Press release, 4 March 2016
During her official visit in Japan, Loreta Graužinienė, Speaker of the Seimas, has sent Lithuanian linen and wooden toys as gifts from Lithuania to residents of Tohoku region and their children, who suffered from a powerful earthquake in 2011. The gifts will be handed over on 11 March, the day of the 5th anniversary of the tragedy, by Hiroko Kavahara, the founder and President of the organisation Earth Identity Project.
In her letter attached to the gifts the Speaker of the Seimas has written: “Friendship is the strongest link between people. Being friends means enjoying the beautiful moments together, and in a more complicated time it implies outliving it together and supporting each other.
It is for almost one hundred years now that the Lithuanian and Japanese nations have been linked by the beautiful ties of friendship that excites the wish to get to know each other better and stretch out a helping hand when mostly needed. Shaken by the tragedy that hit Tohoku region on 11 March 2011, Lithuanian people tried to do their best to help the victims, to offer their condolences and a piece of their hearts.
We hereby send you the linen fabric woven by Lithuanian people, which has preserved the warmth of their hands, as a symbol of our friendship. I hope that Japanese children covered with the bedding made from it, will sleep peacefully and have happy childhood dreams.”
A powerful earthquake hit Tohoku region in Japan on 11 March 2011, which triggered tsunami waves that swept entire settlements located on the coast and claimed the lives of many thousands of people. Intensive reconstruction in an attempt to rebuild the damaged houses and infrastructure has been going on in the past five years, however, due to the large scale of disaster, the process will require a number of additional years. In the meantime, many families have found shelter in temporary accommodation and have no permanent source of income.
A non-profit organisation “Earth Identity Project” headed by Hiroko Kavahara was established in 1991. It provides assistance to residents of Tohoku region through a social business initiative “Project for Recovery of Local Communication and Job Creation for Women.” The organisation raises funds for job creation in the region. Foreign representations, the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania to Japan included, have been actively involved in the Project.
Rosvaldas Gorbačiovas, Senior Adviser to the Speaker of the Seimas, tel.+370 239 6005,
mob. + 370 698 42 071; e-mail: [email protected]
