Dear all,

Sorry for the long silence. I'm getting better and I think I got about 80%
of myself out of depression, but I'm still taking a mountain of medicine
every night. Doesn't sound good, does it? But hey, with all of your
support, I AM getting better. Brian Kito came to Japan about two weeks ago
and went to Sendai and Ishinomaki and was stunned to see what's out there.

Mt. Kirishima down in Kyushu (Miyayazaki prefecture) erupted and they have
heavy rain right now. The Japanese government hasn't yet decided what to do
with the contaminated water at Fukushima Nuclear plants. One of my friends
at Kyushu University made special containers for contaminated soil, but the
government is taking forever to approve its use. The contamination is
spreading, but there still are some people who live in Fukushima and they
are getting more than enough supplies and food. Some people are calling it
the Nuclear Bubble Economy. Just a few days ago, experts warned us that
there is more than 70% chance for a HUGE earthquake to occur in Tokyo. We
don't know what to believe at this point.

Thank you for your continued support. I really appreciate that many of you
continue to send in donations. They have been used for the victims and
schools. Patty Nagano kindly volunteered to deposit the checks for me, do
I'd appreciate it, if you send your donations, please make your check
payable to TINA TAJIMA and send it to:

Patty Nagano
267 S. San Pedro, #609,
Los Angeles, CA 90012


Attached are a few photos to show you what's going on here. The first one:
Pray for Japan, is a book that has all twitter messages and text messages
that were exchanged between the people in the Tohoku area and other places
in Japan. It's written all in Japanese, but the messages are touching.
There are now many volunteers who are cleaning up debris every day, however,
there have been numerous injury reports and major insurance companies
started "Volunteer health insurance." I have been using the donations to
clean up debris (renting tractors, etc. costs about US$5,000) and sending
water to school children in Fukushima where water is said to be (and is)
contaminated. They do have a good amount of supplies in most areas, but in
some small villages, people are still suffering. My doctor friends tell me
what's needed and I find them either in Sendai or Morioka (big cities) or
here in Tokyo and send them over there. Cleaning up debris is the biggest
project right now and it will take some time to get all of them out of the
whole region.

May is the season to do rice planting. My friends and I supported school
kids to do that. Soil and water in Miyagi and Iwate are said to be OK, so
we're hoping that the kids will see the plants grow. Kids need a brighter
future to look forward to and I feel that adults have a responsibility to
make sure that they are OK and will be OK.

Down in Kyushu, on top of the eruption of Mt. Kirishima, they have a big
rain and some of the places have a warning for mud slides. I know the U.S.
has more than enough tragedies like tornadoes. Something is definitely
wrong... maybe it's time for us to go back to the old style... like cooking
rice in a pot (not rice cooker) and appreciate veggies and fruit in season,
not the ones grown in greenhouses. We now have "Conserve energy. Turn off
unnecessary lights" everywhere, but I think we're doing the right thing.
When I was born, I took it for granted that almost everyone had a TV, a
washing machine, a rice cooker and a microwave oven. Now many of us think
we can't live without them, but we now know that we CAN live without them.
Someone said in a radio program the other day that it probably was a good
warning and a lesson to remind us how spoiled we have been. True, but the
people in the Tohoku area shouldn't have been hurt that bad.

I'll continue my support, and thank YOU, all of you, for being there to
support us.

Oh, by the way, the MP3 file is a song sung by DJ Joey Slick's sister,
Asiah. Very nice and touching.

Tina