This paper aims to present lessons learned from the Emergency Job Creation (EJC) program conducted by the Japanese government during the process of recovery from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake disaster, based on statis-tical analysis of the EJC program and an interview survey of several projects in Minamisanriku town. The EJC program is very similar to the Cash for Work (CFW) programs that are often used as a tool for social safety nets (SNNs) in developing countries, although the EJC program was basically a policy tool aimed at reducing unemployment, while CFW is aimed at pursuing recovery efforts and ensuring people?s participation in those efforts, in addition to re-ducing unemployment. In fact, statistical analysis shows that the number of EJC participants is rather higher in municipalities with severe damage than in municipalities with lower labor demand. The results of the interview survey also reflected this, and revealed that the EJC program was also used for human resource development. Drawing on findings from the interviews, we conclude our study by identifying the three important factors that made EJC efficient: 1) the timeliness of commencing the program, 2) the sufficiency of the program funds, and 3) the flexibility with which the funds could be used, which enabled many local organizations to create new forms of cooperation.