The dev­as­tat­ing earth­quake and ensu­ing tsunami which struck Japan on March 11, 2011 (local time) has left, in its wake, a tragedy beyond our com­pre­hen­sion.  The enor­mous loss of life, the dam­age to the infra­struc­ture, and the affects on the liveli­hoods of so many peo­ple is tremen­dous.  Our hearts and thoughts go out to those who are suf­fer­ing as a result of this nat­ural disaster.

On behalf of the Bud­dhist Churches of Amer­ica, I express my deep­est con­cern and sin­cer­est con­do­lences to those who are suf­fer­ing and who have suf­fered such great loss.  May the strength and sup­port of your com­mu­nity, together with the sup­port and wishes from our sangha mem­bers, as well as the peo­ple from through­out the world, offer you strength dur­ing this dif­fi­cult time.

Gassho,

Koshin Ogui, Socho
Bishop, Bud­dhist Churches of America

March 14, 2011

JAPAN EARTHQUAKE & TSUNAMI RELIEF FUND

On March 11, 2011 (local time), Japan was struck by a 9.0 mag­ni­tude earth­quake fol­lowed by a cat­a­strophic tsunami.  On behalf of the Bud­dhist Churches of Amer­ica (BCA), we extend our deep­est con­cerns and sin­cere con­do­lences to those whose lives have been affected by this tragedy.

The Bud­dhist Churches of Amer­ica is cur­rently col­lect­ing dona­tions in the name of the Japan Earthquake/Tsunami Relief for this dis­as­ter.  The funds col­lected by the BCA for this relief effort will be for­warded to the Hongwanji’s Social Wel­fare Depart­ment via the Hong­wanji Inter­na­tional Depart­ment.  Dona­tions for the Earthquake/Tsunami Relief Fund may be made in the fol­low­ing manner:

1.     Dona­tions may be made to your local BCA tem­ple or church (checks should be made payable to the local tem­ple or church).  Dona­tions made to the local tem­ples and churches will be for­warded to the BCA Headquarters.

2.     Dona­tions may also be made directly to the Bud­dhist Churches of Amer­ica National Head­quar­ters at the fol­low­ing address:

BUDDHIST CHURCHES OF AMERICA
1710 OCTAVIA STREET
SAN FRANCISCO, CA   94109

Please make checks payable to the BUDDHIST CHURCHES OF AMERICA.  Please note JAPAN EARTHQUAKE/TSUNAMI RELIEF in the memo sec­tion of your check.

We thank you in advance for your sup­port and dana.

Gassho,

Koshin Ogui, Socho                                                            Everett Watada, President

Bishop                                                                                    Bud­dhist Churches of America

Bud­dhist Churches of America

The fol­low­ing is an update of the relief efforts made by the Hong­wanji in response to the earth­quake and tsunami disaster.

REPORT OF RELIEF EFFORTS BY THE HONGWANJI(PDF) Earthquake_Relief_Efforts_by_Hongwanj

• March 11, 2011 Cen­tral Emer­gency Dis­as­ter Relief Office estab­lished at Hongwanji
• March 11, 2011Let­ter of Con­cern sent to those affected by the dis­as­ter and 2,000 tow­els sent to the Tohoku Dis­trict Office
• March 12, 2011Mes­sage of Con­cern sent to those affected by the dis­as­ter and addi­tional 1,000 tow­els sent to the Tokyo Dis­tricot Office
• March 12, 2011 Disaster/Relief Assis­tance Offices estab­lished at the Tohoku Kyoku Dis­tict Office (at Sendai Bet­suin) and the Tokyo Kyoku Dis­trict Office (at Tsuk­iji Betsuin)
• March 12, 2011 Deci­sion made to send an ini­tial 30 mil­lion yen (approx. U.S. $300,000 to dis­as­ter region)
• March 12, 2011 2011 Tohoku Kanto Pacific Coast Region Great Earth­quake Dis­as­ter Relief Fund Drive ini­ti­ated by Hongwanji
• March 12, 2011 Sign­boards erected at the Hong­wanji and Ohtani Hom­byo (Ohtani Mau­soleum) express­ing con­cern and sym­pa­thy for those affected by the disaster
• March 12, 2011 Hong­wanji sends inves­tiga­tive team to the dis­as­her zone
• March 12, 2011 Hong­wanji Social Wel­fare Depart­ment Super­vi­sor dis­patched to the dis­as­ter zone together with the First Assis­tance and Relief Staff from Hongwanji
• March 12, 2011 Mes­sages of con­cern and sym­pa­thy sent from the Hong­wanji to the local tem­ples affected by the disaster
• March 13, 2011 Hong­wanji dis­patches Sec­ond Assis­tance and Relief staff to the dis­as­her zone. First Assis­tance and Relief Staff and local Disaster/Relief Assis­tance Office staff extend mes­sages of con­cern and sym­pa­thy, as well as relief goods to 15 tem­ples in the Miyagi Pre­fec­ture region affected by the disaster
• March 14, 2011 First Assis­tance and Relief Staff arrive at Ishi­no­maki City dis­as­ter area to deliver water and food to the evac­u­a­tion cen­ters at the Ishi­no­maki Girls High School and the Ishi­no­maki Pre­fec­tural High School
• March 14, 2011 Sec­ond Assis­tance and Relief Staff from Hong­wanji, together with Sendai Bet­suin Bud­dhist Women’s Asso­ci­a­tion mem­bers and Bet­suin Kinder­garten staff, pre­pare and dis­trib­ute pork soup and rice­balls to evac­uees in front of Sendai Betsuin
• March 15, 2011 Hong­wanji First Assis­tance and Relief Staff return to Hong­wanji.  Super­vi­sor of the Hong­wanji Social Wel­fare Depart­ment remains in the dis­as­ter zone.  Plans being orga­nized to dis­patch the Third Assis­tance and Relief Staff to the dis­as­her zone
• March 15, 2011 Third Assis­tance and Relief Staff from Hong­wanji dis­patched to the Tokyo Dis­trict Office Relief/Assistance Cen­ter (at Tsuk­iji Bet­suin); Fourth Assis­tance and Relief Staff dis­patched to the Tohoku Dis­trict Office Relief/Assistance Cen­ter (at Sendai Betsuin)
• March 16, 2011 Third Assis­tance and Relief Staff returns to Hongwanji
• March 17, 2011 Sec­ond Assis­tance and Relief Staff returns to Hong­wanji; Tohoku Dis­trict Dis­as­ter Vol­un­teer Cen­ter put in place
• March 18, 2011 Fourth Assis­tance and Relief Staff, together with Super­vi­sor of the Hong­wanji Social Wel­fare Depart­ment, returns to Hong­wanji; Fifth Assis­tance and Relief Staff dis­patched to Sendai Betsuin.

(trans­lated from the Hong­wanji Japan­ese Web­site : www.hongwanji.or.jp)