Japan
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Photo: Chris Cabatbat/Mercy Corps
Our strategy
Restore jobs and services to coastal towns heavily damaged by the March 2011 tsunami.
The context
One of the largest earthquakes ever recorded triggered a tsunami that killed more than 15,000 people, spurred a nuclear crisis and caused an estimated £141 billion in damages — Japan’s worst disaster since World War II. Entire coastal communities were wiped out by the surging waters.
Our work
- Emergency response: Provided relief supplies to meet the basic needs of 42,000 people living in shelters and helped children heal from trauma after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami
- Economic opportunity: Delivering start-up grants, employment incentives and loan-interest subsidies to encourage new businesses and hiring in tsunami-affected towns
All stories about Japan
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Japan: How an aftershock feels, and what it means April 10, 2011
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Japan: Warmth and wreckage in Kesennuma April 9, 2011
Wednesday morning I went with my colleagues Yohei and Ryu from Peace Winds Japan to help deliver kerosene heaters. The northeast of Japan where the tsunami struck is still cold even in April, with temperatures around freezing at night and sometimes during the day as well.
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Japan: Update from Japan after Thursday's 7.1-magnitude aftershock April 8, 2011
Thursday night at 11:32 P.M. local time, Japan's northeastern coast was struck by a major 7.1 magnitude aftershock. The team was all okay, but the shaking was intense. Several of our team members had to leave the hotel where they were staying in, due to the damage.
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Japan: Message from our team in Japan after today's 7.4 earthquake April 7, 2011
We've just heard from our team in Japan, and they're fine after today's 7.4 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami warning (which was since been lifted). Here's what they wrote:
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Japan: Starting Comfort for Kids in Japan April 6, 2011
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Japan: The sea gives and then takes away April 6, 2011
The ferry stop, which was once a two-story building — doubtless with restaurants and gift shops — had been reduced to a hollow shell, draped with plastic and refuse and a station wagon.
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Japan: Cardboard and creativity April 5, 2011
Our own truck turned into the parking lot and pulled up to where we were waiting at the gym.
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Japan: A disaster unlike any other April 5, 2011
Over the weekend I visited the tsunami-devastated zone of Japan's northeastern coast, and wanted to share the following observations with you. They're excerpted from an internal email I sent earlier today to Mercy Corps' global team — of which I consider you a integral member.
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Japan: Life in a high school displacement camp in Kesennuma, Japan April 4, 2011
I spent two years working in junior high schools in Japan as an English teacher, so stepping into the foyer of the Kesennuma Junior High School had a familiar feeling. What was inside, however, was anything but normal.
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Japan: Starting to build after Japan's tsunami April 2, 2011
It's hard to describe the desolation left by a tsunami, because there is so little left that is nameable.