hideki took ito's comments to heart. >> translator: mr. told me that we should take a pragmatic approach to rebuilding our town. his message made a deep impression on us. >> reporter: doi spent many hours talking with own gawa. the measure was that the local government decided not to sell new properties but to rent them instead. it also had compact one-story buildings that will be cheaper to maintain as they age. >> translator: i think the efforts of the residents will help build a community that can thrive 20 or 30 years from now. we learned a lot from shinegata. >> reporter: the stumbling blocks have become an invaluable guide for the country that itself is recovering from disaster. risa urabayashi, nhk world, kobe. >> as we've seen, expensive shopping malls were never on the agenda for the businesspeople of onagawa. instead, they used lessons from an earlier disaster to keep rents low and focused on the needs of individual traders, rather than trying to appeal to big companies. and looking to the future, they now hold monthly meetings t