We have a pressing notice for our readers.

Two days from now, on August 18th, there will be a charity concert held in Ginza, Tokyo. Seats are still available, and all are welcome.

This concert is held in support of a project called “Heart Knit.”(http://sportsdesk-skiclub.dreamlog.jp/)
This is a project to support the residents of temporary housing in the coastal region of Iwaki Prefecture. The project is aimed at teaching the participants to knit, and then selling what they make and returning all profits to them.
We, Touhoku HELP, are supporting this project as a support center for the coastal region of Iwaki Prefecture, working hand-in-hand with those in charge of this project.

Supporting the residents of temporary housing by giving them handiwork is not something limited to Heart Knit.


The “Ono-kun” project at the Ono temporary housing in Higashi-Matsubara City, Miyagi Prefecture, is a very similar campaign. This project uses socks and et cetera to create dolls. Profits are returned to the creator, as is in Heart Knit.

The Heart Knit project follows the footsteps of a project that was originally intended to provide care for the victims of the 9.11 terrorist attacks.

Ono-Kun carries its origin in the handworks of U.S. coal mine workers.

Here, I feel that there is solidarity beyond time and space.

We hold it our philosophy to support self-sufficiency. So what does one need in order to be self-sufficient?

It may sound paradoxical, but I believe that the answer is in solidarity. Only when one bonds with another, he/she becomes self-sufficient.

Connecting with the pain of the coal mine workers and victims of the terrorist attack, bonding with the sorrow of the blood shedding in Okinawa, holding tight with the nuclear concerns of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, all of these are the first step to finding self-sufficiency in the regions hard-hit by the earthquake disaster.

With such feelings, I would like to invite all to the charity concert for the Heart Knit project.

August 16, 2012
Naoya Kawakami