ALERT: JAPAN WAS TRUE ALLY AFTER KATRINA

AS YOU KNOW BY NOW, A HUGE EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI HAS HIT JAPAN, AND AFTERSHOCKS KEEP FLOWING.  But did you know: Japan was a true ally in assisting the U.S. after Hurricane Katrina both through their government, and in private citizen donations and corporate donations, sending a virtual "tsunami of assistance" to the victims of Katrina. We need to return this assistance during this crisis and help this suffering nation by taking a moment to visit www.redcross.org, or even easier, simply text REDCROSS to 90999 to send just $10 from your phone.  DO IT NOW!

The United States government has a webpage that details the Japanese contributions to Katrina aid. Here's part of what the page says:


15 September 2005

Japan Proves Truly "A Friend Indeed" After Hurricane Katrina
By Jane Morse

Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- If the saying "a friend in need is a friend indeed" is true, Japan is one of the best friends the United States ever could have to provide support while so many Americans are suffering in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Japanese private citizens and the government alike have sent a virtual tsunami of assistance to the victims of Katrina, which devastated 90,000 square miles along the U.S. Gulf Coast in August. Hundreds of thousands of people lost their homes and hundreds lost their lives.

Japan has pledged more than $1.5 million in private donations. The government of Japan has donated $200,000 in cash to the American Red Cross and some $800,000 in relief supplies -- from blankets to generators -- already are arriving to aid the most needy. Japanese firms with operations in the United States have donated some $12 million in total, including Honda Motor Corporation ($5 million), Hitachi ($1 million) and Nissan (more than $750,000).

The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo was overwhelmed by the generosity of one Japanese individual -- Takashi Endo -- who donated $1 million from his personal funds to Katrina relief efforts. Endo said he was moved when, during a business trip to London, he saw a televised report about a mother separated from her children in the chaos of the flooding in New Orleans. The story so disturbed him he could not sleep that night; the next morning he resolved to do something to help.

Yuji Takahashi, president and chief executive officer of the Japan Petroleum Exploration Company Ltd., which has operations off the coast of Louisiana, donated $100,000 to U.S. federal government hurricane relief efforts. Takahashi said that when he learned of the destruction caused by the hurricane, he felt as if his own family had been affected.

Source(s):
http://www.america.gov/st/washfile-engli…