March 7 Talk Event: Toward the second year of support after the Tohoku disaster

February 28, 2012

On March 7, President of the Peace Boat Disaster Relief Volunteer Center Yamamoto Takashi will hold a talk event. Now that a year has passed since the disaster, this will reflect upon the activities in Tohoku, Wakayama and Niigata, as well as considering how disaster relief support should be carried out in this second year.

Please see below for details, and reserve a place at the event here
Please note that this event is in Japanese only.

We are looking forward to your participation.

Towards the second-year support
- Only human beings can support human beings -

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It’s almost a year since the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami.

Places such as Ishinomaki City and Onagawa Town, where Peace Boat is playing an active role, have indeed progressed from the stage of “immediate emergency support”. However it will still take a long time to restore the industries and  the citizens’ lives destroyed by the tsunami. Moreover, real recovery will need a common effort and vision. Although Peace Boat Disaster Relief Volunteer Center has been working active for a year as a “supporter from outside; outsiders”, we hope to work “together with the locals” from now.

In our new “Fishing experience programme,” we go beyond the original aim of helping to resume the fishing industry which is facing problems of labour and fund shortages, to promoting exchange between local fishermen and volunteers.

It is only human beings who can truly support and help other humans. Yamamoto Takashi, who has extensive experience in disaster relief both in Japan and abroad, will reflect upon the events of 2011, including the flood damage of  the No.12 typhoon in Wakayama and snow shoveling volunteering in Niigata. He will also talk about his own goals for the coming second year of support for those affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami.

*Event summary

[Date] Wednesday, March 7, 2012, 19:00-20:30 (opens at 18:30)
[Place] At Peace Boat Disaster Relief Volunteer Center MAP
[Access] 7 minutes walk from Takadanobaba station (JR Yamanote, Metro Tozai, Seibu Shinjuku lines)
[Maximum Number of Participants] 60
[Entrance fee] free
[Language] Japanese
[Reservation]  Peaceboat Disaster Relief Volunteer Center
Phone: 03-3363-7967
Online: Online reservation form

* Those who are unable to join in person can watch the Ustream broadcast of event live on the channel below.
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/peaceboat-live

YAMAMOTO Takashi (President, Peace Boat Disaster Relief Volunteer Center)

As an Executive Committee for NGO Peace Boat, Yamamoto has been coordinating Peace Boat’s Global Voyages which aim to promote peace through international exchange. He has been in charge of preparations for the global voyages, conducting field investigations with the local partner and affiliated organizations in more than 80 countries prior to the ship’s call at ports. His past disaster relief experience began in Japan, where he provided support following the Great Hanshin Earthquake in Kobe in 1995, which affected him personally, and the Niigata Earthquake. Yamamoto has also worked on the international stage, supporting the relief efforts for disasters such as in Turkey, Taiwan, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. At each disaster, he has always arrived on-site as early as possible to establish relief operations.
After the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake, he entered Ishinomaki City in Miyagi Prefecture on March 17, and since then he has been leading the disaster relief operations on-site with the cooperation of the local government and organizations.