PUBLISHED:March 16, 2011

"We have been reminded that we are not alone"

Dear members of the Duke Law community,

We, Duke Law's Japanese LLM students and visiting scholars, would like to thank you for all of your kind words and prayers we have received over the past few days following the earthquake and tsunami that has devastated Japan. We have experienced an outpouring of love and consideration from our fellow students and faculty. Fortunately, most of our families and close friends in Japan are now safe, but they are still struggling with loss of property and community in the aftermath of this disaster.

Many of you have expressed a desire to contribute to the relief effort currently working around the clock in Japan. We greatly appreciate this support and have compiled a list of reputable agencies that are presently accepting donations. We are truly grateful for your generous contributions.

In the wake of such tragedy, we realize that this is no time to be discouraged. Through this catastrophe we have been reminded that we are not alone, but rather members of a global family, and we are thankful that we have been embraced so warmly by our friends and colleagues here at Duke. We will unite with our brothers and sisters in the United States, Japan, and all over the world, and we will overcome this dark time together.

Here are links to several organizations that are currently accepting donations to aid victims and facilitate rebuilding in Japan:

The American Red Cross

Amazon

Paypal

Sincerely yours,

Yosuke Takenaka
Ryohei Kataoka
Yuji Moriguchi
Naoki Kadotani
Yoichiro Yukimura
Hideyuki Sato
Kenya Tanaka
Takeshi Sunago
Naokuni Kuwagata
Ryohei Oda
Zentaro Nihei