A teenage jockey from Tohoku recently made her professional debut, achieving a long-held dream after having nearly abandoned her career following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
"I hope people (in my hometown) will step forward a little watching me," said Mayu Suzuki, 18, from Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture.
After passing the national jockey examination in March, Suzuki made her debut a month later as Japan's eighth active female jockey at Mizusawa Racecourse in neighboring Iwate Prefecture.