Dear American friends,

We simply do not have words to express our feeling of sorrow and condolences to those people in Miyagi and other northeastern parts of Japan who had been devastated by the gigantic earthquake and tsunami of unprecedented scale.

We ourselves are trying our best to connect to those people who have volunteered to hold the magnificent summit and homestay programs in commemoration of friendship between John Manjiro and Captain Whitfield the year before last. We were able to confirm safety of some of them but not all. We have pasted the list of the names of those people with confirmation of their safety, if possible, in this home page with Google function.

The result is tumultuous. Our office has been flooded by enquiries, expression of concern and condolences from so many American friends who came to join the Miyagi summit as well as those who met the volunteers from Miyagi in Kentucky or San Francisco Bay Area. Some of them offered any kind of help they can extend.As Chairman of the John Manjiro Whitfield Commemorative Center for International Exchange, I would like to express our deepest gratitude for your expression of concern and friendship. What you are doing remind me of exactly what Captain Whitfield had done to John Manjiro and his crew mates 170 years ago. Japan is not exactly shipwrecked but so much help was extended by the government and common people of the USA. There are so many Whitfields in your country.

I strongly feel that the true spirit of friendship and humanity is being revived between us in the 21st century and we are so much encouraged to move forward. We are now trying to hold our 21st summit in Kochi (Tosa) as scheduled this summer, and we will keep you informed on what will be happening in Miyagi and other parts of Japan. Our hearts are filled with warmth, feeling what we are achieving through the grassroots level exchange programs between our countries for the last 20 years.

I wish to extend our best wishes to all of you on the other side of the Pacific.