PRAY FOR JAPAN

In the city of Rikuzentakata, Japan, out of 70,000 trees in the coastal area, a lone pine was able to withstand the tsunami.

Eventually, the tree succumbed to all the salt water in the soil and died. It was estimated the tree was about 173 years old (actually not as old as the original estimates). The city has rebuilt the pine as a memorial. The cost for restoration was enormous, though, exceeding $1.5 million. You can find many people on the Internet criticizing the decision for the restoration, saying that the money could have been better spent elsewhere… True, but sometimes you need to have something to help build hope, and remembering the tree’s amazing survival is something which local people can use to help give themselves strength to rebuild the community and their own lives.

• http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304569504576403883779887702.html
• http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/quake_tsunami/AJ201303070010

From an article from two days ago… Floods hit Japan, displacing hundreds of thousands of people.

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18845931

While much of Japan has moved on, the areas impacted by the tsunamis will take years to recover, and the area impacted by the radiation will take decades to recover.

• http://news.yahoo.com/japan-mourns-tsunami-dead-grapples-aftermath-025859143.html (dead link, replaced with following link)
• http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/11/us-japan-tsunami-idUSBRE8290C420120311

including the floods in Thailand which severely impacted some of Japan’s electronic companies from being able to manufacture parts, parts of Japan were hit with a severe snowstorm yesterday which dumped up to 10 feet of snow in some areas. This is after parts of Japan also experienced record snowfalls in January. Some cities have now run out of funds allocated for snow removal. 52 people died in the latest storm.

Reference: http://news.yahoo.com/japan-snowstorm-kills-52-crushes-steel-bridge-135457568—abc-news.html

A group of over 200 retirees in Japan want to volunteer to clean up the radioactivity at the Fukushima nuclear power plant instead of the younger people who are risking their lives to do the job.

Reference:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13598607

I have a better idea. Why not round up the TEPCO and government officials who were responsible for the lack of proper preparation and response…

Soon after the disaster, she came out with a design for a Japan Prayer Bracelet for $5 with proceeds going to support the Japan relief.

If you are a Lady Gaga fan or just want to show support, you can click the above image for the link to her website.

Today, she donated $1.5 million to the Save the Children’s Japan Earthquake Tsunami Children in Emergency Fund and The American Red Cross.

Respect.

Reference: http://www.zynga.com/about/article.php?a=20110328

Update: Unfortunately the amount of donations to assist those in need of help in Japan is low. For comparison purposes, the amount of donations is about 20%-50% of that of the Haiti earthquake.
Reference: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/donations-to-japan-lag-behind-those-for-katrina-haiti-/2011/03/17/ABWzt2n_story.html

Google has created a site for worldwide crisis. The link for the Japan earthquake is here:

http://www.google.com/crisisresponse/japanquake2011.html

This page also includes charities to which you can donate. From my understanding, the Japanese Red Cross (or any charity local to Japan) would be the fastest way to get your donation to help those in Japan the quickest. Other organizations would then need to transfer funds, plus if they are providing supplies, get the supplies to Japan, whereas the Japanese Red Cross would be able to put the money to use immediately.

Update: The Japanese Red Cross organization is not a recognized charitable organization by the IRS, so contributions would not be considered tax deductible.

I know everyone has already seen terrible photos and videos of the earthquake and tsunami. For those who are interested, I thought I would share the ones which I thought really demonstrated the devastation.

The first one show satellite photos before and after the tsunami. The bar in the middle separates before and after. You can’t see the same spot before and after at the same time. You can move the bar back and forth, though, in order to see the same spot before and after. You can either drag the bar or just click anywhere on the photo (left or right of the bar) and and the bar will automatically move to that point.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/13/world/asia/satellite-photos-japan-before-and-after-tsunami.html

This one from MSNBC will show video after video, so you can stop at any time.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/42071883#42071883

This video is a street level view of the tsunami devastating at town.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijuwl1Zw7s0
(Replaced link with a video of better quality.)

Another video showing how quickly the water devastated everything in its path:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b-2iByqHVI

This video shows a Tokyo skyscraper swaying back and forth because of the earthquake. As you may know, Tokyo skyscrapers are built to sway. I’ve heard people feeling seasick, and you can see why.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhJzdtzl6KY

And while I know people do not want to be reminded of horrifying events, I want to keep track of some of the horrific pictures just as a reminder of how devastating the earthquake and tsunami were: