I am Chieko, a member of JWPDX(Japanese Women Portland)*. We request your help to support the recovery of the affected areas of the Noto region, where the magnitude of 7.5 earthquake occurred on January 1st.

Disaster situation as of March 29, 2024 (in Ishikawa Prefecture) by NHK (numbers in parentheses are the data on March 1st)

-Death toll: 244 (241)

-People whose safety is unknown: 3 (7)

-Evacuees: 8,109 (11,048)

-Houses damaged: unknown (about 76,000)

-Temporary housing application: 7,800 houses

-No water supply: 7,860 (18,380) houses

-Power outage: recovered (570 houses)

I was born and raised in Japan, so earthquakes have always been around me. In the Tokai area where I grew up, we were always told that a Big One would come anytime. Luckily, it hasn’t yet, but some of my friends were affected by the Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in 1995 (M6.9) and the Higashi-Nihon Earthquake in 2011 (M9.0). In 2011, a house just two doors down from my friend’s childhood home was washed away by a Tsunami. For me, earthquakes are not someone else’s problem.

Now, I live in Portland, Oregon, still on the Ring of Fire. Do you remember the earthquakes in San Francisco and Seattle? We are in between those cities. Even here in Portland, some of us live on fault lines.

Let’s listen to the people from Ishikawa Prefecture here in Portland, OR.

-I was born and raised in Komatsu City, Ishikawa Prefecture, from birth until I was 16 years old, my first year of high school. Having spent most of my adolescent years in Ishikawa Prefecture, I was extremely saddened by the devastation caused by the earthquake in those three Hokuriku prefectures, especially Ishikawa Prefecture. -Narumi

-I was born in Unoke-cho, Kahoku City, Ishikawa Prefecture and I moved to Kanazawa when I was probably 2 or 3 years old. I lived in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture until I came to Portland. My parents' home is still there and near Hokuryo High School, where the ground caved in. Although the damage was not as severe as the one in Noto, the impact of the earthquake shocked us. . I don’t have any relatives in Noto, so I only learned about the disaster from the news. I have been to Noto-jima Aquarium many times with my parents during childhood and went to a graduation trip with friends, went on a honeymoon there, and my last trip with my grandmother, who is currently living in a care facility, was in Noto. Looking back, it is a wonderful place that I have visited many times at different milestones. I hope that the beautiful land and the lives of the people living there will become peaceful as soon as possible. -Ayumi

-Being from Ishikawa Prefecture, I have mixed feelings about the fact that a natural disaster in my hometown is my introduction to connect with people, but this is perhaps a fate. Compared to the other two above, I am from Kaga City, which is farthest from the disaster area. I was returning home for the New Year, so I felt the tremor, but there was little damage to my hometown, including my parents' home. It's hard to say that I was heavily affected by the disaster, but I would love to help support. -Kanako

To raise money for the Noto region, we decided to plan a fund raising concert. Here are the details:

Date: May 12, Sun., 2024 at 1:30pm (Doors open at 1pm)

Location: Classic Pianos (3003 SE Milwaukie Ave., Portland OR 97202)

Program: 1:30pm-2:30pm: Piano Recital by 6 young pianists (Margaret Popova, Angelina Mitrianu, Karen Chan, Maya Yoshihara, and Nolan Tu), Hana wa Saku (The earthquake relief song for Higashi-Nihon Earthquake), Kimono Show (presented by "Traditions by Takako").

2:30pm-3:30pm Reception with food and drinks.

-Presented by JWPDX, sponsored by Classic Pianos

Please call Classic Pianos to reserve a seat@503-239-9969 (recommended age 7+), and donate thru this site ($20 per seat or more recommended).

You cannot make it to the concert? No problem. Please still consider donating for the cause.

Your contributions will go to an organization in Japan that will use one hundred percent of the donations (except for the fees charged by GoFundMe and cost and service for the concert) to help the affected people. We will update this page once we choose our trusted organization. We started this GoFundMe so that you can still contribute even if you cannot make it to the concert. Any amount is appreciated!

*JWPDX is a Japanese women’s community group with about 900 Japanese nationals living in Portland. JWPDX supports Japanese women’s interests by organizing Japanese cultural events in Portland.