As the world is aware, Japan has been badly hit by terrible earthquake and Tsunami which has hugely devastated the country and had derailed the life completely in affected part of the country.

Dr. Chan Ho CHOI, Regional Director of ICA-AP has sent a letter of concern and solidarity to the Cooperative members in Japan expressing deep sorrow and offering possible support by the international community if so required.

The letter is available on the link:

Letter to Japan earthquake 11th March 2011 (2)

Responding to the ICA message, the cooperative movement has informed that the cooperatives have been damaged and members have suffered loss.

However, actual situation will be known only after some time when things will settle down slowly.

The Japanese Consumer Co-operative Union (JCCU) is releasing news about

damaged consumer coops in the disaster affected areas in Japan - Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima. The information can be accessed at the following link:

http://jccu.coop/eng/news/ns_20110313_01.php

The JA Zenchu informed : Staff of JA Zenchu at Tokyo are safe.

Now JA –Zenchu is trying to collect information on damages to members of JA group by the earthquake and tsunami disaster around country.


The earth quake and tsunami caused great damage, especially along the shores of Tohoku district of Japan.

1. In Miyagi province, the building of Miyagi provincial union received serious damages. The union’s function becomes temporarily paralyzed so that the present situation of primary societies (JAs) has not been informed.

2. In Iwate province, 3 JAs, Ohfunato, Shin-Iwate and Iwate-Hanamaki, received serious damages. Ohfunato’s damage is catastrophic.

3. In Fukushima province, some people in the JA federation hospital were influenced by radiation leaks from Fukushima nuclear power stations.
 

JCCU has set up a task force to monitor the situation with the co-ops and to assist in any restoration effort. We would report to members of ICA as soon as the situation of the damage to members and the co-operative facilities become clear.

Miyagi Co-op in Sendai city reports that out of their 48 stores, services are available at only 13. Since the city has no electricity the computer unit is not operating hence sales are being done manually. Also for the fear of danger inside the store, food items are being sold to members outside the store. All other branches remained closed because the distribution centers were largely affected by the quake and are not fully operational.

Among 11 stores, one store is damaged greatly. There's no electricity but some of the stores have started working only during the daytime.

For the home delivery, because of the problems with the logistics the service is not in effect.

The task force has very little information about Co-op Fukushima at the moment because of communication problems resulting from difficulties in making telephone calls. Fukushima city has no electricity and water making it difficult for co-op to provide services to the members.


Japan Workers' Co-operative Union ( JWCU)
March 15th 11a.m Mr.Yuzo NAGATO, President of the Japan Workers' Co-operative Union reported that JWCU head office has the following information regarding the situation of their members:

Most of our members have been found safe. However, we have not been able to reach 2 of our member cooperatives. They are located in the area wherethe quack hit the hardest. In some units other than those 2, members are still trying to check the safety of each other. Phone systems are still not working too well (especially cell phones), so it is taking long.
There are some material damages (e.g., water leakage, broken glasses, cracks in a wall, etc.) in several units. Some of our units (e.g. children's hall) are designated evacuation centers, and members working there are taking care of evacuees, meaning that those members have not been able to go home to care their own families.
This is not just limited to worker cooperatives, but in Tohoku (northeastern) region (where the earthquake hit the hardest) water, gas and electricity are still out of order in many places.The shortage of foods, water, blankets and gas are very serious.
There are still about 550,000 evacuees. The situation of nuclear plants in Fukushima Prefecture is changing by minutes. So far they are doing their best to control the situation.
In Tokyo area as well, we are starting to feel the effect. Since Tohoku
region is a major producer of agricultural products and sea foods, there is a shortage of such products. Shortage of gas is also becoming serious (some gas stations have already closed, and others only sell 10 litters at a time). Power shortage is also a big concern (which is quite understandable considering what is going on at the nuclear power plants in Fukushima), and starting this week, different municipalities in Tokyo metropolitan area are to take turn to have blackout for about 3 hours a day. Trains are running less than half, which affect commuting of thousands of people. Several of you have kindly offer to raise funds to support our members, and we are very grateful for your generosity. We are having a board meeting on March 17th to open an special account specifically to support the victims.
In the meantime, however, we are not sure what would be the best way to organize this movement of support. That is, whether we can directly receive the fund from our cooperative friends or if it should go through ICA or JJC (Japan Joint Committee of Co-operatives).
I am sending this e-mail to ICA, CICOPA and JJC too, so if any of you
could give us instruction on this matter, we will really appreciate it.
For those of you who are kindly raising funds, we deeply appreciate your support. Please allow us some time to figure out specific ways to actually send your support.
Let us to keep you updated on this matter via e-mail and also our web site (http://english.roukyou.gr.jp/index.html).



National Federation of Fisheries Co-operative Associations (JF ZENKYROREN)
14 March 2011 - 06:35 (Central European Time or GMT +1)
As regards damages, no certain information yet since there are places where the whole towns got disappeared. The JF ZENKYOREN reports that there are at least two such towns, and it is reported that the number of people missing is more than 20,000. Already, as of 11:00 Toyko local time of Monday 14 March 2011, news media report that they have confirmed the total number of deaths of 1,600 people. It will continue to increase since most of the people who were buried alive by the fearful tsunami are still under the debris of houses etc. Further, we do not know how to find those who were drifted away by the tsunami far off to the sea. This is more than a tragedy. I do not know how to express this catastrophe in words. Dr. Terada Torahiko, a physicist of Japan, once said that "Natural disasters and catastrophes will hit at a time when you forget them". This adage is really true. Co-operative communities need co-operation and spirit of solidarity at a time like this gigantic time of trying. Thanks for your concern and sympathy.

We are constantly in touch with the cooperatives in Japan and will keep posted the latest information through this page.

For further enquiries please contact Dr. CHOI at mailto:choi@icaroap.coop