Bright and Beautiful The Japanese earthquake of 2011 was as shocking as it was unimaginable. Its epicentre was some 230 miles north-east of Tokyo but much closer, only 80 miles to the east of the city of Sendai and the most populated area of the Tohoku region, a remote north-eastern corner, known to many Japanese as a major centre of rice production. At least one fifth of all rice grown in Japan comes from Tohoku.
When the Great Sendai Earthquake – as it is sometimes called – is mentioned today, more than a decade after the catastrophe, the 33-feet wave that engulfed Sendai may be recalled, or the final death toll of nearly 20,000. Most remember the flooding of the nuclear power plant at Fukushima forcing the evacuation of more than 150,000 people. And yet, in the long catalogue of heart-breaking statistics of lives shattered, families broken and communities destroyed, one stands out. It is the fact that Japan’s earthquake of 2011 created more than 1,700 orphans.
A world and five thousand eight hundred miles away in London, a Japanese woman, descended from an old samurai family, was building a new life in England, by marrying an Englishman and starting a family. She chose not to neglect traditional Japanese beliefs such as the samurai ethical code of bushido with its emphasis on honour, loyalty, respect, self-control and kindness. And such was her faith in the Power Of Chowa, the Japanese concept of the search for balance and harmony in every person’s life and in every community, that she wrote a book of the same title.
Informed and energised by these beliefs, Akemi Tanaka resolved to find ways in business, the arts and education, to offer a modern interpretation of Japanese arts, culture and traditions in her adopted home. Ancient Japanese ways had something to offer modern society, Akemi believed, and the search of so many for meaning, the right balance in life.
When she heard about the earthquake, Akemi found the most practical application for all that she believed in. As Akemi later said, ‘On 11 th March 2011 the biggest earthquake and tsunami in history struck Japan, leaving at least 1,500 children as orphans. No parents, no family, no home, no pets, no school, no nothing. As a mother myself, my heart went to them and I felt a strong responsibility to help.’
As philanthropists do, Akemi took a long-term view about the help she could give, going far beyond an instinctive, emotional response ‘to do something.’ The orphans of the Great Sendai Earthquake needed and deserved much more from her. Akemi thus resolved to create a new charity whose purpose would certainly be the immediate care needs of the earthquake orphans; but more than that, its aim would be to build a long-term support structure and network. Aid For Japan was born.
From summer residential courses to special support events to educational and professional development trips, Aid For Japan has already delivered more than a decade of hope and care for the orphans of Sendai and Tohoku region. In Japanese, Akemi Tanaka’s name means ‘bright and beautiful’ and that is exactly what she proved to be for Japan’s earthquake orphans. Sadly, in 2021 Akemi Tanaka died of cancer. Her husband, Richard, and fellow trustees are carrying on as stewards of the philanthropy she started.
And now, 12 years after Japan’s tragedy, another earthquake has caused even more devastation and destruction. Impossible as it may seem for the hundreds of thousands suffering the deepest grief, loss and heartbreak across the broken lands of southern Turkey and northern Syria, someone will emerge, someone who will restore hope and the courage to live on, someone who will take extraordinary steps to renew families and communities, someone bright and beautiful.