A group of Ukrainian municipal officials has toured a town in northeastern Japan to learn about its recovery from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

The ten-member delegation, including senior officials from the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv and the southern city of Odessa, visited Onagawa in Miyagi Prefecture as part of a program organized by the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

Town officials explained that they built commercial facilities, the municipal office and a hospital around the main street with the aim of making the town convenient for residents and attractive to tourists.

The participants later walked around the community, taking photos and videos and visiting shops.
The deputy mayor of Odessa, Pavlo Vugelman, said he was impressed by efforts to enable businesses to restart after the disaster. He said he hopes to introduce such programs in Ukraine.

The deputy mayor of Kharkiv, Dmytro Isaiev, said it's wonderful that the whole town came together and the public and private sectors cooperated to promote reconstruction. He noted that the situation in Kharkiv is desperate and people remain anxious, but he hopes to bring them together like in Onagawa.

Town official Aoyama Takahiro said if the post-disaster experience there can be of help to the people of Ukraine, he is ready to offer whatever cooperation is needed.