Journalists use ‘restorative narrative’ to report on Fukushima

The San Francisco State University’s Dilena Takeyama Center for the Study of Japan and Japanese Culture presented April 4 on the state of Fukushima, Japan at the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California. The presentation, featuring the works of San Francisco State University students who visited Fukushima last year, included a series of […]

Japan marks 4 years since quake, tsunami

TOKYO — Japan marked the fourth anniversary March 11 of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that devastated the country’s northeastern region, left more than 18,000 people dead or missing and triggered the continuing Fukushima nuclear crisis. The anniversary came as reconstruction in the hard-hit prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima has not progressed as planned, […]

Grateful Crane Ensemble’s goodwill tour to Tohoku, Japan

“How was your trip to Japan?” It’s a question I’ve been asked several times since we returned from our Goodwill Tour to Tohoku last month. “It went really well,” I would say. But after that, I would have a hard time finding the words to describe it. “It wasn’t like your typical tour of Japan,” […]

Kennedy in Fukushima for first time as envoy, visits nuclear plant

FUKUSHIMA, Japan — U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy visited Fukushima Prefecture on May 14 for the first time since she assumed her post last November and toured the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. “We are committed to providing support as long as it is necessary,” Kennedy said in a statement released after her […]

Japan marks three years since quake-tsunami disasters, nuclear crisis

TOKYO (Kyodo) — Japan marked the third anniversary of the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami on March 11 with prayers for more than 18,000 people who died or remain missing in the catastrophe, which also triggered the world’s worst nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Three years since the magnitude 9.0 quake, and […]

Great East Japan Earthquake Commemorative events

THROUGH MONDAY, MARCH 31 (with March 11 event) The Northern Japan Earthquake Recovery Fund, a project of the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California, is hosting “Let’s Keep the Flowers Blooming,” which provides people with the opportunity to share messages of “hope and friendship” to those in northern Japan. The project is accessible […]

Reflections from Ishinomaki

Moved by the destruction from the March 11, 2011 earthquake and the devastating tsunami, in October of 2012, seven members of the Nakayoshi Young Professionals traveled to Ishinomaki, a city in Miyagi Prefecture with the nonprofit Megumi Japan. Here, they share their reflections. Images of the insatiable tsunami created by the massive earthquake off the […]

Rebuilding in Ishinomaki, Japan

On March 11, 2011, one year and 10 months ago, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake, followed by a tsunami of historic proportions, struck Japan. The damage and destruction was beyond belief. The exact number of lives lost is still unknown, but is estimated at 20,000. While the cost of recovery may not be known for decades, some […]

Bay Area welcomes Tohoku students

George Suzuki will never forget March 11, 2011, the fateful day that Japan was slammed with three disasters — a 9.0 earthquake, followed by a devastating tsunami that killed thousands and a nuclear meltdown that shook the nation to the core. He knew something was wrong, terribly wrong. His family’s home in Miyagi Prefecture began […]

American who found balls swept away by tsunami happy owners are alive

KASILOF, Alaska (Kyodo) — An American who recently found soccer and volleyballs in Alaska that had floated across the Pacific Ocean after being swept away from northeastern Japan in the March 2011 quake-tsunami disaster said April 23 he is happy to know that the owner of the volleyball is alive as well after hearing the […]