X-Pat Files

Dear Clients & Friends of H&R Consultants,

We would prefer to be contacting you under more positive circumstances; however we felt it necessary to send this message in light of the current situation in Japan. We hope you and your families are all ok. While it is an absolute tragedy what has happened up North of Tokyo, it is important for all of us to remain calm and try to seek as much correct and accurate information as possible.

As you are probably aware, Nagoya has not suffered any damage, injuries or loss of any kind with all the tremors that we have felt. Also as far as we are aware, there are no issues or problems with food supplies, water, gas or electricity. And there are currently no plans for any rolling blackout periods to save electricity supplies like there are in Tokyo and surrounding areas.

However we would like to take this opportunity to remind our direct clients f the earthquake survival information and your evacuation maps that we provided you in your Settling In packages on arrival in Japan. It would be a good time to maybe go over those documents one more time to ensure you are prepared and know what to do in the event of an emergency. You can never be over prepared for something like this.

If you are unable to find this information, please do contact your consultant so that we may send you a copy of it for your reference.

Please remember that in case of an emergency the best source for immediate information is the television. All programming will be overlayed with information or preempted with the most up to date information and instruction. NHK, if you press the bilingual button on your remote control, may have this information broadcast in English.

While the newspapers and TV services can provide you with a certain amount of up to date information, we would also recommend you look at your Embassy’s website pages or contact them for an update.
Please also take a look at this blog by our President Steve Burson, who has kindly updated it with some new information from government sources such as the American Embassy in Tokyo:

Steve Burson's Blog

You may also find the below websites and channels to be useful sources of information.

NHK WORLD TV:
Japan Meteorological Agency:
Tokyo English Life Line:

While Nagoya does not seem to be in any immediate risk or affected in any way by the events of the last week, we do recommend that you discuss this with families and more importantly with your companies about your options and future plans.

If you need any further advice or assistance with anything, please do not hesitate to contact our office on 052-973-3957 or you can email us at InfoRequest@MoreThanRelo.com and we will be more than happy to help you.

We will keep you updated on any further developments.

Kind Regards,
H&R Group

From Second Harvest Japan

-----------------------------

Second Harvest Japan is seeking food and supply donations for the people in the earth-quake-affected areas. Please see below for the list of what we need now. Thank you very much for your generous support!
You cannot send us expired food or opened packages.
Please pay for shipping. We cannot pay for your shipping fee on cash on delivery.
Please attach a list of what you send us. It would save us a lot of time to sort them!
For those who live outside Japan:
Monetary donations are more efficient than sending food resources from outside Japan.
You can donate money here.

Needed Items:
Ear plugs,
earphones,
eye masks,
rice,
retort-pouch food,
canned food,
emergency ration type of food,
baby bottles,
baby formulas,
baby food,
calorie-mate (energy bars),
portable water tanks,
bottled water,
portable water filters,
paper cups,
plastic bottles,
portable gas stoves,
solid fuels,
camping pots,
lanterns,
blue sheets (plastic sheets),
ropes,
portable toilets,
toilet paper,
tissues,
wet wipes,
paper diapers,
menstrual pads,
medicines,
emergency kit,
masks,
gargles,
soaps,
shampoos (the kinds that don’t need water are good),
underwear (not used),
towels,
blankets,
sleeping bags,
gloves,
helmets,
flash lights,
slippers,
batteries,
candles,
lighters,
can openers,
bottle openers,
folding knives,
trash bags,
headache medicine,
gastrointestinal medicine,
pain killers,
sanitizers,
gasoline,
kerosene,
paper plates,
paper cups,
plastic spoons,
plastic forks,
chopsticks, and
all kind of unexpired and unopened food that do NOT require refrigeration.

Send to:
Second Harvest Japan Disaster Relief Food Drive
Mizuta bldg 1F Asakusabashi 4-5-1, Taito-ku, Tokyo
111-0053
Phone: 03-3838-3827

Repost from the Tokai Japan Canada Society

-----------------------------

Hilton Nagoya - Food Drive

Hilton Nagoya is collecting non perishable (in date) food for shipping to the earthquake and Tsunami affected areas. What is needed particularly is Rice, miso, nori, canned food (vegetables, fruit, meat, pre made mix) noodles/pasta.

Please bring your donation to the Hilton Nagoya lobby and we will consolidate and ship regularly.
Your support is sincerely appreciated.
For further information please contact Jamie Mead on 052 212 1111.

Also we will be collecting cash donations (same as Xmas train) to support the Japan Red Cross.
Cash boxes are in the lobby from today (March 14th).


HOPE International - HOPE for Japan Fund

Canadian NGO HOPE International Development Agency's Asian-Pacific office which is located in Nagoya, is involved through an advisory capacity and has a board member on the ground in the affected area. HOPE-JP is also currently preparing a shipment of blankets to the affected area and is evaluating logistics and what is needed and where.

HOPE-JP has also established a Tohoku Earthquake Fund in order to channel monetary donations specific to the current crisis in Japan.

For ongoing details of HOPE-JP's efforts and how you can donate, please visit the HOPE-JP website.

www.hope.or.jp/en

Re-post from Nagoya Buzz, AKA Nagmag. Yours truly will be attending this event, and I hope you can make it too. Times are pretty dark just now, but on the plus side, we may all soon glow in the dark! Come on out and lets talk about it.

-------------------------------

Message to the International Community of Chubu

We are all saddened and deeply troubled by the disaster in our adopted country. Many people are looking for ways to give and launching initiatives to help. It is critical at this time that we keep each other informed and offer mutual support at this time. With that in mind we have organized an `information sharing` meeting at Shooters Sports Bar and Grill at 6 pm on Thursday.

So if you are doing something in response, or want to help, please come along and together lets make a difference.

Let us know if you can come.

Facebook Event Page

Carter Witt, Chris Zarodwictz, Lowell Sheppard, Mark McBennett, Steve Brown

Help Survivors of Japan Quake & Tsunami

An 8.9 magnitude earthquake hit Japan early Friday morning approximately 250 miles northeast of Tokyo, sparking a tsunami that caused major destruction in northern Japan. According to news reports, the death and injury tolls could exceed 10,000. The area remains on alert due to powerful aftershocks, which may last for days.

Please consider supporting the emergency relief efforts by donating online. Follow this link for more information on how you can help.

Here is a video showing what the Tsunami in Northern Japan looked like as it happened. This is amazing footage, and frankly the raw power of it is terrifying. Watch it full screen.