Emergency appeal: Operation Niigata

By KEN JOSEPH

The Japan Emergency Team, a nongovernmental disaster relief group — in its 77th mission since its founding in 1987 — is currently carrying out "Operation Niigata" at sites affected by the 6.8-magnitude quake on June 16.

JAPAN EMERGENCY TEAM PHOTOS

With many injured and thousands still in emergency shelters, the need is extremely great.

The team has just finished operations in the Wajima area of Ishikawa Prefecture. Ten team members have been on site assisting in the disaster centers, bringing in food, medicine and supplies.

The following supplies are needed:

Canned and instant food Water Emergency medical kits Rice Used laptop computers Towels Camping supplies Towels Sleeping bags Soap (No blankets are needed at the current time) In addition, the team operates a "disaster-relief vehicle" — a 10-meter emergency motor-home that goes to disaster sites to provide food, medical assistance, drinks, showers and other emergency help to victims.

The vehicle, which is normally on standby in the Tokyo area in case of disasters, was put to good use after the disaster at Usuzan in Hokkaido, for example.

As they prepared for the journey to the quake site, the team had a disaster of its own — a major "systems failure" prevented the disaster relief vehicle from being taken to the site to assist as usual.

Due to the specialized nature of the vehicle, the cost of repairing and replacing parts is estimated at some 2.8 million yen.

As a nonprofit organization 100-percent dependent on donations, the team is urgently requesting assistance from the international community.

Supplies should be sent, with the contents clearly marked, to:

Operation Niigata Box 65 Tokyo Japan 106-8691 Donations can be made online at www.jhelp.com or by postal transfer to: Yunbin Furikae 00160 7 162438, Nihon Kinkyu Enjotai (The Japan Emergency Team)

Donate to Niigata quake victims

Friday, July 20, 2007

Japan Times Staff report

The Japan Emergency Team, a nongovernmental organization now carrying out relief activities in the areas hit by the July 16 Niigata earthquake, is asking for donations of emergency relief supplies.

Items urgently needed include mineral water, canned and instant food, emergency medical kits, rice, towels, soap, used laptops, camping supplies and sleeping bags. (Please do not send clothes or blankets).

Emergency supplies should be sent with the contents clearly marked and 1,000 yen in each box for handling to: Operation Niigata, Box 65, Tokyo Azabu Yubinkyoku 106-8691.

The team is also soliciting monetary donations for dispatching its Disaster Relief Vehicle, a motor home that provides food, medical assistance, drinks, showers and other emergency help. The dispatch will cost at least 2.8 million yen.

Monetary donations should be sent by postal transfer to: Yunbin Furikae 00160 7 162438, Nihon Kinkyu Enjotai (The Japan Emergency Team).

'Mochi ice cream' finds U.S. niche

Confectioners duke it out as demand increases all over the country

By MIWA MURPHY

NEW YORK (Kyodo) When Lotte Co. launched its Yukimi Daifuku ice cream encased in soft rice flour pastry in 1981, it was looking for a year-round product to strengthen its foothold in a domestic ice cream market long dominated by dairy companies.

An American family eats "mochi ice cream" at their home in New Jersey. KYODO PHOTO

More than two decades later, Lotte's blockbuster confection and its spinoffs are winning the hearts of Americans as "mochi ice cream," combining the Asian love of glutinous rice cake with the American passion for ice cream.

Following Lotte's path, a few confectioners in the United States have managed to perfect the technology needed to keep the chewy rice dough soft at freezing temperatures, turning the East-meets-West dessert into a supermarket staple.

read the whole story here......

Bradenton family gets approval to reunite

Dear friends,

Thank you so much for your e-mails.

Shin or rain....you guys have always stood by me, supported me since February, gave me lots of courage and hopes that I needed. There were days that I cried, and felt like I would never be able to go back home.

Someone wrote me in an e-mail yesterday.

"Wow, Prayers do really work!"

YES, they did.

I thank God for sending me wonderful friends like you.

At our church in Bradenton...I used to see church families gather to the pew by the stage, surround the person who needs everyone's prayers, then we place our hands on hers and the someone who is standing front of us' shoulder, and pray together to the GOD.

That is what I had....I had your hands on my shoulder, and had all of you praying with me for the miracle.

Praise the Lord.

Here is a link to the web site.

Bradenton Herald Front page,

Maura got the scoop!

July 18th, 2007

http://www.bradenton.com/280/story/100362.html

Please click the link above, visit the web site.

Love

Akiko Campbell

Japanese prince breaks taboo, acknowledges his alcoholism

By Mari Yamaguchi

The Associated Press

PREV of NEXT

Prince Tomohito says he has drunk heavily since he was a college student.

TOKYO — A senior member of the royal family has begun speaking publicly about his alcoholism, breaking a deep taboo about problem drinking, which many Japanese consider too shameful to discuss.

"I'm Prince Tomohito, the alcoholic," the 61-year-old cousin of Emperor Akihito said Saturday in a lecture at a nonprofit center for the disabled in the northern city of Sendai, according Hiroshi Shirai, a deputy director at the center.

The prince's alcoholism has been considered an embarrassment for officials at the palace, which tends to keep secret anything that might harm the royal family's image.

more......

Japan’s new look at kamikazes

JOSEPH COLEMAN; The Associated Press

Published: July 9th, 2007 01:00 AM

Enlarge image DAVID GUTTENFELDER/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Photos of Japanese kamikaze pilots, who gave their lives in World War II suicide attacks against Allied forces, hang on a wall last month at the Peace Museum for Kamikaze Pilots in Chiran, Japan. Some say such actions shouldn’t be held up as an example for modern youth.

CHIRAN, Japan – On April 12, 1945, Lt. Shinichi Uchida faced a terrifying mission – crash his plane into a U.S. warship. But the young kamikaze’s final letter to his grandparents was full of bravado.

“Now I’ll go and get rid of those devils,” the 18-year-old wrote shortly before his flight, vowing to “bring back the neck” of President Roosevelt. He never returned.

For many, such words are redolent of the militarism that drove Japan to ruin in World War II. But for an increasingly bold cadre of conservatives, Uchida’s words symbolize something else: just the kind of guts and commitment that Japanese youth need today.

Long a synonym for the waste of war, the suicidal fliers are now being glorified in a film written by Tokyo’s governor, Shintaro Ishihara, a well-known nationalist and co-author of the 1989 book “The Japan that Can Say No.” And a museum about the kamikazes in the southern town of Chiran, near the airstrip where Uchida and others took off, gets more than 500,000 visitors a year.

“The worries, sufferings, and misgivings of these young people … are something we cannot find in today’s society,” Ishihara said when his movie, “I Go to Die For You,” opened this spring.

“That is what makes this portrait of youth poignant and cruel, and yet so exceptionally beautiful,” he said.

Read the whole article here......

“ Daddy, don’t go. Please don’t leave.”

“ Daddy, don’t go. Please don’t leave.”

“Daddy, don’t go. Please don’t leave.”
Leo couldn’t say “Good bye” to Keith.
And I was wishing I could set the time back to when Keith had arrived Japan, seeing Keith disappearing behind the security check.

It always ends with tears in our eyes.

While Keith was here, we had so much fun together.

Having Daddy here in Japan was the best birthday present and it made Leo to say “Nothing better than the family together.”

I saw Keith woke up in a morning, watching boys sleeping.

I saw him hugging boys a little longer than he normally does.

Eat meals together, help boys change clothes.

Help putting shoes on, go for a walk, put boys on his shoulder.

Lie on the carpet, play games, and tickle each other.

Take a shower and brush their teeth.

I saw Keith enjoyed those things, simple daily task what parents normally experience every day.

We put two single beds together where Leo and I normally sleep on, then slept all four of us together every night.

“Nothing better than the family together."

Keith should be somewhere over the pacific ocean by now.

We already miss him so much. The room looks empty.

Leo asked Keith at the airport when does he comes back.

“Soon……and I will see you guys in US next time” Keith said.

I miss him.

Akiko

July 8, 2007

10:28 am edt

Mother (Akiko) and two young sons trapped in Japan.

Dear Friends in US,

Some of you have already read this article in our local newspaper "The Bradenton Herald" on Sunday the June 17th. I have up loaded the story on my web site www.BringAkikoHome.com with the permission from the writher, Maura Possley. Please click the link below, visit the web site, check the article if you haven't seen it yet. Also, I would appreciate if you can forward the link to your friends and family to help us spread the story for us.

Akiko

THE BRADENTON HERALD
FATHERLESS LIFE

TROUBLES FAMILY STILL SEPARATED

Published on: Sunday, June 17, 2007

Maura Possley, Herald Staff Writer

http://www.bringakikohome.com/id29.html

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Please visit www.BringAkikoHome.com

Type N700 bullet train goes into service

The Type N700 is the fastest bullet train ever. It will travel between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka stations in two hours and 25 minutes — five minutes less than before. It will barrel between Tokyo and Hakata in four hours and 50 minutes, saving about 10 minutes.