A Letter from Japan

As many of you might know, back in the 90s and in the earlier part of the 2000 decade, I worked closely with major Japanese clients, and I continue to hold those relationships dear. I also happen to have relatives who have lived in Japan for decades. 

When the earthquake and the resulting tsunami hit Japan last month, I was up through the early morning hours emailing and checking on my Japanese contacts, who are luckily all OK. Some of them were stuck in their Tokyo offices for almost 24 hours due to lack of transportation. Others were far enough who were not immediately affected by the disaster.

I recently received a letter from my relatives in Japan, and I thought I'd share.This captures the essence of the spirit of the Japanese and their sense of community.

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Hi [[RECIPIENTS]],

We are all doing fine and I guess we have gotten used to this unstable situation and life goes on!! We used to constantly listen to the news in Japan and abroad and as you know everyone had something different to report and the whole situation was very unclear and confusing. At the same time our thoughts and hearts were with the ones who lost everything after the tsunami and the whole country became one and it still is and we hear amazing stories of hearts being touched and sacrifices being made. 

It really makes me proud to be living in this country. The Japanese are showing the world their wonderful qualities facing a disaster of this scale. Their resilience, calm and detachment and sense of community is admiring. The sacrifice the workers are making at the power plants is very moving. They didn't even have time to mourn for their lost loved ones, and obviously they are aware of being in great danger. They are working so hard dealing with so many different problems. Let`s hope they will be successful and it all will come to a safe end. 

The road to recovery is very long, but the speed with which things are improving is amazing. Roads are being opened and trains connecting them to the outside of the disaster area are starting to work again, but there is so much to do when so many have literally lost everything they had.

Thank you all so much for your thoughts and your prayers. Please keep praying for the safety and happiness of the whole nation.

Lots of love to you all,
[[SIGNED]]

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Here's a list of organizations you can contribute to for the relief and recovery in the region.