In Appreciation of the US Responses to the Great East Japan Earthquake

Great East Japan Earthquake of 3/11/2011
Highlights of Activities from the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership’s (CGP) Network

The Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership (CGP), New York would like to extend our sincerest condolences and deepest sympathy to the victims and families of the 2011 Great East Japan earthquake. We also greatly appreciate the support that has come from the United States.

This overwhelming support for Japan is manifest in the sheer array and number of fundraisers, performances, donation drives and other related events and activities. All of these efforts not only support relief and reconstruction efforts but also bear strong messages of encouragement to the Japanese people.

We know that many of CGP’s partners, grantees and supporters have taken the initiative to support Japan in their own capacities. All of these initiatives are commendable, and we are honored to be a part of this outstanding and generous community.

Please allow us to share with you some of their initiatives in order to express our sincerest gratitude for their efforts. Although this list is far from being comprehensive, we hope that it conveys a sense of the depth and breadth of our community and its significance as an essential part of the US-Japan global partnership.

CGP is also willing to join in these efforts and contribute to Japan’s recovery and reconstruction process to further strengthen the US-Japan global partnership.

*Activities listed below are those that have come to CGP’s attention as of April 18th

● Discussion Panels or Conferences Featuring the Great East Japan Earthquake Organized by Think Tanks and Academic Institutions

- CGP has been supporting Japan-related policy projects organized by five highly-acclaimed US think tanks, including the Brookings Institution, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and American Enterprise Institute (AEI), through a Think Tank Initiative since 2008. Following the March 2011 Earthquake, many of these think tanks quickly organized special round tables, panels, or seminars exploring the impact of the disaster from various perspectives.
- An alumni of the Japanese-American Leadership Delegation’s program, co-hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and CGP, organized a special panel at this year’s Association of Asian Studies (AAS) conference held in March. This last minute panel attracted a large number of researchers attending the conference; Dr. Shinichi Kitaoka, special advisor to CGP, joined the discussion as one of the panelists. Many other panels throughout the four-day conference also incorporated various aspects of the world-wide response to the situation in the aftermath the earthquake into their discussions.

● Words from US Public Intellectuals/CGP Grantees

- More than 10 US opinion leaders with strong ties to CGP, including Dr. Ezra Vogel, Dr. Joseph Nye, Dr. Kent Calder, Dr. Michael Green, provided commentaries to various media outlets after the earthquake which contributed to more accurate accounting and understanding of the current situation in Japan for the American public.
- The Times Picayune, a local New Orleans newspaper whose writer took part in a CGP exchange program to share the lessons learned from the Great Hanshin Awaji Earthquake, ”Japan-US Dialogue for Cooperation in Reconstruction after Hurricane Katrina,” ran the editorial “After Japan Tsunami, Earthquake We Need to Return Their Post-Katrina Generosity” immediately after the Earthquake.

● Efforts to Archive the Disaster for the Future

- Professor Theodore C. Bestor, an Abe Fellowship grantee, and other scholars took the initiative to establish a “Digital Archive of the Japan 2011 Earthquake and Aftermath” at the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies, Harvard University. This project aims to archive information available to the scholarly community, for immediate and longer-term analysis of the disaster and its aftermath.

● Support from Japan America Societies throughout the US

-Under the umbrella member organization of the National Association of Japan America Societies (NAJAS), 37 Japan America Societies work to strengthen cooperation and understanding between Japan and the US at the grassroots level. As our missions closely align, CGP works closely with NAJAS and its members through various CGP grant programs. To date, 25 member Societies have established their own funds dedicated to Japans’ earthquake/tsunami relief and reconstruction efforts, and NAJAS member Societies together have raised $9 million.

● Activities by Japan Outreach Initiative (JOI) Coordinators in the South and Midwest

- The Japan Outreach Initiative (JOI), jointly administered by CGP and the Laurasian Institution, promotes awareness and understanding of Japan in the regions of the US with relatively few opportunities for cultural exchange. The current JOI coordinator at the University of Arkansas-Forth Smith helped in the establishment of scholarships to students in Japan affected by the disaster. The coordinator in Western Michigan organized a variety of grassroots activities including a charity sale and origami crane making events, and another coordinator appeared on local TV to discuss the disaster and its aftermath.

● US-Japan Exchange Organizations Active on the Grassroots Level

-CPG commenced with the J-Initiative last year in 2010 to create and reinvigorate networks and centers for US-Japan exchange. The following inaugural J-Initiative grantees are also contributing immensely to Japan’s humanitarian aid and relief efforts.
-Sister Cities International (SCI). There has been a very strong humanitarian response from Sister Cities International members, with at least 34 city programs providing support for their affected Japanese partner communities. A New York Times article details the outreach SCI members are conducting for their Japanese sister cities.
-United Planet is building a team and an infrastructure to send volunteers as soon as possible to Japan, having received a J-Initiative grant to cover a portion of the costs related to the launch of an international volunteer exchange program in Japan.
-Japan Society in New York, also a member of NAJAS, established its Japan Earthquake Relief Fund on March 12, 2011, and has raised more than $4.5 million from over 13,000 donors. Its corporate programming also includes responses to the earthquake.
-Five College Center for East Asian Studies is also contributing to the relief effort with an Overcoming Disasters fundraiser at University of Massachusetts at Amherst and Hope for Japan fundraising campaign at Smith College.

● Encouraging Messages to Japanese Children from US College Students

- Graduate students in journalist studies invited to Japan by CGP, to study the recovery process of Kobe city after the Great Hanshin Awaji Earthquake in 1995, have initiated a project to convey encouraging messages to children in the Great East Japan Earthquake disaster areas. The project aims to collect the messages from all over the US and send them to afflicted children through civil society organizations in Kobe.