After a cold and unusually snowy January, the wakame seaweed harvesting season has finally started in the town of Minamisanriku. This area is known for its high quality wakame. In particular, in a fishery community called Utatsu, most residents have been involved in wakame-related work … Read more
The Association for Aid and Relief (AAR) Japan held a special event for children at a school in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, in a town that has been affected by the radiation leak from the nuclear plant. Children are only allowed outside to play when the … Read more
Many residents in the Tohoku region were engaged in small-scale farming prior to the disaster of 3/11. Rice farming in particular has not just been a source of income, but an integral part of the region’s culture and history. The tsunami had a devastating impact … Read more
JCIE’s Japan NGO Earthquake Relief and Recovery Fund has provided a grant to SakuraNet, a Japanese NPO, to rebuild and operate a senior daycare center, which will double as a community center, in an isolated area outside of Miyako City, Iwate Prefecture. This grant, which is part … Read more
As part of its efforts to help heal the emotional scars children have suffered from last year’s disaster, NICCO held events earlier this year in which children participated in creating dioramas. The dioramas were built in 3 stages: (1) “Our town before the disaster” (5 … Read more
NICCO offered an outline of its efforts to provide “kokoro no kea“—care for the heart—focused on children in the Tohoku region who are suffering from or are susceptible to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of their experiences. With the help of child psychologists … Read more