FUTABA, Fukushima Prefecture--From a business perspective, an investment plan here by yarn producer Asanonenshi Co. did not much sense, even to President Masami Asano.

The bleak and barren landscape of Futaba, which co-hosts the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, had brought tears to Asano’s eyes.

The town also ranked last among potential locations for the company’s new factory.

But Futaba’s mayor immediately won over Asano.

On April 22 in the town, Asanonenshi started full operations of its new commercial complex, which comprises a factory, cafe and towel store.

“I believe that putting our project on the track to success will delight the town’s residents the most,” Asano, 63, said. “We will thoroughly concentrate on our core business here.”

The entire town had to evacuate following the triple meltdown at the nuclear plant triggered by the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.

Futaba, which once had a population of around 7,000, now has only 60 residents.

Asano had studied at Fukushima University, but he did not rush to the Tohoku region to help survivors of the triple disaster. Instead, he remained 450 kilometers from Futaba in Anpachi, Gifu Prefecture, where Asanonenshi is headquartered.

He said he felt “ashamed” of himself for not helping.

Asanonenshi was founded in 1969 and specializes in creating threads through a twisting process.

Its sales plummeted in the early 2000s amid an influx of cheaper Chinese products. On the verge of bankruptcy, Asanonenshi tested more than 10,000 prototypes before completing its Super Zero brand.

Under the line, cotton threads and water-soluble yarn are combined and soaked in hot water, causing the remaining cotton to swell. This creates excellent water-absorbing and quick-drying properties of the yarn.

After towels using Super Zero proved a big hit, the company’s sales soared from 200 million yen ($1.4 million) in 2007 to 2.3 billion yen in 2019.

Looking to expand the company, Asano was invited in summer 2019 by the central government to tour 12 municipalities around the wrecked nuclear plant that were trying to bring businesses to their areas.

At that time, Futaba was the only municipality on the list that was still fully under an evacuation order.

Asano saw a pile of black containers full of contaminated soil near an industrial park in the Futaba area. Laundry had been left hanging outside empty homes in the deserted town.

Automobiles with crushed tires lined a parking lot.

The sights brought tears to his eyes.

“I saw firsthand what a nuclear accident is like,” Asano recalled.

He and the company assessed the feasibility of the 12 municipalities based largely on the projected living conditions of employees, medical services and other benefits.

Futaba ranked last.

Asano, however, was so impressed by a remark made by Futaba Mayor Shiro Izawa at a reception following the tour that he decided to work with the town.

“From a business standpoint, choosing Futaba town would not be an option,” Asano quoted Izawa as saying. “You do not need to come to our town, but I would like you to come to (one of the other seven municipalities in) Futaba county.”

Moved by the mayor’s personality, Asano concluded that he would get along well with Futaba.

Asanonenshi has since invested 3 billion yen to set up facilities and equipment in Futaba, taking advantage of financial support from the central government.

SYMBOL OF REVIVAL

Situated 4 km northwest of the nuclear plant, Asanonenshi’s huge glass-walled complex sits in a corner of an industrial park along with a hotel, exchange center and building contractor’s office.

Its roof features a large logo of Asanonenshi’s Super Zero thread produced with its patented technology.

Inside, the 3,000-square-meter factory, triple the size of its main plant in Gifu Prefecture, can produce 500 tons of Super Zero annually.

That would double Asanonenshi’s output. The company plans to export the line to overseas markets.

An opening ceremony on April 22 at the complex was attended not only by Mayor Izawa, 65, but also Hiromichi Watanabe, the reconstruction minister.

“Reaching it from the Joban Expressway, one will find that Asanonenshi’s plant boasts an exceptional design at the entrance to the industrial park,” Izawa said. “I expect it to serve as a symbol of Futaba’s reconstruction.”

Asano retraced the difficult path the company and town had pursued.

“I held so many talks with the mayor on our business plan over the four years from the inspection tour up to today that I could publish a book recounting our story,” Asano told reporters after the ceremony.

Most residents have yet to return to the town, even after the evacuation order was lifted for its central zone last August.

But Asano still sees bright prospects for Futaba.

“We will be presenting Futaba’s recovery as well as the appeal of our thread to the world,” he said. “The international community will be astonished by the rebuilding of this town that was deserted for 11 years and five months.”

STAFF IN HIGH SPIRITS

The 21 staff members at the complex’s cafe, store and factory include 12 locals.

Five are fresh out of high school or university and were hired by Asanonenshi for its expansion into Futaba town.

Yuki Musashi, 18, who joined the company in spring, is from Soma in Fukushima Prefecture.

He thought he wanted to work for the company when he was in his third year at high school and heard Asano’s lecture there.

Asano’s desire to help “revive Futaba” resonated with Musashi.

Musashi is assigned to the cafe, and he has lived in a town-run housing complex since April. He immediately noticed there are no supermarkets and very few restaurants in the municipality.

“I want to make our cafe a place where customers can relax and smile to enliven Futaba town,” he said.

Mizuki Hanawa, 22, who hails from Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, entered Asanonenshi in spring, hoping to use his experience of struggling with atopic dermatitis for product development and other purposes.

Hanawa works at the store inside the complex that mainly sells towels and underwear.

He commutes there by train from his parents’ home in Iwaki, but he plans to reside in Futaba at some point.

Hanawa has wandered around the municipality and seen homes with collapsed roof tiles as well as vacant lots where houses were demolished.

“Futaba town has no choice but to rise from here,” Hanawa said. “I will stay here to watch the town’s reconstruction.”