In 2011, March 11th following the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami triggered a series of equipment failures, nuclear meltdowns and releases of radioactive materials at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. Although there were no casualties caused by radiation exposure, approximately 25,000 died due to the earthquake and tsunami. There were also over 340,000 displaced people in the Tōhoku region.

 

Martin, a Singaporean friend working & living in Tokyo sparked a campaign called 'Ganbatte Nippon' as an effort to raise the spirits and optimism in Japan. The idea was simple - people from around the world could submit posters and post them on facebook. With the diversity of friends all over the world, we set out on the 19 March, 2011 to the streets of Singapore, HongKong, Taipei and Melbourne to get random strangers to pose with those posters as an act of encouragement & support for the Japanese. 

 

These photos were not only uploaded onto facebook garnering positive energy for the campaign but were also shown to the Japanese people affected by the disaster when Martin traveled to the region as a volunteer to assist in the relief.

 

Through simple tools like a few posters and a camera, it was heart warming to find so many enthusiastic and empathic strangers who cared even though they didn't know each other in times of crisis. With the help of social media and a little heart, I'm glad we managed to bring some comfort and a smile to the people of Japan.

 

more photos can be found at www.facebook.com/ganbatte.nippon.campaign