Friday 8 April 2011

Some Messages To Japan.

Tragic! I feel really bad about what's happening.

Richie

Thinking of you all and the suffering you're going through. We send our love and hope things get better soon.

Sue

Japan,what's happened to you is truly awful. My heart and prayers go out to you and your families.

Love, Lyngh.リンジ

がんばれ日本人=愛=

べんじ

You'll never walk alone.

Will+Stace

We are all thinking of you hare in Liverpool. We wish you safety and health.

Darren

Greetings,love+peace to all the people of Japan,from the people of Liverpool. Our thoughts are with you.

Mandy

Goodness be with you.

Anonymous

日本は打たれ強い国なので、今回の災害からきっとすぐ立ち直ると信じています。
地球の反対側から応援してます!

しのぶ

We hope that Japan and its people can recover swiftly from these terrible events,drawing on their own genius and with the help of all their friends around the world.

Anonymous

On behalf of my family,
I would like to express our condolences and deep sympathy to the people of Japan whose lives of their families,relatives,friends and loved ones have been affected by the terrible natural disaster on Friday. I would like to also extend our moral support for those who survived, injured and prayers for those who lost their lives. The whole world is praying for the people of Japan. These are natural calamity and will happen anywhere in the world. We just pray as citizens of the world. We are one!

Ruel and family.

Keep sending in your messages as they are appreciated immensely.

Sunday 27 March 2011

Article: 被災者のみなさん / To Those Affected by the Tsunami.

被災者のみなさん

できることなら、今すぐ日本に帰って皆さんの手助けをしたい!かと言ってすぐには帰れないので、こちらで何か自分にできることはないかと思い、いろんな人たちからメッセージを集め始めました。メッセージが一杯になり次第日本に送ります。それが少しでも皆さんの励ましになればと、思っています。
ニュースで見たあの津波の映像が、私の頭にはっきりと焼きついています。家や車や畑、すべてを全部一瞬で破壊した津波は、東北地方に惨劇を作り、そして、あの津波から逃げ切れなかった人は、一体何人いるんだろうと考えると、本当に本当に心が痛みます。親戚や家族を失ってしまった方たちの、心の傷の深さを感じています。彼らには何の罪もないのに、なぜ自然はこんなに残酷なのか。
被災地の一日も早い再建を願っています。そして被災者のみなさん、辛い時期をどうか乗り切って下さい。応援しています。

ガーン しのぶ (イギリス)

To Those Affected by the Tsunami,

I really wish I could go back to Japan and help them out there! But since I can't, I was thinking about what I can do in England. The idea of collecting messages from people came up so I started to do so. I hope it will encourage the people who have been affected by the disaster. Clearly the images of Tsunami on the news are stuck my head which, destroyed houses, cars, and literally everything instantly. The Tsunami created the worst tragedy in the Tohoku region I have ever seen. 

I am very, very sorry for those who couldn't make it from Tsunami and I feel the deepest sympaty for those who lost relatives and loved ones. They don't deserve all this but why nature is so cruel and harsh?

I hope, from the bottom of my heart, for the quick reconstruction of the Tohoku region and please overcome this hard time.

Shinobu Gahan, England.

Friday 25 March 2011

Article: A Message To Japan.


A Message To Japan 

Words and Images: Sebastian Gahan.

 It's now been nearly two weeks since the devastating twin natural disasters that hit Japan. For the first few days we watched the news in shock, awe at the scale of nature's unstoppable wrath. We've seen it before in many other countries via the same venue of the television but when the events directly affect you it's a dramatically different feeling altogether.

Messages from a local school make me smile.


My connection is that I lived in Japan, in Tokyo for a while and my partner is Japanese, as is my son. My in laws and some friends are in Tokyo and surrounding areas and you never ever think that something on the scale of what we've seen via truly fantastic - in both positive and negative connotations - will ever happen to anyone although it does. 

Reading the many blogs, tweets, Face Book posts, Mixi messages and newspapers and media of The UK and Japan you got a picture of the world ending. The scenes of houses washed away were like a Hollywood disaster movie and although a movie is usually fiction that can be stopped with a flick of the remote control the scenes on our television sets were hard and harsh reality. And, in the face of hard and harsh reality there is no choice but to react. 

Our first reaction was to check our friends and family were OK, and thankfully most of them were. Then came the constant checking of media in both the UK and Japan to see what was happening. Some were saying that there were differences in what was being reported, but for those not seeking conspiracies concerning lack of information concerning the Nuclear Reactors - The search of which I don't disapprove of, by the way... - it all amounted a simple human tragedy that no one, not even the beleaguered Japanese government could ever have imagined they would have to face. 

As a human being first and a journalist second, I consider that the human aspect is the most important and we should all do something to help those who make the world a better place. We all have a connection to Japan, be it friends, family, cars or even the microchip in our music player and although that seems a trite comparison, it all matters in days such as these. There is a lot that Japan has done for the world and a lot that we can do for Japan right now. You can say a prayer, send a gift to a friend in Japan, donate some money to help the rescue and rebuild mission, make a friendly phone call to a loved one who lives there and ask how they are. The list goes on, and it's down to the individual.

In the case of my partner and I we've been collecting messages of hope and encouragement for the people of Japan and have set up a blog where these messages can be read by the whole world. There are many people in Japan from many different places in the world and they all have been affected in various ways such as loss, displacement, grief and much more than that. If you have any messages for the people of Japan please send them to the address at the end of this article. 

In the meantime life goes on for everyone and in the way that they do Japan is getting through the crisis admirably. They have been here before but never on this scale and I am sure that the future is bright for Japan.

Many thanks for reading this, 

Sebastian Gahan.

Please send all messages to messagestojapan@rocketmail.com