JAPONAIDE was established on 15th March 2011, immediately after the Great East Japan Earthquake, based on the principle to provide “heartfelt support” for those who were affected by it. Our members have various backgrounds such as musicians, choreographers, architects, designers, stylist, translators and coordinators but all are based in Paris. We join together aiming to provide continuous support to Tohoku for a long term.
JAPONAIDE’s support work has progressed while being encouraged by the warm support received from France and from many other countries. It will soon be 2 years since the disaster. At JAPONAIDE we believe that our role is to tell those who have been forced to live under restricted circumstances and for those who have been spending their days worrying that there are people out there supporting them and we will continue to do so while wishing for Japan’s recovery. JAPONAIDE wish to give out these messages through our work.
We have organized and cooperated in arranging 46 events, including a series of music concert hosted by Japan Cultural Centre in Paris, an orchestra performance hosted by UNESCO, and have donated a total of 176,661.96 Euros to the affected areas as of 24th November 2012. This could not be achieved without the assistance of all our supporters.
While I ask myself what I can do to my own country, it has been proved that we become stronger as a group to achieve our goals even though each one of us may feel useless and powerless. Our work to support the reconstruction work in Tohoku will continue hand in hand with the people of France, other countries and in the affected area itself.
JAPONAIDE president
SAITO Shiori
japonaide.org