• Earthquake relief initiative
• Thu. Apr, 7 2011

Today, I thought I would share with my readers (if any) the following initiative.

A lot of them have recently flourished throughout the country and maybe this diary would be a good place to help them having some visibility. I also believe this is a good way to illustrate what is going on here and the legendary compassion Japanese carry inside them.

To start with what I hope will turn into a collection of ideas on how you (inside Japan mostly) can help, I wanted to mention the initiative that one of my friends told about today. This is quite original and I am sure helping the guys up North improve their daily life. I also liked the way that guy simply put his regular life on hold to go help people he had not connections to with what he knows the best (and didn't seem the most important at the first glance). That made me very admirative and quite jealous, being not exactely sure whether I could do the if that kind of disaster was to happen again in my life (hopefully not)...

So, here it is, the explanation and links/details I have been given. I don't have a bicycle myself to give but if you have, feel free to contact me (via this post) or them via their website:

Dear All,

Daiki Mochizuki (blog: http://ameblo.jp/vfr400r-hrc/) owns a small bike repair shop in Utsunomiya. A bicycle fanatic, Daiki is in his early 30's, and has 2 very small kids. After a week of watching the plights of thousands of families after the Tohoku earthquake he decided to drop what he was doing, and drive up to Sendai by himself without any set plans to see what he could do to help people there. He took his tools and as many bicycle parts with him as he could carry. He arrived in Sendai and tracked down a shelter in Tagajo-shi - a big shelter housing around 1,000 people. He set up a site and told people he'd come to fix their bikes. He started repairing the bicycles brought over to him for free, returning to Tokyo a few days later. He's been doing this every week since then. Driving up at midnight, staying for 2 days, fixing as many bikes as he can, then coming back to run his shop. He has funded all his activities so far 100% out of his own pocket.

Daiki now has 4 other people voluntarily working with him. They take it in turns to travel up to Sendai together. They've so far worked with 4 shelters. Each time they go to a shelter, if they work around the clock they can fix up about 40 bikes per day. There are always more bikes in need of repair, and never enough time or hands to go around. The bike shops in the areas were all destroyed and have no parts coming in so there are no other on-site support channels available.

What difference can a bicycle make?
In the affected areas up until the tsunami hit people mainly used cars to get around. Unlike in cities or towns, where train stations are close together, in rural areas and along the coasts stations are far apart. You simply can't get around without a car. Most people's cars were either swept away or destroyed by the tsunami. Even if people still have their cars they have no gasoline. A lot of roads remain inaccessible by car. So bicycles are really the only way people can travel over anything more than a short distance.

Families needs bicycles to go out and get food and supplies, and to carry them back. Many are staying in places several miles away from the closest stores or distribution points. For individuals who are trying to find their family members and friends, a bicycle gives them a way to go out and search for them. For people who have lost their homes and businesses, it gives them a way to travel to and from the site where their buildings used to stand, to begin the clean-up and to gather what is left of their belongings. For those who have become unemployed and who are looking for new jobs, it gives them a way to get out to a job interview further inland where towns are less damaged. For school children, it gives them a way to get to their classes. For young kids who have suffered extreme stress in the aftermath of the disaster, having a bike to ride around and play on gives them something fun to do, something to look forward to in their day. They really need more kid's bikes as almost all the bicycles around are for adults.

Shortage
Although some public organizations have already donated bikes, there is still a massive need for bicycles. The Osaka local government made a donation of a few hundred bicycles. Yamaha have given 200. However, these bikes are all distributed under a reservation/time-shared basis at the shelters. There are waiting lists stretching for days, so most people are not able to access them. There are still over 200,000 people living in shelters across Tohoku.

Collecting bicycles for Tohoku
In an effort to do what he can to increase the number of available bikes for people who really need them, Daiki has started trying to collect used bicycles in Tokyo, which he can repair and take with him up to Sendai in his truck. In between fixing bikes and his trips up to Sendai, finding people with bikes to give is time consuming. So far he has managed to get a total of 30 bikes, having spoken to over 100 people.

What we can do to help
If you have bikes which you are not using and which you'd like to donate, let us know and we will come to pick them up (either by truck or rider), directly at your address this or the following Sunday. Please let me know:

i) Your name, address, and contact details
ii) the number of bikes for donation, the type (mountain, road, shopping bike etc.)
iii) whether the bikes are for adults or kids
iv) the condition they are in (immediately ride-able upon pick-up, or in need of repair). Daiki is confident he can fix even the most "boro-boro" bikes so please don't worry too much about their condition!
v) what time it would be possible to pick the bikes up at your address this or next Sunday (between 9pm to 6pm)

Once we have an idea of how many bikes there are for collecting, and the pick-up points around Tokyo, we'll get back to you individually over the next few days to let you know when we can stop by.

Additionally, for those who wish to make donations to support Daiki's activities, we are currently setting up a "Bicycles for Japan" Web site with a donations function and details of our ongoing progress to be updated every few days. I will be sending out the address for this site over the next day or two. Any donations people are kind enough to give will be used in complete transparency - for bicycle parts and supplies, and for gasoline. Daiki is planning to continue this mission until summer, or until the need runs out so every little bit of funding will be really important for him. Thank you very much in advance for your support.