As some of you know, I am of mixed heritage.  Half French and half Japanese, having been born in Tokyo.

Yesterday, near the coast of Honshu, an earthquake of 8.9 magnitude was experienced.  It was followed by another Earthquake of 6.3 magnitude followed with another one an hour after of 6.2.

These earthquakes were so intense that they shifted the Earth on its axis.  The result of which  will be (a barely perceptible) shorter day.

The massive 8.9 earthquake caused a major Tsunami which resulted in the loss of thousands of lives and reports of up 10,000 or more missing.

The Tsunami also caused an exploson at the Fukushima atomic plant and resulted in loss of power (including  backup power) to the plant.  Japan is desperately trying to keep the rods cool by pumping sea water into the plant to prevent a meltdown.  Iodine tablets are being distributed to the population closest to the plant to counter act the results of radiation and an area of 12 miles surrounding the plant has been evacuated.  Hours ago they announced that a second reactor in the same facility is now at risk for meltdown as well. After all is said and done, these plants (even if meltdown is prevented) will be unusable and power shortages will result.

In areas in the disaster zone, and even in Tokyo, there are shortages of food, gas and supplies.  

I have sent an email to my cousin, Hiroyuki, and am anxiously waiting for news that he and his wife and two children are safe.

Please find it in your hearts to donate to any of the relief agencies providing assistance to Japan.

* Apple I-Tunes has made it easy to donate to the Red Cross through their site.

or..

* http://www.redcross.org

* http://www.mercycorps.org/donate/Japan

* http://www.savethechildren.org.au

* http://www.medicalteams.org

* http://www.worldvision.ca/give-a-gift/pages/Pacific-Tsunami.aspx

* http://www.msf/msf/donations/donations_home.cfm

Thank you!!!

I will be donating to the Save The Children and I wish I could do more...

XXX-Giselle

Put all our problems together and together they will not total what Japan is enduring.  Keep us posted on your relatives.  Our prayers are with you and them.

Thank you for posting this...

One of my best lives in Tokyo and she is missing many relatives...My PRAYERS TO ALL!

Xoxoxo

I know a couple of managers to dollar stores in my area as well as Aldi's since I have been around for a while. I'm sure Aldi's helped me cause she is personal friend for long time.
I asked them if I can have any of the articles that have been returned for any reaason or any stuff that I can send to Japan.
Amazingly from aldis I did get blankets that were iregular and one box had not even beenopened, about 19 were returned but unused just cause the trim was missing threads. I don't think the people will mind who get these items!
the dollar stores gave me towels, washcothes and bedsheets cause the flower print and dye was messed up.
all sizes from twin to queen no king but they are clean, new and I think they will be appreciated.
You will be surprised, if you have any neighboring stores that you frequent, that are willing to help!
So I'm taking them to town hall monday.
If you go around asking them I'm sure lot of them will help.

The sheer magnitude of this disaster is almost beyond comprehension. Watching the events unfold, I can't fathom how the northeastern prefectures will recover without massive amounts of financial and physical aid from around the world.

I hope your cousin and family are well. Please keep us posted.

PP

What a great post, so well put together, and all the links are there, so we all we have to do is click, Great job, not bad for a sinner.

I was there last year, and my company does a lot of business there.  We'll be organizing donations at the office.  But thank you for giving us that list!

I hope your family is ok!

Thanks, Sinthia, for the links. Your family and all in Japan who are in need are in our prayers. We shall be donating through the Red Cross this week.

Really hope your family is OK.  Our heart really goes out to the people of Japan.