Tsutomo Nakai - 61 -, head of evacuation center in rikuzentakata

On March the 11th at 15:15hrs our quiet, peaceful and beautiful town Rikuzen-Takata City.. ...was suddenly hit by the Big Earthquake of East Japan. From that moment on we have been forced to live our lives in a totally different way. The current number of people that have died in this town is 950 persons. And, the number of missing people is more than 1400 persons. In total, more than 2000 people have fallen victim to this disaster. Currently, about 1000 people have evacuated to Rikuzen-Takata’ First Municipal Junior Highschool. They are forced to live in very uncomfortable conditions. In the beginning, there were almost no such things as food and heaters. The evacuees were suffering from the cold. Thanks to the cooperation of the whole countryand the help from all over the world.. ..the conditions have become somewhat better. However, half a month has passed, and with every passing day, our stocks of food, seasonings and daily necessities dwindle. I think it will take a long time to for us to recover from the disaster. And the evacuation life will also continue. We therefore will continue to need food and daily necessities. In foods we are especially in need of seasonings, ..such as miso, soya sauce, salt, sugar, mayonnaisse, ketchup, and so on. It is really, these kind of daily necessariess that are lacking. On our road towards restoration, we have the support of the whole country, of all Japanese, ..and I hope that our town will be restored as soon as possible. However, it will be difficult for Japan to do this on its own. Therefore I would like to ask the whole world for its support.