Japan (MNN) — Authorities warn residents of northeast Japan to prepare for potentially strong aftershocks in the days to come. A 7.4-magnitude earthquake rocked the region on Wednesday night, killing a handful of people and wounding hundreds.

Reflecting on the Ten Years since Japan's Triple Disaster

By Sue Plumb Takamoto

PART 2

In Part 1: "Looking Back on Ten Years: Finding Beauty in Brokenness", I highlighted the unimaginable damage and challenging aftermath from Japan’s March 11, 2011 Triple Disaster—a 9.0 earthquake that triggered a tsunami and caused a nuclear power plant meltdown.

Reflections on the 10-Year Remembrance of Japan’s Triple Disaster

By Sue Plumb Takamoto

PART 1

There is beauty in brokenness. This is a message that we all need to hear right now.

AN INTERVIEW WITH REV. YOSHIYA HARI, ASIAN ACCESS JAPAN NATIONAL DIRECTOR AT 10-YEAR MARK OF 3.11

Translated by Mary Jo Wilson

Q: What are some of your initial thoughts as we stand at the ten-year mark since the Triple Disasters hit Northeastern Japan?

Well, my first thought is that it’s hard to believe it’s been ten years. The time has gone so fast. From this vantage point, it’s clear what a huge turning point it was, both in my life and in the life of my church, and I could say even in the life of the church across Japan and for Asian Access Japan. It’s been a huge turning point.

Reflections on 10th Anniversary of Japan’s Triple Disaster

By Kent Muhling

As the ten-year commemoration of the March 11 disaster approaches, many of us think back to our experience of that day and the days that followed. I am reminded of some of the lessons I learned then, lessons that continue to shape our ministry today.

Reflections on 10th Anniversary of Japan’s Triple Disaster

By Dan & Casi Brown

We all have triggers in our lives. These triggers could be an event, a word, a certain place, or circumstance. For many in Tohoku, earthquakes are a trigger. On February 13th, almost 10 years to the date from the March 11th, 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Northeast Japan, we experienced a 7.3 magnitude earthquake, labeled an aftershock of that disastrous event. This aftershock was a trigger for many in our community in which we live.

Reflections on 10th Anniversary of Japan’s Triple Disaster

By Eric Takamoto

So many of the images and memories from the triple disaster are as vivid today as when I experienced them ten years ago. I realize in reflecting on those experiences that they have changed me forever.

March 11, 2020—This title may seem surprising to you in these days of fear and ongoing polarization in the world. – Hope Rising, really? The coronavirus impact seems to have the world gripped in fear: the markets have been in a free fall, businesses have closed, schools are shifting to online formats, and people are constantly thinking about washing their hands and whether or not they can buy facemasks. Certainly, the impacts have had a ripple effect and Asian Access is no exception. However... {addthis off}

Eight years ago, Silk and I were here in Japan during the horrific triple disaster that hit the country. In a matter of minutes, lives were ruined, the country was disrupted and it was a day that none of us will ever forget. The spirit of “Ganbatte” – never giving up or similarly “Ganbare” – let’s do our best or together carried the nation through the personal and societal loss. It was a significant time for the body of Christ in Japan, as Christ’s Church rose to the occasion to help bring hope and healing to the nation. It was one of the most unifying expressions in modern Japanese church history and the hope that it inspired is still active today. To get a glimpse of how this happened, take a look at this...{addthis off}

agape love - n. selfless love of one person for another without sexual implications (especially love that is spiritual in nature)

Silk and I enjoyed visiting Pastor Kishinami this week who is noted for planting 33 house chapels in Tohoku following the triple disaster of March 11, 2011. What a wonderful visit with tremendous lessons learned. The key to Pastor Kishinami’s success has been Agape Love! He shared how love, without expecting anything in return (no return on investment), is the key to evangelism and church planting. While we were together, Pastor Kishinami even cut the grass of one of the friends to show his love for the neighbors as a tangible expression of this love. It was fun watching him serve and interact with the people. See the photo of him serving the community! {addthis off} 

From Greed to Generosity

On March 11—the 7th anniversary of the Triple Disaster here in Japan—I’ve been asked to preach at Tokyo Life Church, the church we attend most regularly. TLC is in a Lenten series, and the topics are The Seven Deadly Sins. The passage I’m to cover is Matthew 19:16-30. It is the story of the rich young ruler, and the deadly sin is greed. As I reflect on how to tie greed, the rich young ruler, and 3.11 together, vivid memories come to mind. I’ll never forget that day in the mountains of Karuizawa thinking...

Prayer is needed as the nation continues to heal

Japan (MNN) – Seven years ago on the afternoon of March 11, a massive earthquake shifted Japan’s Honshu island by several feet. The moving earth resulted in a series of tsunamis, the first of which struck the Fukushima nuclear power plant at a height of 45 ft, knocking out its backup generators. Three of the six reactors exploded because the cooling systems stopped functioning. Many people died in what’s known as Japan’s Triple Disaster, also called 3/11. Hundreds of thousands of people had...

Nurturing Resiliency through Emotional and Spiritual Care 

“I have set the Lord always before me, because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.”  Psalm 16:8 ESV

Need for a Compass

I am directionally challenged. If I tell my wife while driving to ‘turn right,' I really mean left. I am not the most reliable navigator. At times I find that I can be 'directionally challenged' in my walk of faith and ministry path as well and must intentionally…

The story of this lady was amazing. She lived just 1.5 kilometers from the ocean (about a mile) and the tsunami took everything. Soon after, the gentlemen standing next to her, started a house fellowship not too long after retiring from work. He was inspired by his church to start another church after he retired from a great career. Did it matter that he is not a pastor? No. Did it matter that he had received no significant theological training? No. Rather, his pastor saw his gifts and invested in him for years. From the Asian Access training, he developed a plan to empower lay leaders to start churches so that they could reach the Japanese people. He knew there was no way you could reach Japan through just the clergy alone. So, he raised up several business leaders to begin starting house churches in his region.

The lady sharing in this picture was saved by a bridge in her local fishing village. She was driving back to her home where her husband’s family has led a fishing business for several generations. As she drove onto the bridge, the tsunami swept away most of her friends, their homes, and their cars. The town was devastated and all she could do is sit there and watch her friends get swept away. Her husband, just a few minutes earlier was able to marshal a few people to several boats he owned and fled into the sea before the waves crushed the village. He’s standing in this picture to her right. He was gone for three days at sea and she had no idea where he was or if the tsunami took his life. They were both saved that day… For a purpose! God had a plan for them and their village. Pastor Kishinami, who...

Japan (MNN) -- Japan is coping with a one-two Tropical Storm punch. On the heels of a record heatwave came Typhoon Goni. A couple of weeks later, it was Tropical Storm 18, or Etau. The resulting floods triggered landslides, but they also triggered bad memories, says Asian Access Asia Director of Development, Sterling Miller. “More traumatically, f...

A Comprehensive List of Projects Supported Through Asian Access Relief• Fall 2013
On behalf of the Japanese people, we want to thank you for giving toward Disaster Relief in Japan. Your gifts were invested in the following projects:

Immediate Disaster Relief | Summer Relief Teams | Missionary Deployment into Disasater Zone | Oasis Pastor Retreats | Pastor's...

Thank you for your generous support and prayers to bring hope and healing to the nation of Japan the last few years following the horrific tragedy of March 11, 2011. Through your partnership, we are seeing a tremendous outpouring of spiritual responses... responses like I have never seen before in Japan. It is clearly a kairos moment for the people of Japan!

I want to alert you to our recent summary of all the disaster relief projects you have invested in to help make this a reality...

Japan (MNN) ― When Typhoon Wipha took aim at Japan's Fukushima region, people worried. No one has forgotten that the area suffered severe damage in the 2011 quake/tsunami/nuclear disaster. Meteorologists branded the monster storm as a "once in a decade event."

Today, there's a collective sigh of...