How You Can Send Help to The 3.11 Great East Japan Earthquake Victims

Konnichiwa! Hello! Yesterday March 11th, Japan and the rest of the world remembered one the most grimful tragedy nature have brought to the Eastern lands of Japan ten years ago. The 9.0 magnitude earthquake plus tsunami washed out areas in the Tohoku region claiming thousands of lives and damages amounting to hundred billions of dollars.

Japan is known to be a strong, efficient, reliable, and independent country. It's been 10 years and so most of us expect that victims have already recovered from it. However, after 10 years there are still lots who are suffering. They lost their homes and some can't return due to the threat of radiation in Fukushima.

Screenshot from Yahoo! JAPAN

Of course, there are tons of organizations and groups helping the victims too and one that does that is Yahoo Japan. The giant web service provider has a yearly campaign to help the victims of the 3.11 since 2014. This campaign provides a way for people from different places a capability to help by using their search engine.

Screenshot from Yahoo! JAPAN

For every search of "3.11" in Yahoo Japan's search engine on March 11, 10 Yen will be donated. It's a small amount but when tons of people do it, the amount will be huge and helpful for sure. The collected donation will be given to 8 organizations.

Screenshot from Yahoo! JAPAN

Yahoo Japan also provides a chart to track the amount of donations made each year. It's good to see that the campaign has gotten more attention and successful last 2020.

Screenshot from Yahoo! JAPAN

The results for this year is yet to be announced but as of doing my "3.11" search three hours before the end of the campaign, they have already accumulated 7,015,501. I am not just sure if this figure is the monetary equivalent of the donation or the number of searches or people who have participated.

Screenshots from Yahoo! JAPAN

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They also publish a report on where they've donated the money accumulated for the year. For 2019, the donation was donated to 6 organizations for education, mental health, and reconstruction. (2019 Supporter Activity Report)

I can't remember what I was doing back March 11, 2011 although I recalled seeing the incident reported at the local news and thought it's just like a normal flood and people can recover easily, because it's Japan. However, months later, I came across this collaboration video from various artists around the world singing "Fix You" by Coldplay. The lyrics and the some clips from the tragedy made me cry. I didn't know how bad the damage was until I saw the video.I feel sorry for the people who have to experience this disaster.

The Yahoo Japan campaign has ended upon writing this post but hopefully people who have read this post will remember and try to participate next year. I'll make sure to write and remind people earlier for next year's campaign.