Quake gives birth to Chinese society in disaster-hit Fukushima

Chinese expatriates living in Fukushima Prefecture found themselves more united as they helped each other to overcome the rough time following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. About eight months on, they founded a society to strengthen kinship and help revitalize what they call the "second home". About 500 Chinese lived within the 20 km radius of the Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant, which was crippled by the earthquake and tsunami, and 1,000 living in the areas devastated by tsunami. After the disasters, a lot of them helped each other to evacuate and shared information about radiation, shelters and chartered flights from China. No Chinese died or went missing in Fukushima in the disasters. But lack of an organization hampered the speediness of extending assistance to many of them, especially from the Chinese embassy and government, according to Han Zhiqiang, a diplomat of the Chinese embassy in Tokyo. "When the earthquake happened, I was with my mother-in-law at home only 50 meters away from the coastline," said Yang Guifen, a Chinese married to a Japanese man in Soma city, Fukushima. "My mother-in-law can't see things and we were so helpless. Fortunately the tsunami waves stopped just in front of my door." After the disasters, Yang was anxious to assure her family in China that she was safe, but she found it difficult to contact them as telecommunications were cut off. She felt herself abandoned at a point. "I feel much more relieved when I join the society," she said. "If there is a similar disaster again, at least I have my compatriots to turn to and share information." According to Chinese consulate in Niigata Prefecture, there are around 5,000 Chinese nationals living in Fukushima, a relatively large number in a single prefecture thanks to Fukushima's technological, agricultural and educational prowess before the catastrophe triggered Japan's worst nuclear crisis. At Sunday's inauguration of Fukushima Chinese Society, Chairman Dou Yuanzhu pledged the society will try to build a bridge to facilitate civilian communication between China and Japan, while stressing it is also the Chinese expatriates' responsibility to reinvigorate Fukushima's economy. "I have lived in Fukushima for 13 years and now I have a four- member family here," said Dou. "Fukushima is my second home." In a written message read at the launching ceremony, Yuhei Sato, Fukushima governor, said the March 11 quake and tsunami pulled together the hearts of Fukushima citizens and Chinese nationals, and he hoped ties will be deepened in economy, culture, education and tourism between China and Japan so as to help rebuild Fukushima's economy.