Items of Interest May 9, 2011 Issue

Buddhist organization in Japan offers helping hand to thousands

“Japanese Buddhist association reports on relief efforts” www.sgi.org. March 28, 2011.

Starting on March 11, the day the earthquake and tsunami devastated the Tohoku Region of Japan, the Soka Gakkai Buddhist Association, which has a large grassroots network of members and local community centers throughout the country, created emergency task forces at its headquarters in Tokyo and throughout the affected region. 

A total of 4,500 people were provided with shelter immediately following the quake at the group’s Tohoku Culture Center in Sendai City and 40 other local centers throughout the Tohoku region as well as in Ibaraki and Chiba prefectures. 

Soka Gakkai community centers in some of the worst-hit towns along the coast provided safe havens from the tsunami for many people, despite partial flooding. Local Soka Gakkai volunteers were among the first to help reestablish initial contact with some isolated communities and bring in relief supplies by car. 

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