300 Food Packages Every Week for Evacuees in Minami-Sanriku Town

Second Harvest Japan (2HJ) has started sending food packages to people in Minami Sanriku since June. In this project, our volunteers make some 300 food packages at 2HJ's Tokyo office every Thursday. 2HJ distributes the packages to about 1,400 households living in temporary houses through a volunteer group in Minami Sanriku. A typical package contains items like rice, miso, soy sauce, condiments, dried food, and snacks. To see the places to which the group distributes the food, I, as a volunteer coordinator, visited the site and helped with the distribution of food packages to temporary houses on July 15.

Packing boxes at 2HJ's Tokyo office

Unloading packages from 2HJ's truck and loading them into a local volunteer group's truck in Minami-Sanriku town

First, I visited about 90 temporary houses, which were built where there used to be a camping school and a camping site. I then visited 50 to 60 temporary houses next to the schoolyard of an elementary school.

Distributing food packages each of which weighs more than 20 kg.

This lady said that when the tsunami hit the area, she had wrapped her baby in a towel and run away desperately to the hill.

Most people living there worked in the local fishing industry, but everything was swept away by the tsunami. Now they have no choice but to live in temporary houses. Our food packages were appreciated very much by the recipients because it takes as much as 40 minutes going for shopping as there is no supermarket nearby. One of the recipients said to me, "Thank you for coming all the way from Tokyo."

A message from children from all over the world is attached to every package.

It will take people in temporary houses a long time before they have steady income. Some elderlies who live alone cannot go for shopping by themselves. Demands for our food packages are high. We need to send packages continually.

Food Packaging Volunteers Needed!

Date: Every Thursday

Time: Morning Shift (from 10:00 to 12: 30)

         Afternoon Shift (from 1:30 to 4:00)

Place: 2HJ's Office (see the map.)

To apply, email us at volunteer@2hj.org with the date and shift(s) of your choice.

Report on Relief Efforts in Iwate Prefecture

We at Second Harvest Japan (2HJ) have been committing ourselves to relief efforts in Iwate prefecture and other affected areas since late March. Currently, we bring in truck-loads of relief supplies such as food mainly to Ofunato city every other week. Three local volunteer groups in the city have been energetically working in collaboration with 2HJ.

One of them is Ofunato Support Network Center (OSN-C), a volunteer group organized by local volunteers. Their main activities are to obtain relief supplies, distribute them, arrange volunteers, and organize regular events to rejuvenate Ofunato city. Their "Yappeshi" festival on May 29 attracted more than 2,000 people.

Face painting at "Yappeshi" festival

Poster of "Yappeshi" festival held on July 10

2HJ's COO Otake (fifth from left) and OSN-C staff members

Another volunteer group is "Sansan no kai."

The group, led by a local Italian restaurant owner, makes 2,000 meals every day and distributes them to evacuation centers and temporary houses. As the owner's unique characters attract more and more volunteers, the group's activities are expanding. Predicting that more and more evacuees will move to temporary houses from evacuation centers, the restaurant owner spoke sincerely about his determination to protect elderly people who live alone from dying a solitary death by visiting them regularly to bring his group's meal.

"We won't be overcome by tsunami", a slogan put on the window of RIAS Hall, which accommodates the base of Sansan no kai

Cooking in the kitchen

HJ's COO Otake (second from left) and Sansan no kai members

The last group 2HJ has been collaborating with is All Hands. All Hands is a US-based non-profit organization specializing in providing support for survivors of natural disasters around the world. To assist survivors of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, a lot of volunteers from all over the world have been cleaning up debris in Ofunato city and Rikuzentakata city. Local people say that they are encouraged very much by those volunteers who come all the way to Japan and work consistently and diligently. 2HJ distributes food to Rikuzentakata city in cooperation with All Hands.

At an evacuation center

At the base of All Hands

2HJ will strengthen the collaboration with the three groups and aim at the introduction and building of a food bank in the community. 2HJ's support for Ofunato city should not be temporary, and from a long-term standpoint, establishing a locally initiated, sustainable framework is important. To accomplish this, 2HJ will continue to collaborate with more local volunteers and organizations.

2HJ has so far received considerable emergency aid from a number of people, and your donation money will be used for distributing relief supplies to the affected areas and building the food banking system.

Natural Brown Sugar Project—From Okinawa’s Miyajima to the Northern Quake Victims

2HJ received an offer from the people of the “Tohoku he Tida no Megumi Wo! Project” (Sending Sunshine to Tohoku (the northern area)! Project) in late March of this year, to send natural brown sugar from Taramajima, Okinawa to aid victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake. This project purchases Taramajima natural brown sugar with donations collected in Miyajima and surrounding communities, and sends the sugar to people affected in the Tohoku region via aid volunteer groups. 2HJ helped out by breaking down the sugar and repackaged them with help of group volunteers from various schools and corporations,and sent them to Tohoku.

Message from Yuriko Taguchi, “Tohoku he Tida no Megumi wo!” Project Headquarters:

Whether on break from farm work and other hard labor, or enjoying a relaxing moment talking with friends, there’s always a piece of natural brown sugar close by. Its natural sweetness soothes our hearts, and minerals give us a healthy life. 

Seeing the disaster of the Great East Japan Earthquake and the lives of the distraught victims on TV, day after day, greatly pained our hearts. But being in Okinawa, so far away from Tohoku, we felt hopeless in offering help. That is when one idea came to mind. 

We said, "Why not send natural brown sugar to the affected areas? We can call out for help from the people of Miyajima, Taramajima, and everyone that loves Okinawa. Let us purchase Taramajima natural brown sugar and send it to the victims!" 

Natural brown sugar is healthy and safe for everyone to eat: from babies to the elderly. It is soft to chew and easy to swallow and its natural sweet flavor is liked especially by the elderly. Its simple goodness soothes the heart. Moreover, it stores extremely well at room temperature, and is the ideal ingredient for soup kitchens because its purity makes it easy to cook with. With all it has to offer,  this sugar is something that the earthquake victims can surely use. 

From this idea began our project—to send Tamara natural brown sugar, made in one of only seven islands of all of Okinawa—something that Tamarajima is proud to be known for—to the people that can really use it. 

It was this strong will of our project advocates that attracted the great help of Miyako Seito Co. Ltd., producers of Tamara natural brown sugar. We purchased roughly one ton of sugar—about 10% was in bite-sized pieces, something that production on Taramajima can’t keep up with, and the remaining 90% was large 30-kilogram chunks. 

Recently, there has been an excess of Okinawan natural brown sugar held in stock. It is because of the slowing economy and the introduction of cheaper competition from abroad. We hoped that our project can help spread word about Tamara natural brown sugar, and also contribute to buying some of the stock. However, much of the stock comprised of large chunks made for commercial use. Seeing that the sugar we could buy was too large to send to Tohoku, we nearly abandoned the project. That is when Second Harvest Japan, an NPO and active supporter of the Tohoku quake victims offered to help. We were told “we [2HJ] have many volunteers that come [to our office in Tokyo] every day, so we will use hammers to break up the big chunks, and send them to the quake victims.” Since then, our project has received much attention and donations, far beyond what we initially imagined could be possible. 

Natural brown sugar is dear to the people of Okinawa. It is our gem. It supports the longevity that our culture is known for. It was precious nourishment for those hiding in bomb shelters during the Second World War. We feel gratitude for this opportunity to give back a little to Okinawa’s sugar cane industry, and gratitude for the chance to have our gem sent to the over 160,000 evacuees forced out of their homes by the quake. We also feel gratitude to everyone that helped make this project as large as it is. In closing, I wish to express our gratitude in my language of Miyajima. 

Tan Dei Gaatandei

Miyajima to 2HJ

Shipment departed for Tokyo on April 13

Local volunteer groups and Miyako Seito employees prepared roughly 1 ton of natural brown sugar to be sent to victims of the Tohoku quake. Photo courtesy of The Miyako Mainichi Shinbun

Natural Brown Sugar Wrapping Project

Many volunteer groups offered their time and effort to break up the sugar chunks, many weighing as much as 30 kilograms.

Yokohama Commercial High School (YCHS)

YCHS students, many from the GLOCAL-Y club, came and helped out! 

Eight 30-kilogram chunks (240 kilograms in total!!) were hammered in to small pieces. Each piece was then individually wrapped and enclosed with a message.

A big thanks to everyone at Yokohama Commercial High School!

Deutsche Schule Tokyo Yokohama (DSTY)

Each piece of sugar wrapped by the kids of DSTY was accompanied by a cute drawing and personal message. 



A big thanks to everyone at Deutsche Schule Tokyo Yokohama!

Danone Waters of Japan, Danone Japan and Kagawa Education Institute of Nutrition

Many volunteers from Danone Waters of Japan and Danone Japan came to the 2HJ office to help. Everybody worked smoothly. The goal of three boxes was finished quickly, thanks partly to the volunteers from the Kagawa Education Institute of Nutrition, who came earlier to prepare.

Message from the volunteers of Danone Waters Japan:

"The recent earthquake made us realize strongly that as a company in the business of water, we are also a part to the larger infrastructure of society. We will like to use this as a time to consider what we can do and what we must do as a part of our society. Volunteer work strengthened our teamwork and we all enjoyed working with the other volunteers. It was a great experience."

A big thanks to everyone at Danone Waters Japan and Kagawa Education Institute of Nutrition!

Sending Love, Hope, and Natural Brown Sugar to Tohoku

The natural brown sugar was sent to an evacuation center in Ofunato City in Iwate Prefecture. The gentle yet powerful sweetness of the natural brown sugar was very well popular received and everyone liked it.

Note: Part two of the Natural Brown Sugar Project will take place in June.

June 4 (Saturday): Minami Soma Distribution Video

Second Harvest Japan (2HJ) and Save Minami Soma worked together and distributed food to families in Kashima district in Minami Soma, which is about 2 kilometers from devastated coastal area and 30 kilometers north of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.



Thank you very much for all the support to make this possible! Second Harvest Japan will keep going to help people in need in the disaster area.

2HJ Distributed Relief Supplies in Minami-Soma!

On 21st of May Second Harvest Japan (2HJ) made the second round of relief supplies distribution at "Michi no Eki Minami-Soma", a local community center, in collaboration with "Save Minami-Soma Project", a local volunteer group.

This time we took to Minami-Soma vegetables, sausages, eggs, milk, bottled water, snacks as well as masks, towels, and adult nappies, which weighed some 10 tons all together in our 3 trucks.

About 50 people were already in the queue, when our trucks arrived there at 4:30 in the morning. At 5:00 We started giving out numbered tickets. The first 200 numbered tickets were handed out to people at the age of 70 or older and those with disability. Others got a ticket from No. 201 on.

The last numbered ticket was No. 800. We had to warn those in the queue after No. 800 that each of them would receive a smaller amount of relief supplies. We eventually distributed relief supplies to 1,126 people from 7:00 to 9:30. Many recipients said, "Thank you very much for coming to Minami Soma all the way from Tokyo!" or "When is the next time?" We were glad to see them being happy to receive supplies but at the same time, we felt their strong expectations for us. 

Besides 2HJ staff members, more than 40 volunteers came together from "Save Minami-Soma Project", Kashima town in Minami-Soma city, and even from outside of Minami-Soma city. Without their cooperation the distribution couldn't have been successful. We'd like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to all of them.

We will continue to seek an efficient way for supporting Minami-Soma city, which has been bothered by the aftermath not only of the 3.11 earthquake and tsunami, but also of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

Volunteer Story: International Secondary School (ISS)

For our disaster relief efforts, many people are holding fundraising events to raise money. Some hold events at their schools. People at International  Secondary School (ISS) are among them. 

ISS recently held a number of events to raise money for the Tohoku earthquake relief efforts. They decided to donate the money to Second Harvest Japan (2HJ). According to ISS, a walkathon event raised approximately 236,196 yen, a bake sale raised 15,100 yen, a movie night raised 31,908 yen, and a variety show raised 22,521 yen. Also, Tokyo Inter High School students joined this fundraising efforts and raised 100,680 yen. In total, 406,290 yen was donated to 2HJ! 

ISS Walkathon 2011

We will use the money to deliver more food and supplies to those in the disaster area. 

2HJ is greatly thankful to ISS, Tokyo Inter High School, and all the volunteers who are working to raise money for our disaster relief. They are making a great difference in lives of people in Northern Japan. 

Thank you very much for your support!

We Went to Minami-Sanriku to Run a Soup Kitchen!

Two 2HJ's regular volunteers and I went to Shizugawa area in Mimami-Sanriku town in Miyagi Prefecture to run a soup kitchen four times from 25th of April to 27th.

2HJ runs soup kitchen in Ueno Park in Tokyo every Saturday, but these soup kitchens in the affected area, which we decided to run because of a firm request from local people, were our first "on-the-road" soup kitchen.

Most buildings in Shizugawa area were devastated by the 3.11 earthquake and tsunami, but the community center on a hill remained intact.

Now the community center plays an important role not only of relief supply distribution or soup kitchen, but also of information exchange or resting place.

The area has not recovered from water service destruction and power cut yet, so the local people get breakfast and dinner in the center every day.

Some twenty people actually eat meals in the center, and some 200 others bring meals back to their homes, shared houses, or another evacuation center.

Since the 3.11 earthquake local people have persevered in cooking some 200 servings of meal in turns every day with a limited amount of foods and supplies.

2HJ team had brought here less-commonly-available vegetables, fish, natto, desserts, and fruits in our truck.

The local people were especially delighted with cakes for afters.

One of them said, "I couldn't celebrate my birthday because of the aftermath, but I felt I could make it today with the cakes I had."

Elderly women who were brought up in Shizugawa area said that they ate "for the first time in their lives" a cream soup with onion at breakfast, and went on to talk about the powdered skim milk they had had at school lunch many years ago.

Although we could do for the local people only a little, I was delighted to see them talking about foods, taking their minds off the aftermath.

People in Shizugawa have historically socialized with each other in the community center. This is why they can live cheerfully by cooperating with each other in the midst of a disappointment of having lost everything.

I'd like to thank all the people in Shizugawa area for having welcomed us to one big family.

Megumi Takahara, volunteer coordinator of 2HJ

* No volunteer is recruited any longer for this soup kitchen.

Mr. Sonoda, a 2HJ volunteer writes:

My deepest sympathies go out to the people who were affected or those who have lost their loved ones in the Great East Japan Disaster. This had been my third involvement in the disaster relief aid project but my first time to actually meet the victims in person. At first I was unsure how to act or speak to them, but was put at ease in no time.

The facility we were welcomed into was like a town hall, with small rooms for meetings and a kitchen as well.Water and power were down but at least gas was supported through the propane system. Several times I would reach out to turn a tap or flick on a light switch without thinking, despite already knowing that neither were available. 

It was a big reminder on how I had been completely dependent on an overly convenient lifestyle, and spending some time with the people there really brought home that realization. 

I had the chance to listen to many stories...one housewife told me how she had been shopping on the Internet just 7 minutes before her car, her home, her town and her family were taken away from her. 

An old woman stood aghast in her field overlooking her house as it was swept away by the waves.

Everyone who gathered at that hall all lost their normal everyday lives and had nowhere else to go. They all shared horrific stories that even our wildest imagination cannot comprehend - and yet they were all so cheerful and friendly to us that we couldn't help but be drawn into that vibe. 

We were only there for three days, but I hope we were able to share some of our energy with them. The villagers had set up a strong and tight-knit community and were calling each other by nicknames.

There are many opinions regarding this matter, but I sincerely hope that they will continue to care for each other and be able to rebuild their homes.

I also plan to continue my support for these areas in the future. 

Mr. Watanabe, a 2HJ volunteer writes:

I was able to spent the 2 days and 3 nights with good company and meaningful work. 

The people who warmly welcomed us with cheer despite all the struggle they faced, and the few days without electricity or running water gave me a good opportunity to review myself and my heavy reliance on a convenient lifestyle. 

Using a well for the first time in 50 years brought back nostalgia and fun too. I would very much like to visit again.