Coin Design to Commemorate the Reconstruction After the East Japan Tsunami and Earthquake of 2011

Click here for the story of this coin design. And here for the story of the Miracle Tree.

New York Launch of TOMO

Details for the New York launch of Tomo can be found here.

Click on the image for its amazon page. Proceeds of the sale of the book will benefit teen programs in the tsunami affected areas of Japan.

Thank you, Japan. Thank you from Japan.

Out for an appointment this week in Tokyo, I noticed something new on the front of the bus.

It's been one year since the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. Click on the photo to enlarge it. The sign says in English, "Japan. Thank you." Perhaps what is meant is "Thank you from Japan."

Anyway, thank you Japan for being a symbol of strength and dignity through this year! And thank you, World, for supporting Japan through this difficult time!

This sign appeared on a neighborhood yaki niku restaurant right after March 11th. It says, "Ganbarou Nihon." Some people translate it as, "Be strong Japan." Some say, "Hang in there, Japan." Others say, "Try to do your best, Japan."

This sign was on the shinkasen Big Sister and I took to Hakone in May, 2011. Ganbarou Nihon!

I saw signs everywhere. Keep it up Japan! And keep it up, World. Japan still needs our support!

N.B. The Japanese phrase is transliterated phonetically.

In Memoriam

We lost our friend Ivy Terasaka and her young family at Phuket, Thailand in the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004. That Grecian horse was a housewarming gift from her.



The tragedy of that tsunami was far-reaching. We made 1000 cranes to deal with the sadness and grief and had them blessed at a shrine. The cranes hung in our house for many years. We hoped to take them somewhere.

After the March 11, 2011 East Japan tsunami, Students Rebuild offered to donate money to Japan for every crane mailed to them. They made their quota early but continued to accept cranes.

I cut a string of 100 cranes from the 1000. Then we made 100 new cranes for Japan and strung it with the rest of the cranes that honored the Indian Ocean victims. I had to separate the string of 1000 cranes to fit them in two boxes. Big Sister and I mailed them to Students Rebuild. At the time it made sense. We are united in grief.

Students Rebuild-- Japan Challenge

poster

100,000 cranes came to Japan! Check here.

P.S. I will add photos later.

Save Japan! T-Shirts at UniQlo

Within weeks after the East Japan earthquake and tsunami March 2011, UniQlo had a big display of specially designed T-shirts in the middle of their store in Sesekisakuragaoka on the Keio line. Celebrities including Lady GAGA and Nicole Kidman donated designs for this campaign called "SAVE JAPAN!"

I'm late posting this because somehow I lost those photos and it took a while for me to get back to the store. (I've been sticking close to home.) There is still a display in the store but it's in the back in the corner. As you can see, there aren't many shirts left. I haven't been to other UniQlo stores lately.

I do know that UniQlo has only one store in the United States. It's in New York. I'm not sure if they have or had shirts there, but check here for information about the campaign. Here to see the designs. And their charity site in English. And in Japanese. There may be a way to order online. It will be T-shirt weather for a while still. Besides, help will be needed up north for a long time!

Karl Lagerfeld designed the shirt on the left. Victoria Beckham designed the shirt with a red circle. Click on the photos to enlarge them.

This is the shirt Lady GAGA designed.

The shirts are signed at the neck in the back.

What may be lost....in Sendai...

a small Japanese inn overlooking the sea where I stayed 22 years ago,

small tree-covered islands dotting the shoreline,

a small shrine,

tourist boats where you could feed the seagulls, (oil refineries in the background),

hotels and a tourist industry.

That smile is rarely seen as we all deal with earthquakes and aftershocks in Tokyo since March 11th. There are fewer now but they keep reminding us that there are people in the north who are closer to the center of the earthquakes and the destruction. Many have lost their homes. Many have lost friends and family members. And not just in Sendai. So much has been lost.

N.B. I haven't seen pictures of this area after the earthquake and tsunami. I am assuming that it's been destroyed because it was right on the ocean and near the epicenter of the earthquake.

St. Mary's International School Relief Efforts for the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami

St. Mary's International School, Tokyo is collecting the following from their community of students, parents, teachers, and staff:

Toy Collection – Organized by Cub Scout Pack 15 under the direction of Mr. Dave Nakabayashi - Donations will be sent to the Japan Association of Play Therapy and transported to the disaster areas by UNICEF.

Ends Wednesday, April 6th

For shelters in Ishinomaki - Mr. Mike Rogers is working with his colleagues in the media to collect and deliver specific items to Ishinomaki

Ends this Friday, April 8th

Items needed:

· For kids: cello tape, gum tape, magic markers, pens, colored pencils, crayons, paper, scissors, stationery items.

· For adults: shoes, long boots, rain boots

· Please note that diapers are no longer needed for this shipment.

For shelters in Kesen-numa city in Miyagi – organized by Ms. Yuko Ono

Ends this Friday, April 8th

Items needed:

· Clothes:

Warm jackets for adults and children

New underwear for young boys (100-150 cm size)

New socks for boys

New underwear - long sleeve shirt for ladies (L or LL size are especially needed)

· Vegetable and fruit juices

· Picture books for school (in Japanese)

· Stationary: pencils, pens, erasers, pencil sharpeners, notebooks, colored pencils, markers

Fundraising for cash donations – organized by the high school Student Council

Creative fund raising events have already begun thanks to the involvement of many teachers and students. The high school Student Council will be organizing the collection of donations to the Japanese Red Cross Society.

American School in Japan: Earthquake Relief Efforts

ASIJ, the American School in Japan, has partnered with Tama Church and Second Harvest Japan to deliver emergency aid directly to the effected regions hit by the earthquake and tsunami on March 11th. Many things have been collected and boxed to go out by truck tomorrow. Things like crutches, clothes, food, toothbrush sets, diapers, etc. This will be an ongoing effort. There will be many truckloads going over the months.

I took some wet wipes, Kleenex, and socks today. I plan to go again with more things. Next time I'll take baby items. Poor people up north! It is still cold. Long underwear was sold out in my neighborhood stores and there were very few pairs of warm socks left.

High school librarian, Linda Hart Hayakawa, met me at the gate to help me in with my bags of supplies. She helped me place the things in the right boxes. I told her that I was reminded of taking things to school in second grade for the survivors of the 1964 earthquake and tsunami in Alaska. We had a class list of things that we all took to school. I remember toothpaste and toothbrush , a bar of soap, pocket tissues and a comb were among the items. I remember we lined up behind the truck and each one of us handed our contribution to an aid worker. Hand to hand.

Thank you American School in Japan for lending a helping hand! Thank you, Linda, for the photo, for your help, and for the nice chat today! It helps to share experiences and stories with others.

I couldn't remember what time of year the Alaskan earthquake and tsunami happened so I looked it up. It was March 27, 1964. Spring. In Alaska. It was probably cold, too.

Please click on the comments section to read the comment from the principal of Tsukuba International School, Shaney Crawford.

Japanese Children's Author Noriko Kudoh's Message of Hope After Japan's Earthquakes and Tsunami, March 2011

Noriko Kudoh, a Japanese children's book author and illustrator, has published over twenty humorous children's stories and manga books. She and her artist husband, Toshiyuki Kudoh, created a blogsite for children called Buch. The site is in Japanese and includes animations and illustrations as well as information on Noriko Kudoh's books.

Both she and her husband have roots in Tohoku, the region which was devastated by the earthquake and tsunami on March 11th. They felt strongly about sending out a message to the children affected by the disaster. The message can be found on their blogsite in Japanese here .

The English translation was done by Sako Ikegami of the SCBWI Tokyo Translation listserv, which focuses on translation of Japanese children's literature. She, too, loves the Tohoku region and culture and is an aspiring writer and translator hoping to bring more international attention to the wonderful world of Japanese books for children. Her translations include picture books by Ryusuke Saito.

March 17th, 2011

That was a horrible earthquake, wasn't it? I'm sure so many of you are very scared right now.

But please, don't worry. Grown ups are working together as hard as they can to make things better. It may take a while, but eventually, everything is going to be safe and comfortable again, I promise.

If you feel even the tiniest bit afraid or lonely, try to think about your favorite story.

When my heart starts to thump, I try to remember The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien. It's a story about a hobbit named Bilbo who goes on a whole bunch of adventures. He has some very narrow escapes, but by staying strong and cheerful, he manages to come through safely in the end. When I remember that part of the story, it helps me be brave.

This is a difficult time, but it won't last forever. It will end someday. Whenever my chest tightens up and starts thumping, I don't think about tomorrow, but further into the future. If you think about tomorrow or the day after, it seems like everything will be the same, but things are changing. It's just that those changes are so small, you may not notice them at first.

The plants and trees may look dried up, but they are sprouting new buds. They seemed to be sleeping through the winter, but they were slowly pushing their way up into the sunlight.

Things won't stay the same. It's terribly cold right now, but spring is just around the corner. After that, it will be summer and then autumn and gradually we'll be back in winter. No day is the same as another. Every day, there are tiny changes, and that is how we have four seasons. Although yesterday and today may seem exactly alike, we change a little each day too. Because we change, bright days are in our future. I believe this from the bottom of my heart.

For the promise of a happy future to come true, you must do something--be happy and cheerful now. Right now. Think of a funny story and laugh. Laughing will make you feel better, and you'll grow stronger.

Of course sometimes, you feel too blue to be cheerful. But even then, try to tell yourself, "I may feel down today, but I will feel better soon." That's what I always do. Because that is what happens.

Try not to think about the scary stuff. The worst is not going to happen. If you start to worry again, take a deep breath. Breathe in slowly and deeply. You will feel better.

As you calm down, think about the things you like. At first, it will be difficult. But make it a habit, and it will get easier. (I had to practice for a while before I could get it right)

If you spend the day thinking about happy things, then oddly enough, it actually becomes a good day. How do I know? Well, I've tried it and it always does.

When your thoughts are happy, your body relaxes and you feel better. Just like taking long deep breaths, laughing is good for you.

Scary thoughts make your body tense up and it becomes hard to breathe. That's very uncomfortable. We don't want that!

So when you feel afraid, take a long, deep breath. After a couple of breaths you'll begin to feel like yourself again. That's what I do.

If you like my books, then you may have read the story of Margarita in Margarita and the Pirate Ship (Margarita to Kaizokusen). Do you remember what Margarita and Marcello do when they're forced to work on a pirate ship? They stay cheerful, and guess what? It leads to a happy ending!

When times are rough, stay as happy as you can and before you know it, you'll be having fun. Practice every day and the bad times will pass. Don't you think we could try this together?

Every day, the aftershocks rock my home, but we're all right and our families in Sendai are okay too.

My brother and some others from his company went out with lots of emergency supplies to help everyone in the shelters.

Your neighbors, the Self-Defense Forces, the people from the electric company and lots of other grown ups are working night and day to make sure all of you are safe and sound. So there's nothing to worry about.

Kids just need to take deep breaths and be happy. That's all.

I know some of you are missing your books, but try to remember your favorite stories. Or that great anime movie you love. There are plenty of happy things to think about. I'm going to do my part by writing lots of fun books for you to read. I hope you'll like them.

It's strange, but as I sit at my desk and write my books, I can sense of all of you, my readers, in my heart. I imagine you enjoying the stories I've written. That's because our hearts are connected through books. Not just me, but all of the writers and illustrators whose books you love. We're all connected. So I know things are very hard right now, but let's work together to keep our spirits up.

I always feel you close and treasure your fine spirits.

With lots of love,

Noriko Kudoh

Tsunami Warning

There was an earthquake in northern Japan. There was a tsunami warning for the eastern coastline. When there is a tsunami warning, the national television stations broadcast information. They put a map on the screen and highlight the dangerous areas. This picture was taken before the highlighting came on. The area in the north eventually had a red line along the coast. The rest of the map had a yellow line along the eastern coastline.

There are now many cable or satellite stations in Japan. During the tsunami warning today, they posted this symbol in the upper lefthand corner of the screen. It looks like black waves in a yellow box. That symbol tells viewers to check the national stations for information concerning the tsunami warning. There was a tsunami and an evacuation. The tsunami was about 10 cm in most areas.

Tsunami Warning Map

You may have heard about the big earthquake off the Kuril Islands in Northern Japan on the evening of the 15th. There was a tsunami warning. On the local Japanese channels, there was a map in the corner of the TV screen. The danger zones were highlighted. Red areas were in high danger. People were evacuated from areas in Hokkaido(marked in the red).

It was strange to go through the channels and see the different shows in the background of this flashing warning. Regular shows and commercials continued. Some of the shows were comedies. This was a news program. The warning has been downgraded. The map has disappeared from TV screens.