit city of Wajima.

Koyama Masaki is a traditional lacquerware chopstick craftsperson. His workshop was damaged as well as his home and he is unable to work.

He has been managing aid supplies since disaster struck.

Koyama said, "There are people who are having a much harder time than me, so I hope I can do something to help them."

Meanwhile, the Wajima city government has started offering individual consultations on publicly funded demolition of damaged buildings.

More than 60,000 houses in Ishikawa Prefecture have been completely or partially destroyed. City officials say they have received about 500 inquiries so far.

241 people have so far been confirmed dead and at least 23,000 are still living in shelters in the hardest-hit prefecture of Ishikawa.