. >> reporter: satoru sakai used to run a ramen restaurant here, and he wants to again.ut he's saddled with hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt. >> translator: paying for daily expenses like rice and electricity has become difficult, so we cancelled our insurance a few days ago. >> reporter: sakai and thousands of others struggle with something called overlapping debt. they've got to repay the loans on their old businesses, and they need more to rebuild. the balance of loans across tohoku amount to more than $200 billion, according to the bank of japan. sakai's home on the hilltop suffered some damage, though it's livable. but down in the town the tsunami left nothing. smtd amount kmtd sakai was left with more than $200,000 in debt. he lost his income and got no financial support. he thought of giving up. then, a volunteer group that helps businesses get going again arrived with what he needed to rebuild. >> translator: this makes me feel like, okay, i'm ready again. >> reporter: sakai took his first step forward in this makeshift stand. he started selling frozen ch

. >> reporter: satoru sakai used to run a restaurant here and wants to again. but he is dealing with hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt. >> paying for daily expenses like rice and electricity has become difficult, so we cancelled our insurance a few days ago. >> reporter: sakai and thousands of others struggle with something called overlapping debt. they've got to repay the loans on their old businesses, and they need more to rebuild. the balance of loans across tohoku amount to more than $200 billion, according to the bank of japan. sakai's home on the hilltop suffered some damage, though it is liveable. but down in the town, the tsunami left nothing. sakai was left with more than $200,000 in debt. he lost his income and got no financial support. he thought of giving up. then a volunteer group that helps businesses get going again arrived with what sakai needed to rebuild. >> this makes me feel like okay, i'm ready. >> sakai took his first step forward in this makeshift stand. he started to sell frozen chinese dumplings. he is making 20 to $30 a day, but