High Unemployment Rate in Damaged Areas

NHK interviewed approx. 600 people who are currently staying at evacuation centres in the most damaged areas including Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima on April 11, which is exactly 1 month after the East Japan Disaster. Approx. 70% have lost their job or have not been able to get back to their work after the disaster. 3 out of 4 victims have not been able to return to their job.

The details are as follows:
Employed 11% (dismissal) 34% (layoff)
Self-Employed 4% (permanently closed) 23% (unoperational)

A 70-year-old man in Miyagi says ‘I don’t know how to make a living after leaving the evacuation centre’. A 49-year-old fisherman in Iwate who lost his boat due to the tsunami says ‘I am too old to start a new career. I will have to start from scratch’. A 40 year-old-woman whose husband also lost his job says “It was good that all our family survived but we cannot see positives for our future. I wonder if it was really a good thing to survive”.

(NHK Twitter on 11 April 2011)

Tsunami Damaged Junior High, Addresses at a Graduation Ceremony

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Tsunami Damaged Junior High, Addresses at a Graduation Ceremony

Pray For Japan Twitter

Memorable, Heartwarming Tweets for Japan Crisis (English)
http://prayforjapan.jp/message/?lang=en

Donations from Taiwan Rises Above the Y10 Billion Mark

According to the Taiwan media, the amount of the funds raised for the East Japan Disaster in Taiwan has passed the 10 billion JP yen mark by April 1. The amount of the money donated through the Red Cross in America has risen above the 9.9 billion JP yen mark too. Having considered the fact that the population of Taiwan is only 1/14 in that of America, this extraordinary amount of donations in Taiwan has proven that they are the true Japanophile.

Tohoku Kanto Earthquake / Tsunami Disaster Update

According to the report from the Tokyo Police, it is confirmed that 9408 people have been killed and 14716 people are still missing across 12 prefectures. The most affected prefectures by tsunami are Fukushima, Iwate and Miyagi. The number of people who were staying in an emergency evacuation area has decreased from 430,000 down to 230,000.

The Japanese government has announced that the amount of the damage from this disaster is at least 25 billion yen (approx. 3.1 billion AU dollars) by estimate.

(Mainichi Newspaper / Sankei Newspaper)