Six months on.

It is six months to the day since the huge earthquake and tsunami struck North East Japan.
Our news media concentrates on the Fukushima nuclear plant  but it's worth remembering that hundreds of miles of coastline were all but wiped out by the tsunami and many thousands of ordinary people will continue to be affected for years to come .
I would like our friends in Japan and Japanese friends in the U.K. to know we haven't forgotten them and are thinking about their fellow countrymen today.
I have posted lots of news and photo story  links at my other blog ,
please take a look around and check some of these links http://thinkingaboutjapan.blogspot.com/

There are still copies of our Sakura CD available with all money taken going to help the Genkidama project in Onagawa . Details of the CD and the project which will help school children who survived the tsunami can all be found in the pages of the blog linked above.

As a reminder of the scale of the problems still being faced by the population of North East Japan I would like to reprint an article from the NHK World News web site . You can read the original article here http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/11_01.html

This is the text from that article ....

Sunday marks half a year since the major earthquake and tsunami that devastated northeastern Japan. The path to recovery still seems far away as many disaster survivors continue to struggle in rebuilding their lives.

As of Saturday, the number of confirmed deaths from the disaster was 15,781, while 4,086 people remain unaccounted for. About 83,000 people are still living away from their homes.

To accommodate evacuees more than 49,000 units of temporary housing have been built. That is 94 percent of the planned number.

Securing jobs remains one of the top priorities. In the 3 hardest-hit prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima, the number of people who have lost their jobs or temporarily left work totals about 158,000.
An NHK survey shows that 50 percent of temporary housing residents say they have no prospects for future earnings or will lose their income within a year.

As of July, about 70,000 people were receiving unemployment benefits. But the payments' period is expected to end starting in October. The labor ministry is considering extending the period and offering subsidies to companies that hire the affected people.

Only 5 of 40 hard-hit local communities have drawn up recovery plans. Financial support from the central government is essential for the plans, but how to secure funds remains unclear.

Other recovery challenges include supporting children who have been forced to change schools due to the disaster and the ensuing nuclear accident in Fukushima Prefecture.
The affected children need psychological care and educational support.

Sunday, September 11, 2011 05:07 +0900 (JST)