HITOMI KENNEDY recalled her sadness at seeing a newspaper photograph of the town she was born in destroyed by the Japanese tsunami of March 11th.
Ms Kennedy was one member of the Japanese community in Ireland helping at a fundraising bazaar and silent auction in Dublin at the weekend which raised thousands of euro for those affected by the disaster.
She still has relatives living just outside the Fukushima nuclear plant exclusion zone, and was thankful all were safe and that her elderly relatives did not have to move house. She has lived in Ireland for more than 20 years.
“Tears of a sparrow” was the Japanese saying used by one of the organisers to describe the small contribution their event will make in the wake of the disaster.
“I couldn’t watch the news without crying,” said Kilo Okamura, of the tsunami and earthquake. She is part of a group of Japanese women, long established here, who organised the event to try to “do their bit”.
The money raised will go directly to people in the earthquake-stricken Tohoku area.
“The problem is a lot of the money is going through large organisations and it is taking time to distribute,” said organiser Yoshi Ishii. The money will go into the bank account of people the group has made contact with in the Tohoku area within a few days, she said.
Among items sold in the auction were traditional silk kimonos, with the highest bid of €600 for a red wall hanging woven by Ms Okamura.
Ms Ishii said she was delighted with the strong support from the Irish people and the fundraising, which exceeded expectations.
