Japanese Tsunami Relief

After the Tsunami hit Japan in 2011 Japan was devastated and needed much help in its recovery.  There were many different organizations that were willing to come to Japan's aide. 
Japan did make a remarkable recovery thanks to many of these different organizations. 

There was one organization that did a good job and stood out to me.  This organization not only helped Japan with relief funds, but did it in a fair trade manner.  The name of the organization is Grounds for Change.  Grounds for Change had a coffee ground blend that would donate $2 for every bag sold to a Japanese relief fund. 
Grounds for Change is fair trade certified.  They are also organic and carbon free certified.  The deal that they had set up was $10 for the bag and two of those dollars goes to relief funds for Japan.
Grounds for Change does a number of other donations for other countries and organizations as well.  They donate 1% of all of their annual sales to social and environmental organizations.  They are a green company that does still have blends that donate $1 to the Congo or to Bolivia.
http://fairtradeusa.org/blog/support-relief-efforts-japan-fair-trade-coffee
http://www.groundsforchange.com/

Ecotourism in Japan

Japan is a place that ecotourism can be put into action in good form.  The Japanese are all about respect and staying clean.  So they do respect their environment for the most part as well as expect outsiders to do the same. 
According to treehugger, Japan has started implementing ecotourism ideas since 1998.  Thanks to having a great public transportation system set up you would not have to worry about getting around while causing any more damage to the environment.  Treehugger mentions a few places to visit in Japan that they consider to be more green locations in the summer.  They mention visiting the hot springs, climbing Mt. Fuji, scuba diving, river rafting, and visiting the numerous different shrines throughout Japan.  To see more of what Treehugger has to say, here is their site: http://www.treehugger.com/corporate-responsibility/eco-tourism-in-japan.html

Hoshinoya Karuizawa resort is a place that considers themselves to be an eco tour location.  They have many activities that you can go to from the resort.  You can use public transportation to reach some of their activity sites.  They promote going on hikes to see different locations while preaching leaving the locations the same as when they went to visit them.
Their specific ecotours consist of a morning walk and a daytime walk that are focused around nature watching.  There is also a mountain biking tour and a twilight tour to see flying squirrels.
This is a definite place that would be nice to visit and explore.  The site shows even more awesome pictures and activity offers.  http://global.hoshinoresort.com/

Initial Tsunami Effects

http://s1.ibtimes.com/sites/www.ibtimes.com/files/styles/picture_this/public/2011/06/19/116515-japan-tsunami-from-devastation-to-hope-before-after-photos.jpg


In talking about the effects of the tsunami on Japan, the initial devastation and physical damage must be talked about.  After this, more long term effects can be looked at. 
The tsunami that hit Japan March 11, 2011 was a result of an 8.9 magnitude earthquake.  The east coast of Japan took the brunt of the tsunami as there were large waves that came in and swept across towns, and rice field destroying most everything in the path. 
The tsunami killed hundreds of people and displaced thousands.  Due to the tsunami, 10% of Japan was left without power.
There was a leak that occurred in an atomic power plant that was located in northeast Japan.  Essentially the cooling equipment could not function after the generators failed during the earthquake.  Japan had to place an evacuation order to get people who lived within 10 km of the plant to move north of Tokyo. 
The tsunami effects were felt far and wide.  There were massive waves that hit Maui, Alaska, and  California.
After the earthquake there was a very quick response by other countries to offer help to Japan.  There were over 50 countries that offered help.  It would seem that due to Japan being such a well developed country did play into how many other countries came to their aide.  Along with that, the fact that the tsunami was felt so widely by different nations, there were more people that were made aware of the issue and would come to their aide.
All of these countries coming to help Japan jump started their recovery and helped Japan get back on track much more quickly.

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Introduction of Tsunami Effects on Japan

  My name is Steve Rath.  I am half Japanese and half Polish.  I have held many interests that line up with Japan.  Originally, I am from southern California and much of my Japanese family lives there as well.  Still, I have family that lives over in Japan, and when the tsunami hit, I was very interested in following the impact that it had on Japan. 
  The tsunami was devastating, it caused damage to nuclear reactors and much of the land.  The nuclear issues caused scares of travelling to visit Japan, and I want to look further into the impact that has had on tourism for Japan. 
  Tourism is a major economic contributor for Japan and it seems that Japan has recovered very quickly from the tsunami.  This is the other aspect that I would like to look into and see just how this was accomplished.  Upcoming posts will look into these different aspects of Japanese tourism, and the effects of the tsunami.
 
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