SUZU, Ishikawa Prefecture--A steady stream of customers, many with tears in their eyes, entered a temporary store set up about 300 meters from Suzu City Hall.

Some were hunting for bargains. Others were seeking to hug the owners of the business.

The shopping event in May was the “farewell sale” of Sakashita, a clothing store that had served generations of residents at the tip of the Noto Peninsula for more than 100 years.

But it was more than just a store. It acted as a sort of community center where local bonds and friendships among people of all ages could flourish.

All of that was lost when the Noto Peninsula earthquake on New Year’s Day crushed the store.

Emotions ran high in the rented corner of a gift shop where Sakashita’s closing sale was held and the store’s long-time owner, who barely survived the disaster, showed his appreciation to customers for one last time.

SUPPORT IN DAILY LIFE

On May 28, the final day of operations, the makeshift Sakashita store opened at 9:30 a.m. Signs posted inside read, “Closing farewell sale. 90 percent off.”

One customer, an 81-year-old retired high school teacher, said he used to live near the store. But his home was destroyed in the earthquake, and he now lives in temporary housing.

He recalled that “communicating with people at the store” served as a form of support in his daily life before the quake.

“It feels sad, and I may face problems,” the man said about the closure.

At 4 p.m., a 63-year-old woman from the Ishikawa prefectural capital of Kanazawa arrived at the store holding a pink bouquet of flowers.

“Thank you for your hard work for such a long time,” she said as she presented the flowers to store owner, Shigeo Sakashita, 77, and his wife, Kumiko, 76.

Sakashita replied, with his voice trembling: “I wanted to run the store for three more years. But I just don’t have the strength, physically and mentally.”

The flower-giver said she grew up near the store and had been shopping at Sakashita “since as far back as I can remember.”

In elementary school, she bought tabi socks for a festival, and her everyday items, such as T-shirts and underwear, came from Sakashita. In high school, accessories were added to her shopping list at the store.

The woman even worked at the store for about a year when she was in her 20s.

“It was the kind of store where locals would stop by to make small talk while waiting for the bus or on their way to or from the hospital,” the woman said.

120-YEAR HISTORY

The Sakashita store was established in the Iidamachi shopping district, an area the local chamber of commerce describes as “a prime location in the central downtown area of Suzu city.”

Although no written records remain, Sakashita’s grandmother is believed to have opened the store about 120 years ago. Sakashita took over the business 55 years ago.

The store became an indispensable part of the community. It was even a fashion leader for high school students.

Sakashita said that when he was in his 20s, “this kid and that kid, everybody was wearing the T-shirts from our store.” The shirts featured prints of dogs and other characters and were priced at 295 yen ($1.90).

Major clothing store chains, like Uniqlo or Shimamura, have not set up shop in Suzu city. However, in recent years, more Suzu residents, especially those in younger generations, have been shopping online or driving to Kanazawa to buy clothes.

Still, Sakashita remained a favorite go-to place for elderly residents who cannot travel far to shop. The store mainly sold women’s clothing, but it was also fully stocked with pajamas, underwear, hats and bedding.

The store was closed only on New Year’s Day and for about 10 days a year when the Sakashitas went to the Kansai region to stock up. The couple worked from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day, and often chatted with their regular customers.

The Sakashitas often said to each other, “Let’s do our best to until we are 80 years old.”

SAVED BY ‘KOTATSU’

The store, located on the first floor of a building, was closed on New Year’s Day this year. But Sakashita was on the second floor organizing New Year’s greeting cards, seated at a “kotatsu” heated table.

He recalls screaming when the shaking from the quake intensified and the ceiling collapsed. He then lost consciousness.

Kumiko was in a separate building.

She rushed to the scene and found that only about one-third of store building remained intact. The rest had been reduced to rubble.

She called out to Sakashita and tried to call him on his cellphone. There was no answer.

A tsunami warning was issued, and Kumiko had to flee to higher ground.

“I thought I had lost him,” she said.

About two hours later, she received a call from Sakashita, who had regained consciousness.

He said he had crawled into the space under the kotatsu, and that apparently saved his life from the falling debris.

Aftershocks continued, and he was pulled out from the rubble by a rescue team at around 9 a.m. on the following day. Although he was unsteady, he was able to stand and walk on his own.

The couple stayed at an evacuation shelter and their daughter’s house outside the city until electricity and water were restored in Suzu in April.

They returned to the part of the building that was still standing.

After many discussions, they decided to close the business, agreeing that “we are too old and financially challenged to set up a new store and make a fresh start.”

SEVERAL BUSINESS CLOSURES

The road to recovery is far from over on the Noto Peninsula.

The Sakashita store is not the only business that has closed down because of quake damage.

According to the chambers of commerce in Suzu, Wajima, Noto and Anamizu in the prefecture, at least 109 business establishments have decided to close forever.

In Suzu, 33 of 533 member businesses of the local chamber of commerce had shut down as of April, and 15 more were planning to do so.

Eighty-seven establishments were temporarily closed that month.

The Sakashitas wanted to show their appreciation to customers one last time.

They decided to hold the closing sale with unbeatable discounts on merchandise retrieved from the collapsed store. Fliers for the “farewell sale” were inserted in the local newspaper.

On May 13, the first day of the sale, a line of customers formed and showed their appreciation to the couple.

“It’s so sad. I can’t take it,” a customer said. Another customer begged them to keep the store open.

One shopper walked up to Kumiko, hugged her and shed tears.

Sakashita was also overwhelmed.

“I barely escaped death. I wanted to thank everyone for their patronage and express my final gratitude,” he said. “But I couldn’t tell which ones were the customers. They kept saying ‘thank you’ to me. I received so many words of gratitude, more than I deserve.”

By late afternoon on May 28, most of the shelves in the temporary store were empty. Some elementary school uniforms and a few pairs of underwear remained.

At 5 p.m., the store closed for good.

Sakashita put the few leftover items in boxes, bowed deeply to the empty shelves, and murmured, “Arigato gozaimashita.”

“I don’t know if I feel relieved or if I still want to continue,” he said. “This is a closure.”

There was one more surprise for Sakashita.

A clerk at the gift shop where the farewell sale was held presented a bouquet of flowers to Sakashita.

“Thank you, really. I just can’t …,” he said as he tried to hold back his tears.

He then regained his composure, and said, “It was a fun closing sale.”