Elder Dallin H. Oaks and his wife Kristen, recently visited Japan to see the relief and rebuilding efforts one year after the 11 March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that devastated the nation. He said the Japanese people are “an example for the whole world” in the exemplary way they have responded to the tragedy.
The 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami, which left more than 19,000 people dead and $235 billion in estimated damages, has been a top humanitarian aid priority for the Church during the past year. Following the disaster, the Church committed $13 million to support relief and recovery efforts in Japan. The Church distributed more than 250 tons of supplies during the emergency relief efforts immediately following the event, including food, water, blankets, bedding, hygiene supplies, clothing and fuel.
In the Sendai area the Church has donated a new industrial-size icemaker, a cold-storage unit and three refrigerated trucks to help fishermen in a small village. The tsunami destroyed nearly all the 84 fishing boats in a local fishing cooperative, and, although some boats were repaired, the fishermen were beached without ice to preserve the daily catch. The new equipment was delivered in September (watch a Mormon Newsroom video of the ribbon cutting ceremony). Additionally, an employment resource center was established in the Sendai area to assist members and others in recovering livelihoods.
Eighty missionaries helped restore the Yawata Shrine – a landmark comparable to the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. – in Tagajo, just outside Sendai. The tsunami flooded the shrine, washed cars into the grounds and scattered and destroyed sacred artifacts. Church sponsored volunteers of 22,000 people have provided more than 175,000 hours of service in Japan.
In November 2011, along the remote coast area of Tohoku, Japan, Church leaders presented three trucks, 4,500 nets, 3,000 octopus cages and various other fishing supplies to the local fishermen’s cooperative in the town of Kuji. Kuji has a population of about 35,000 people with 1,200 fishermen. Church leaders also made a similar donation in the small village of Noda Mura. The Church’s donation included trucks with refrigeration equipment and fish tanks, a forklift, a large-volume digital scale and 70 large containers for hauling the day’s catch.
“Those who suffered the immediate tragedies have held their faith, and their brothers and sisters throughout Japan … responded with helping hands, with donations, with service, with encouragement,” Elder Oaks said. “It’s increased my faith and my determination to try to serve in a similar way in the circumstances of my life.”