More than 40,000 people are still living in temporary housing as authorities struggle to bring evacuees' lives back to normal one year after Japan's Kumamoto Prefecture was hit by the first in a series of powerful earthquakes.

The town of Mashiki in the southwestern prefecture was the first area to experience two quakes registering 7, the strongest level on the country's seismic intensity scale. 

People in the local community have been working hard on restoring infrastructure and assets in and around popular tourist spots such as Mt. Aso and Kumamoto Castle.


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