April 15 - Riverside California is not far from my hometown. Near its city hall in a beautiful park stands an impressive Japanese stone lantern from Riverside's sister city of Sendai. A marker before the lantern says, "May our ties of friendship continue forever." Next to this stone plaque lies a bouquet of flowers laid by someone mourning the tremendous loss of life in Sendai last month.
Since Riverside and Sendai have been sister cities for over 50 years, they have developed a close bond. One resident of Riverside, who has visited Sendai twice, said news of the earthquake and tsunami was very distressing because Sendai residents are like family.
The Riverside City Hall and its International Relations Council are leading efforts to raise funds for Sendai's earthquake/tsunami victims. They plan to donate this money to Sendai City Hall for the affected citizens. Riverside has already gathered more than $320,000, including $100,000 from the city's own coffers. They hope to raise additional funds by soliciting donations directly from residents, when the city sends out utility bills in the mail.
I am sure that, much like the stone lantern itself, the bonds between Riverside California and Sendai will endure despite this tragedy.
If you wish, you can check out this video with scenes of the park and the Sendai stone lantern.
Until next time,
Jim
Thank you very much for taking up the article on Riverside's great help for Sendai. I was educated in Sendai, so I understand the relationship with Riverside is very wonderful.
Well, I would like you to know another great help for Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture from Fort Bragg, California. Otsuchi is one of the most devastated areas. Many residents including the mayor were killed by the tsunami. As soon as Fort Bragg heard about this disaster, they set up a special website to help their counterpart in Japan. Here is the link to the website: www.otsuchi.org. This great effort is not known in Japan unfortunately, but it is worth being shown to the public in Japan. Thank you for your understanding.
I was wondering if there were any efforts to accommodate Japanese people affected by the earthquake and tsunami to the US? If there are any families looking to do so, I was wondering how to offer our help. We'd be happy to open our home to family to stay free of charge for 6 months or so if that is something that will help out. Please advise.
Many thanks for your generous offer. I am unaware of any service matching earthquake/tsunami victims with housing in the United States, but we do have information on the Embassy website on other ways you can help.
