My boy is due soon and his name is Ten (meaning "dream in the sky")!

(by Yosuke Oikawa, at JICA Nihonmatsu in Nihonmatsu City, Fukushima Prefecture)

I can tell that I won’t be able to go back to my house for a few years or decades.  There were more than 10,000 pigs at the hog farm I had been working at though there’s nothing we can do about it now.  It’s located within the radius of 10 km from the nuclear power plant.  I retired from the farm after the earthquake and have been out of work since then.  However, we now live in a good evacuation center and receive enough relief supplies and I am really greatful for that.  Our fourth child is due soon, a boy.  Although this might not be the perfect time, I hope he will come out healthy and be cheerful.  His name is already decided.  It’s Ten (meaning “dream in the sky”)      

Asahi Shimbun, April 5, 2011, "Disaster Victims' Voice"

Translated by Takako Takata

Trying to get back on track, reopening the business

(Ms. Shizuko Sotake and Ms. Nobuko Nagado = Miyako-shi, Iwate Prefecture)





















Ms. Shizuko Sotake (62 , left) and Ms. Nobuko Nagado (65) are employees of fish shop Yamaguchi that reopened the business one week ago. They purchased the fresh fish from Morioka areas and the frozen fish escaped the damage. Miyako-shi, Iwate Prefecture. (Picture taken by Mr. Hisashi Matsumoto)






Daily Sports Newspaper, "Photo Gallery," April 6, 2011

http://photos.nikkansports.com/general/genki/archives/20110406_14268.html

Translated by Mikiko Tajima Asano

Don't bother my broken glasses, I want to find my missing friends

(Mr.Katsuyuki Sato =Kesennuma-shi, Miyagi Prefecture)



The picture shown is Mr. Katsuyuki Sato who was gratefully receiving the cloths provided as relief goods. His eyeglasses were broken and fixed by cellophane tape, but he said, “ I can purchase a pair of eyeglasses anytime. My priority is to find my missing friends as soon as possible.” Kesennuma-shi, Miyagi Pref. ( Picture taken by Mr. Kazutaka Eguchi )

Daily Sports Newspaper, "Photo Gallery," April 6, 2011

http://photos.nikkansports.com/general/genki/archives/20110406_14476.html

Translated by Makiko Tajima Asano

Rescue workers, be careful not to get injured in removing debris

(Dr. David Rabi, member of Medical Group from Israel,  Minami Sanriku-cho, Miyagi Prefecture)

Those who are working on removal of debris should take extra caution not to get wounded or injured so that they can prevent themselves from getting tetanus or other bacterial infections.
Minami Sanriku-cho, Miyagi (Picture taken by Mr. Yuichi Shimoda)

Daily Sports Newspaper, "Photo Gallery," April 6, 2011

http://photos.nikkansports.com/general/genki/archives/20110406_14272.html

Translated by Makiko Tajima Asano

Although my house was washed away, my heart aches for those suffering with worse

(Mr.Kai Kikkawa, Wakabayashi-ward, Sendai-shi, Miyagi . Wakabayashi Elementary School ,Sendai City)
My house was flooded and not inhabitable. We have no idea when the business would resume at my work. Yet my heart aches when I think about those who are suffering worse. I am grateful that I can stay at warm place like this evacuation center. I really appreciate those who are supporting and helping us. I believe that it is necessary to restore the business activities in the central area for the reconstruction from this disaster.


Asahi Shimbun, April 5, 2011
Translated by Makiko Tajima Asano

Feel strained and exhausted all the time with small kids at the shelter

(by Ms. Maki Izai , Terauchi, Kashima-ku, Minami Souma-shi, Fukushima Prefecture, at gymnasium in Azuma General Athletic Park in Minami Souma City)
My Children are small, so I am very concerned not to bother other people. After lights are turned off, I go outside to lull my two-year-old son for about 30 minutes every night, while I am worried about my ten-year-old daughter who is left alone at the evacuation center. I am under the strain all the time, and am exhausted. I wish they can set up a nursery at the evacuation center so that mothers can take a break even for a short time.


Asahi Shimbun April 5, 2011
Translated by Makiko Tajima Asano

Cheerleaders help evacuees stay healthy through exercise (by Asahi Shimbun)

http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201104050228.html


Evacuees exercise with cheerleaders at a shelter in Sendai's Wakabayashi Ward on Monday. (Yoshiko Sato)

Woman living in evacuation shelter turns 100 (by Mainichi Shimbun)

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110406p2a00m0na007000c.html

Ito Hayashi, right, is visited by Mayor Toshio Saito after turning 100 at a public health center in Yamamoto, Miyagi Prefecture, on April 5. (Mainichi)

Retailers stock farm products from disaster-hit areas to dispel rumors about safety (by Mainichi Shimbun)

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110406p2a00m0na010000c.html

Farm products from Ibaraki Prefecture and other areas affected by harmful rumors are laid out at the Takashimaya Department Store's Yokohama outlet as part of the company's campaign to support agricultural producers in the Tohoku region. (Photo courtesy of Takashimaya Department Store)

Farmer Sumiko Matsuno, left, and her freind, bag carrots on her farm to eat as she fears no one will buy them with the current radiation fallout, Thursday, March 24, 2011 in Fukushima, Fukushima prefecture, (AP Photo/Wally Santana)

Chiyoko Kaizuka, 83-year old farmer, weeds a spinach field Sunday, March 20, 2011 in Moriya, Ibaragi Prefecture, Japan. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko )

Donations for quake victims go undelivered despite desperate needs (by Mainichi Shimbun)

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110406p2a00m0na017000c.html

Evacuees receive emergency food in Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture. It remains unclear when they can receive sufficient relief money. (Mainichi)

In this photo taken Thursday, March 24, 2011, stocks of food supplies are piled high inside a gymnasium at an arena used as a refugee shelter in the earthquake- and tsunami-destroyed town of Minamisanriku, northeastern Japan. Aid supplies like food, clothing, gas, medicine has begun to arrive from the prefecture government, private donations, and aid drives abroad. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)