Tohoku Earthquake

With ongoing tensions in Northeast Asia – North Korea threatening war, pervasive struggles over island territory, and disputes over history and trade – there is a temptation to grow impatient with dialogue and diplomacy. But for more than 60 years, economic growth, peace, and stability in this region…

One year after the complex disaster in the Tohoku region of Japan, much remains to be done to rebuild lives and communities in the stricken area. Tohoku will need business and philanthropic investments for years to come, and I am encouraged by the innovative and entrepreneurial approaches being implemented by several Japanese social organizations.

For 10 days in mid-June, my Give2Asia colleague, Gillian Yeoh, and I visited Iwate and Miyagi prefectures in Tohoku, the northeastern area devastated by the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11. We found that Tohoku is still an emergency situation.

As news spread about the recent earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11, there was immediate concern about the effects to the people living on small islands and atolls belonging to more than 22 Pacific Island Nations and scattered across thousands of miles of Pacific Ocean.

One month after the devastating earthquake and tsunami struck Japan, the Japanese are still coping with an incredible accumulation of sorrow, devastation, and anxiety about the future. Beyond the most urgent question of how Japan will recover from such a calamitous situation, a secondary concern is the potential human, environmental, and economic impact the crisis will have on the rest of Asia. Economists seem to agree that the disaster is not likely to pose a significant, long-term risk to the global economy.

Japan’s frantic rescue efforts in response to the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami catastrophe are now entering their seventh day. Over half a million evacuees are being housed in temporary shelters without adequate supplies…

The March 11 earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan’s northeast coast has left half a million homeless, millions without food and water, and a worsening situation with a ruptured nuclear power plant requiring thousands to evacuate. Immediate relief efforts are underway…