Remembering March 11, 2011 & Celebrating Our Joint Legacy of Reconstruction
This year marks 15 years since the devastating Great Eastern Japan Earthquake and Tsunami struck Japan with such devastation on March 11, 2011.The anniversary gives us pause to remember all the lives lost and communities impacted by the worst natural disaster ever to impact Japan’s Tohoku region. Yet in the intervening years and thanks to the resilience of its people, Japan has overcome many challenges and has charted a path towards recovery.
Canada Wood is happy to celebrate the role we served in the support of Japan’s recovery. In April of 2011 Canada Wood’s Kevin Bews and I along with BC Wood’s Jim Ivanoff traveled throughout the tsunami impacted region on a fact-finding mission to understand how Canadian stakeholders in the forest products industry could be of assistance. Later that year Canada Wood led a delegation of leading B.C. and Federal government officials along with leaders of Canada’s forest products industry to visit the tsunami impacted communities. The visit resulted in the launch of a $4.5 million Canada Tohoku Reconstruction project supported by the contributions of Natural Resources Canada, the Provinces of B.C. and Alberta and Canada’s forest products industry.
Through this project fund Canada Wood partnered with local builders and architects to build 4 public facilities to support reconstruction in tsunami impacted communities. These projects included the Donguri Anne Library Project and Yuriage Public Market Project in Natori, Miyagi Prefecture, the Oranda Jima Children’s Centre Project in Iwate Prefecture and the Jericho Support Centre for the Disabled in Fukushima Prefecture. The projects brought Canadian and Japanese friends and colleagues together and helped build a legacy of cooperation between Canada and Japan in the communities of the Tohoku. Indeed, the Maple Pavillion at Yuriage Public Market remains today as an enduring symbol of friendship between Canada and Japan. On behalf of our team and the many Canadian stakeholders involved, we are honoured and proud to have supported in even a small way reconstruction in the communities of the Tohoku.
For more information on the Canada Tohoku Reconstruction Project, please access this link.