Finding Freedom
July 2011
Banner photo: Finding Freedom [© Dariush M./Shutterstock]
Soka Gakkai's Response to the Japan Earthquake
Loading emergency supplies in Yonezawa, Yamagata Prefecture, on the evening of March 11, the day the earthquake struck [© Seikyo Shimbun]
At 2:46 pm on Friday, March 11, an earthquake of magnitude 9.0 hit the northeastern coast of Japan, followed by aftershocks and a series of tsunamis. The subsequent devastation left over 24,800 people dead or missing, and over 119,000 people who had lost their homes or been forced to evacuate.
Starting from the day of the earthquake, the Soka Gakkai's extensive network of local centers and members throughout the area has been fully engaged in relief activities and support to affected communities. The first deliveries of relief supplies such as water, blankets, food, stoves and portable toilets from centers in nearby prefectures arrived at the main Soka Gakkai Tohoku Culture Center in Sendai early in the morning of March 12.
Volunteers handing out food and drink for evacuees in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, on March 12 [© Seikyo Shimbun] Community centers in some of the worst-hit towns along the coast such as Ishinomaki, Kamaishi, Tagajo and Kesennuma provided safe havens from the tsunami for many people, even though they were themselves partially flooded. Local Soka Gakkai volunteers were among the first to help bring in relief supplies to some isolated communities.
Soka Gakkai community centers throughout the affected region were immediately opened to provide accommodation and food for the public. Over 5,000 people sought shelter following the quake at the Soka Gakkai Tohoku Culture Center in Sendai and 41 other local centers throughout the region.
Members of the Soka Gakkai's student and young men's groups in Miyagi Prefecture have created a "Bicycle Rescue Team" in Sendai to help assist senior citizens who live alone in the ravaged area. Their tasks include buying food and other essentials [© Seikyo Shimbun] Community centers in other affected areas such as Chiba and Ibaraki Prefectures were also used as emergency shelters in areas where the electricity or water supply had been cut off. Centers throughout the region have also continued to be used as distribution centers for relief supplies.
The day after the earthquake, many Soka Gakkai youth members and doctors and nurses from the medical professionals' group were dispatched to the area to assist with local relief efforts. On March 17, Soka Gakkai President Minoru Harada visited several community centers being used as shelters to listen directly to the needs of evacuees and to encourage people, in an effort to help restore hope.
Kosuke Sugo from Watari-cho, Miyagi Prefecture, narrowly escaped the tsunami. A volunteer firefighter and local Soka Gakkai member, he helped search for missing people and carry out relief activities [© Seikyo Shimbun] Teams of youth leaders from all over Japan have been traveling to the affected area to assist with relief for periods of up to two weeks at a time.
Hundreds of volunteers helped locate missing people and provide assistance to survivors. One local youth leader, Masatoshi Suzuki, was knocked unconscious when his house in Iwaki was swept 500 meters by the force of the tsunami. Soon after he regained consciousness, he began rescuing others trapped nearby. "Since the quake I have felt keenly the importance of the 'never give up' spirit that I have learned through Buddhism," he says.
Many individual Soka Gakkai members have been instrumental in organizing cleanup and reconstruction efforts in their local communities, assisting with restoration of electricity supplies, rehabilitation of fishing ports and setting up local relief teams to respond to the most urgent needs.
A discussion meeting with the theme "Hope and Advancement" was held at the Fukushima Peace Center on March 24. Around 100 Soka Gakkai members evacuated from the exclusion zone around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant were taking refuge at the center [© Seikyo Shimbun] On March 31, the Soka Gakkai Headquarters presented a donation of 100 million yen (US$1.2 million) to Miyagi Prefecture in support of relief efforts. The organization also donated 150 million yen (US$1.8 million) each to Iwate and Fukushima Prefectures and 100 million yen (US$1.2 million) to Sendai City, as well as smaller donations to Ibaraki and Chiba Prefectures.
When the Soka Gakkai's donation was presented to Miyagi Prefectural Governor Yoshihiro Murai, he expressed his hopes that the Soka Gakkai would also provide "care for the heart" to those affected.
In one of the messages of encouragement SGI President Daisaku Ikeda sent to Soka Gakkai and SGI members around the world following the disaster, he quoted Nichiren's words: "Even if we should meet with disasters and calamities, they cannot destroy our hearts." He stressed that "nothing can destroy the 'treasures of the heart,'" urging, "Never be defeated. Have courage! Have hope!"
By mid-May, the relief assistance provided by the Soka Gakkai included: 23,900 items of clothing such as winter jackets, sweaters and shirts; 4,700 blankets and futons; 243,000 toiletry and related products including diapers, powdered milk, 77,000 disposable heating pads and 60,000 portable toilets; 40,600 medical items including masks, cold medicine and bandages; 300,000 items of food and drink such as rice balls, preserved food and snacks; and 32,700 electrical-related items including radios, phone chargers, kettles, portable stoves, flashlights, batteries and generators, as well as over 8,300 liters of fuel.
