A message from President Hamada commemorating one month from the Great East Japan Earthquake

April 11, 2011

Today marks one month from the Great East Japan Earthquake that hit northeastern Japan on March 11.

In the past one month, we, the University of Tokyo, have been dedicated to delivering relief and other supplies and to conducting relief efforts, including medical support, for the people and region affected by the disaster. In the hardest-hit areas, hundreds of thousands of people are striving to overcome this calamity by cooperating with one another while they are coping with growing anxiety about the situation.

On April 8, I visited Otsuchi, Iwate prefecture, one of the worst-affected localities and the site of the University of Tokyo's International Coastal Research Center of the Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, to discuss the delivery of relief supplies and reconstruction assistance to come. The town of Otsuchi and the research center have sustained catastrophic damage from the massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11. Standing in the middle of the devastation caused, I was made aware once again of the great power of nature, of how precious life is, of the strength of support from the local people, and of ties among people.

I believe all members of the University of Tokyo share similar feelings about this great tragedy and lessons we are all learning from it. It has been exactly one month from that devastating disaster. At 2:46 p.m. this afternoon, I would like to ask all of you, in a manner that you feel appropriate, to once again pray for those who lost their lives and feel sympathy for the deep sadness and continuing pain afflicting the victims.
 

Junichi Hamada
President
The University of Tokyo