Volunteer Work in Japan

Here's a video of my volunteer experiences in the Northeast region (Tohoku; 東北) of Japan.

In this video, I was never able to include my thoughts, reflections, and things that we could do in the future, because the duration of the video is too long.

After the earthquake/tsunami hit Japan, I only saw media coverage of the devastated areas so I never fully had the understanding of how "bad" the situation was. So my motives for going to these trips were: 1.) To help out the locals with whatever they need, and 2.) To see and realize how badly the locals were affected.
The first volunteer trip I went to was situated in 岩手県大槌町 (Iwate Pref. Otsuchi-cho). When I first saw the damages face-to-face, I was in a shock. Even though the situation there had improved a lot compared to 6 months ago, I could not believe that these "flat-lands" used to have many buildings and people. We worked scraping mud from ditches, pulled out wild plants, collected unearthed belongings, and planted seeds. During the last day of this trip, I was able to talk to a local and he described how the waves almost swallowed up his house, only to be spared by a hill which blocked the waves. He also stated that after the waves withdrew, he saw several dozens of bodies lying on the roads nearby.
On the second trip, I went to 宮城県石巻市 (Miyagi Pref. Ishinomaki-shi) with students from my university. The damage I saw there were much larger than the previous trip I went to. Unfortunately, because of the typhoon, all volunteer activities were suspended because of safety issues. And again, I had a chance to talk to a local and he had explained how big the waves were. He even told me a story of how 74 out of 108 elementary kids from one school were swallowed up by the tsunami along with 10 other teachers. I could only imagine how frightening the tsunami must have been.

Many people seemed to be satisfied that they were able to see how bad the situation was and that they were able to help. However, many of those people may never volunteer again because of the mindset of "I did my part, it's someone else's turn." Maybe they're right, it may be someone else's turn to do some volunteer work instead of vacationing, partying/clubbing, and spending cash on luxury; but you gotta know those people, they're selfish and they never help.
So as a task for volunteer veterans, especially the younger ones, is to spread awareness that the Tohoku region is still in need of our help. I also think that it is our duty, as veterans, to be leaders and show light to the inexperienced. We must create a tradition of volunteering, or as the locals fear "soon, nobody is going to help with volunteering."
Now, I am back in Tokyo and am getting ready for the Fall semester of college. I may be busy with academics, but I will always have the "volunteer spirit" in mind. I am currently talking to volunteer workers to set up another trip up to the affected areas. Hopefully, we can go during the winter, because that is the toughest time of the year. We are for sure that the number of volunteer workers will significantly decline during those times.

If you live in Japan and want to do volunteer work, you can contact your local Social Welfare group (社会福祉), NGO/NPO, or any volunteer groups and ask them for volunteer information. If you have any questions for me, regarding my experiences, you can send me a message via YouTube.
If you want to donate money, please donate it to the Japanese Red Cross or donate directly towards Volunteer centers that are set up in the affected areas! A lot of NGO's and NPO's use that money for some other projects!

Thank you for your time.

-Yoshi

The Young Americans:
http://www.youngamericans.org

NPO Group we worked with:
http://www.itsnotjustmud.com


Music by Kevin McLeod - www.incompetech.com

Twitter:
@YoshiTheAzn
facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/YoshiEatsWasabi/145478498824897

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• Volunteer
• relief
• work
• effort
• in
• Japan
• northeast
• Iwate
• otsuchi
• Miyagi
• ishinomaki
• 岩手県大槌町
• 宮城県石巻市
• ボランティア

[201marino]

it looks like you took a tour not much volunteer work

[YoshiEatsWasabi]

@201marino maybe it's called "I can't take pictures/videos while I'm doing volunteer work or else it doesn't count as a volunteer" ?

And if you payed attention, even for a little bit, I explained that on my second tour that there was a typhoon so we couldn't even do volunteer work.

Stop being ignorant.

[Nimsyy]

:( When you were showing pictures of what it's like now you chose the wrong music Yoshi~ It made me cry a bit :'(

It's so sad :(

That British person.. Do you know how he got to volunteer? Cos I've tried, but either been told to just donate money cos they're not sending people out or that I've not got the experience :S which is weird cos I din't think I would need experience in some volunteering.

Can you let me know please cos I would really like to help out. :)

[YoshiEatsWasabi]

@Nimsyy please read description.

[ochikeron]

what a great experience! and thanks for the pictures and videos. i believe it was hard to take such pictures over there.

[YoshiEatsWasabi]

@ochikeron Yeah, the devastation was so great when I came face-to-face with the disaster-struck area. But i can't imagine how much of a larger shock I would have been if I were there right after the disaster.

[YoshiEatsWasabi]

@TorrySumiya I am deeply sorry that your aunt hasn't shown up yet... I cannot share the same pain as you because, for me, none of my relatives were affected by this disaster. However I can assure you that there are many out there who knows how painful it must be. Let's all hope she'll show up soon. If not, then that she's in good caring hands.

[MsAngiechannel]

PEOPLE like you are truly inspirational figures....

[TCassiopiea]

you are an amazing person ^^

[hikikomorijan]

Great job!!)) I really wanted to help too,but didn't know how...Thanks for including details in description)) I'll go during summer vacation. ^^

[youwillBsorry]

Thanks for posting your video - you just about nailed the accent ;-)

[figmonsta121]

@201marino Videos like this are helpful. They show people that Tohoku still needs all the help it can get. Volunteers should definitely take some pictures or videos when they have a chance, and try to inspire people back home to make trips there, too. Too many people are forgetting about this now, and videos like this can remind them how bad it still is.

[figmonsta121]

@201marino Easily the dumbest comment I've seen in a long time, and just tasteless.

Read the video description. They were unable to work on one of the trips due to the typhoon.

Go volunteer or something instead of making negative comments on youtube against people who are actually trying to help.

[idklolnow]

i wish we could help out but we cant really afford going to japan :(

[PunchPressQueen75]

Yoshi, you are a good kid. We got hit by a hurricane not to long ago, and we were out helping the locals. We have the same mindset. Keep up the good work.

[wolfgirl140]

Arigatou gozaimasu Yoshi-san! I envy you for being able to go & help in any way you can & your footage was both powerful and inspiring. ^_^

[moonyyummy]

You did a good job yoshi ^^

Man the place is still in ruins... Thought it would've cleared up much more by now...