Japan
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Photo: Chris Cabatbat/Mercy Corps
Our strategy
Restore jobs and services to coastal towns heavily damaged by the March 2011 tsunami.
The context
One of the largest earthquakes ever recorded triggered a tsunami that killed more than 15,000 people, spurred a nuclear crisis and caused an estimated $235 billion in damages — Japan’s worst disaster since World War II. Entire coastal communities were wiped out by the surging waters.
Our work
- Emergency response: Provided relief supplies to meet the basic needs of 42,000 people living in shelters and helped children heal from trauma after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami
- Economic opportunity: Delivering start-up grants, employment incentives and loan-interest subsidies to encourage new businesses and hiring in tsunami-affected towns
All stories about Japan
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Japan: VIDEO: Comfort for Kids activities in Kesennuma, Japan June 9, 2011
Mercy Corps and partner Peace Winds are providing art, play and sports therapy for young tsunami survivors through the Comfort for Kids and Moving Forward programs.
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Japan: A bus from yesterday to tomorrow June 9, 2011
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Japan: More than up to the challenge June 9, 2011
Since mere moments before Japan's tsunami hit, and after long weeks of enduring its aftermath, Tsutomu Nakai has been faced with a series of unimaginable decisions. Some saved his life, and his family's lives. Other decisions put their personal lives on hold.
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Japan: A small and opportune oasis June 9, 2011
Right now, the city of Rikuzentakata, Japan is a food desert — a place where it's nearly impossible to find and buy fresh, nutritious food. Grocery stores and other shops were washed away by the tsunami. The closest markets are at least a half-hour away by car.
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Japan: VIDEO: Delivering household supplies to temporary homes in Japan June 9, 2011
Mercy Corps is helping partner Peace Winds distribute household supplies - such as mattresses, dishes and utensils, cookware, linens and children's toys - to displaced tsunami survivors who are moving into temporary homes in devastated cities like Kamaishi.
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Japan: Catalyzing to help Japan May 26, 2011
What does it take to start a movement? Mercy Corps is fortunate to have a large base of passionate supporters who rally their communities to support people facing natural disasters, civil conflict, poverty and oppression around the world.
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Japan: Handing over a little help May 25, 2011
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Japan: A very large surprise party May 23, 2011
It was my first time in Kamaishi, a three-hour drive north from the city of Ichinoseki where the Peace Winds Japan team is based.
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Japan: Epilogue: the temporary world May 19, 2011
There is a place that seems neither here nor there, but somewhere in between. It's a worried place: sometimes uncomfortable, and often lonely. It's the temporary world in which displaced tsunami survivors in Japan are living right now.
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Japan: Taking back the sea May 18, 2011
Kesennuma, Japan is a city of the sea. Before the tsunami hit northeastern Japan on March 11, more than 85 percent of its 73,000 citizens were involved in the fishing industry in some way.