Quakebook

In just a few minutes it will be the moment that the earthquake struck two years ago, triggering the tsunami and nuclear meltdown that devastated north eastern Japan. Over 300,000 people still live in temporary accommodation. The nation is divided on the merits of turning the nuclear power plants back on and, of course, the memories of lost ones is raw for so many, and always will be.

Thinking of the survivors once a year is, of course, not enough. But it is at least a start, as was Quakebook; a start at trying to describe what happened. After description hopefully comes understanding, and from that spring sympathy and empathy, but even those admirable feelings are not enough. From good intentions must come action, and from action we can do good.

Let’s do good.

In a few days, it will be the second anniversary of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown. You can still download the ebook for free, or buy a bilingual hardback from any good bookstore or website. For something different, Goken, which published 2,000 paperback copies of the bilingual book, is offering up to 20 books that were returned from bookstores to collectors who are encouraged to make a donation to charity in exchange for the book. These are the last 20 of the softback available anywhere in the world. To receive a free copy, 1) follow info_goken on Twitter and retweet the following tweet about the free offer: http://bit.ly/12w19DB . You have until midnight March 11th, Tokyo time. For everyone else, may we suggest remembering that there are still 320,000 people in temporary accommodation and the people of Fukushima need more than kind thoughts and good intentions once every year or two, though that’s a start, of course.

In a few minutes it will be 2:46, the time that exactly a year ago the earthquake hit which led to the tsunami and nuclear meltdown. Much has happened to Japan since then, and much has not happened that we might have hoped for.

One thing remains true, however. The survivors still need our help. Not emergency relief, but with an understanding of their needs and the nation’s needs. They need help to recover. As a result, we at Quakebook feel that should you still wish to offer charitable donations, the Japan Red Cross, which specializes in disaster relief, is probably not the best place for your money now, one year later.

We encourage you to research charities that help survivors recover directly. There are many. Please find one that fits your beliefs. For us, there is one that we recommend, not because it is necessarily the best out there, but simply because some of us in the Quakebook team have volunteered with them and can personally vouch for their integrity and effectiveness. They are It’s Not Just Mud. Please visit their site and if you like what you see, donate some money. They will put it to good use helping restore people’s lives in Ishinomaki.

Now, I will spend the rest of the day with family in appreciation of all the things that make life worth living. I hope you do too.

It gives us great pleasure to announce that Quakebook is now available in Dutch. Thanks to the hard work of Barbara and Yuko and many others involved in the project, you can download the book as a free PDF on the right of this blog and then we ask you to donate some cash to It’s Not Just Mud in lieu of payment, or as they say in the Netherlands:

Downloaden is gratis, maar donaties aan It’s Not Just Mud zijn meer dan welkom!
INJM is een vrijwilligersorganisatie die de overlevenden van de tsunami in Ishinomaki weer op de been probeert te helpen. www.itsnotjustmud.com.

申し訳ありません、このコンテンツはただ今　アメリカ英語　のみです。

申し訳ありません、このコンテンツはただ今　アメリカ英語　のみです。

申し訳ありません、このコンテンツはただ今　アメリカ英語　のみです。

申し訳ありません、このコンテンツはただ今　アメリカ英語　のみです。

皆さんにお知らせがあります!

Amazon　の良心的な方々の心遣いで、Kindle版の売り上げ　$　39，848.10　が、8月9日付で日本赤十字社に送られました。

更に　Goken　の方々を通じて、2ヶ国語版のこれまでの売り上げ　¥707,180　が日本赤十字社に寄付されました。

Amazon　での英語版の並製本分の売り上げ、そして世界中の書店にて販売されている上製本分の売り上げ については、まだ正確な額が明らかにされていませんが、まずまずの状況です。収益は上がっています。

Quakebook　を買ってくださった方々、そして他の人たちに　Quakebook　の宣伝をして下さった方々、こうした全ての皆さんにー　ありがとう。　皆さんのお陰です。

石巻こども祭りのイラストについてはこちら。