TOMO: FRIENDSHIP THROUGH FICTION – AN ANTHOLOGY OF JAPAN TEEN STORIES Edited By Holly Thompson (Berkeley, Calif.: Stone Bridge Press, 2012, 384 pp., $14.95, paperback) Children’s author Holly Thompson, who resides in a seaside town in Kamakura near Tokyo, missed the March 11, 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster that struck while she was visiting […]
American who found balls swept away by tsunami happy owners are alive
May 3, 2012 by Leave a Comment
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 […]
HOPE AMID THE DISASTERS: One year later, Ishinomaki survivors continue to persevere
March 9, 2012 by 1 Comment
ISHINOMAKI, Japan — As students bustled through the many hallways, corridors and buildings at Ishinomaki Senshu University in December 2011, tangible reminders of the Great East Japan Earthquake were difficult to find on the hilltop campus, which escaped much of the damage caused by the earthquake and tsunami that struck nine months earlier. Many of […]
San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival preview
February 24, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Celebrating 30 years of Asian American film, the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival will kick off on Thursday, March 8 and run through Sunday, March 18. The festival, presented by the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM), will screen approximately 120 films in 12 theaters located throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. The […]
Northern Japan’s fancy foods
February 23, 2012 by 1 Comment
Some 17,000 attendees swarmed the 1,300 companies that exhibited across 206,000 square feet of San Francisco’s expansive Moscone Center during the Winter Fancy Food Show. The specialty foods trade show, now in its 37th year, was held from Jan. 15 to 17. The National Association for Specialty Food Trade (NASFT) is a New York-based nonprofit currently celebrating […]
Veterinarian works to save surviving animals in Fukushima
February 16, 2012 by Leave a Comment
A long row of cows is crowded at a gate, their heads straining through the metal as if desperately reaching for food. All of them are dead. For Dr. Shigeki Imamoto, a veterinarian who travels to Fukushima Prefecture to save animals in communities devastated by last year’s disaster, this was not an uncommon sight. In […]
A CALL TO ACTION: JCCCNC spearheads multimillion-dollar grassroots relief effort
January 1, 2012 by Leave a Comment
On March 11, 2011, the world witnessed one of the most horrific and devastating natural disasters in Japan’s history. The country’s pain, sorrow and loss were felt worldwide. Within hours of the disaster, the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California (JCCCNC) established the Northern Japan Earthquake Relief Fund (NJERF) to provide support for […]
Journey to Tohoku
December 2, 2011 by Leave a Comment
In early November 2011, my wife and I traveled to the Tohoku area on the northeast coast of Japan to witness the aftermath of the enormous earthquake and tsunami that devastated that area on March 11, 2011. Watching the tsunami destroy everything in its path on our televisions and the Internet was frightening enough, but […]
MIYAGI FOOD: Healthy, delicious and safe
November 25, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Since the tragic earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan’s Tohoku region more than eight months ago, Japan has seen substantial decreases in foreign tourism. Many areas directly affected by the disaster are also experiencing decreased domestic and foreign sales of local food products amid concerns for radiation safety. The Consulate General of Japan in San […]
As we rebuild, will people remember us?
In a few days, Miyagi Prefecture and all of Japan will mark the one-year anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake. During this past year, we have had a number of foreign visitors to Miyagi, who have all expressed their surprise at how fast the area has cleaned up. My family and I visit my […]