RELIEF - RECOVERY - JAPAN - post news here....

any ^ | 3/20/2011 | any

[goodnesswins]

Do you hold grudges from the Civil War, too? I think your time in this thread is over.

[Sun]

Do you know which charities get help to Japan the fastest?

With Haiti, it seems many charities sat on much of the money for a long time.

[gaijin]

Thanks for your input there. I agree 10,000%＜＜ 絶対賛成。。！＜ 頑張れ日本。。！　^_^

[macquire]

EXCUSE ME??!!! GRUDGES?

The Japanese enslaved China, raped Nankin, attacked us at Pearl Harbor, practiced unspeakable experiments on prisoners of war, murdered civilians, and you want to hold me accountable for ...... grudges?

I could really care LESS about a Tsunami in Japan nor about their leaking reactors. Their government ALWAYS has and always will understates EVERYTHING nasty they do...

[gaijin]

Thanks for your input there. I agree 10,000%＜＜ 絶対賛成。。！＜ 頑張れ日本。。！　^_^

[goodnesswins]

Relief efforts at US military bases...http://www.npr.org/2011/03/20/134699706/japan-relief-efforts-centered-at-u-s-military-bases

[Ronin]

It's going to be a long rough haul, but working together, we'll get it all done. 本全国の皆さん 協力して安全に頑張りましょう!

[snowsislander]

From the Nikkei: Policeman Amazed To Find Survivors 9 Days After Quake In Miyagi

[snowsislander]

From the Yomiuri: The last token of a husband's love

[La Enchiladita]

You aren’t seeing the 24/7 calls for help, food drives, blanket drives, etc. as we had with, oh as an example, Katrina..

I don't believe that is true. I have been watching NHK World for several hours a day. In one segment this morning, it was said one shelter now had enough of the blankets and toilet paper they had asked for, but now still need children's clothing and underwear. There is also a Japan Red Cross Society that is collecting and distributing what is needed. So, I don't know where you get the impression that Japanese are not helping each other...

[La Enchiladita]

And as a 25 year resident of Japan, I can assure you I know damn well what I am talking about.

Good to see you and to hear from you!! Our media in the U.S. has blacked out any news about aid, rescue, recovery and all the struggles the Japanese people are now going through. It is shameful and , to me, that is where the real coldness is; as though people here do not or should not care about the humanitarian crisis.

[La Enchiladita]

According to Master Chief Fire Controlman John Schwanke, more than 100 blankets, 237 pants, 450 shirts, 311 jackets and sweaters, 748 pairs of socks, 154 towels, 57 pairs of shoes, 166 undergarments, 76 hats, 8 scarves, and 34 pairs of gloves were donated in the first few hours. A volunteer led collection point was set up in the hangar bay of Ronald Reagan where Sailors and Marines dropped off personal items they had aboard with them or had purchased from the ship’s store. “Not all of us have the opportunity to go ashore,” said Air-Traffic Controller 3rd Class Wendy Stephens, a Ronald Reagan Sailor who volunteered her time to help collect donated items. “It feels good to be able to help out the people of Japan.”

Awesome! I am so proud and happy to hear this!

[La Enchiladita]

As of the latest report I saw on NHK World, my main source for news from Japan, these are the tolls:

8,649 dead
13,261 missing

We know by now these will be higher, as the numbers are based on known information, not estimates.

One story I saw was of how the school children of Kamaishi City were able to escape to safety a few minutes ahead of the tsunami, because of careful planning and quick thinking. They had an emergency drill only 8 days before.

Another lady went to a newly built shelter in her town ahead of the tsunami, to the top floor. Yet, the wave was so big and powerful, it flooded even to the top floor. This lady floated to the top on the wave and then held on to the drapery rod at the ceiling and literally held on for dear life. The next day, she was rescued from the roof by helo. Others in the shelter drowned and were swept away.

So, you see, people did what they were supposed to do and planned to do, yet the catastrophe was bigger than all their precautions.

[JoyjoyfromNJ]

I know of some Japanese churches from the Toyko area that made more than 1000 of those “rice balls” and delivered them up north, along with water and other food, in trucks the church members had rented themselves. I believe they’ve done at least two such supply runs since 3/17; haven’t read an update today.

[Ronin]

Every group is pitching in, even the various yakuza, they are just not making that big of a fuss about it.

The problem is not a lack of aid, there’s transportation bottlenecks. There are only so many undamaged roads and helicopters available. Once more are open, more aid will get through, more volunteers will be accepted, and the cleanup will commence in earnest.

[La Enchiladita]

Ongoing thread ping for aid, rescue and recovery in the Japan humanitarian crisis.

Minami-Sanrikucho a ghost town / No bodies, survivors found in tsunami-hit Miyagi Pref. community

[La Enchiladita]

Japan disaster relief now getting through to most survivors

Two vital things have improved for more than 250,000 evacuees still living in makeshift shelters a week after the Japan earthquake: supplies are getting through, and the weather has warmed up for now.

...The resilient character of the Japanese people has been on international display for the past week as this nation struggles to regroup from the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that erased communities and gave a blow to the economy. For many evacuees, there is now nowhere to go, and Prime Minister Naoto Kan has warned that "life in the emergency refuge centers will continue for some time yet."

[macquire]

So glad to hear. I am betting that in 10 years when the write the school history books the Japanese will have made it look like the whole country was involved in helping the victims...you know....like they re-wrote WW2 history so Japanese kids in schools for the last 30 years would not know the GOD AWFUL truth about their country’s past........

Heck, more than just some Japanese adults still believe Japan was the good guy in WW2 since that is what the books they read in school told them......

[macquire]

So glad to hear. I am betting that in 10 years when they write the school history books the Japanese will have made it look like the whole country was involved in helping the victims...you know....like they re-wrote WW2 history so Japanese kids in schools for the last 30 years would not know the GOD AWFUL truth about their country’s past........

Heck, more than just some Japanese adults still believe Japan was the good guy in WW2 since that is what the books they read in school told them......

[snowsislander]

I think that much of the exigent housing problems will be solved through such expedients as opening up public housing, and the massive housing available from organizations such as Japan Post (in Japan, large companies generally have both a lot of company housing and even resort properties for their employees.) From the Yomiuri:

Japan Post offers rooms at inns

Japan Post Group has announced that it will offer inns and hotels operated by Japan Post Holding Co. as temporary houses for up to 22,000 people affected by the latest quake.

Japan Post will welcome displaced earthquake survivors to its inns and hotels in parts of the nation not hit seriously by the quake.

Specifically, 27 Kampo no Yado inns and hotels in Tokyo and 18 prefectures will be made available for about 4,700 people to live in, while 1,559 houses owned by Japan Post Network Co. and located at 30 places in Tokyo and 16 prefectures will also be opened to evacuees.

Regarding company-owned employee housing, which Japan Post had earlier intended to put out of use by the end of this month, there are plans to make available 2,872 houses at 66 locations in Tokyo and 16 prefectures, after they are repaired.

There are several reports in the Japanese press with long lists of municipalities donating public housing to those who have lost theirs.