Japan: Tell the World to Help · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

This post is part of our special coverage Japan Earthquake 2011.
A simple search for pictures posted on Twitter can bring up amazing things.
Search the characters “宮城” (Miyagi) and a handful of different pictures come up from the prefecture, one of the hardest-hit in Japan by the recent tsunami. Scroll down, and one picture stands out, a blob of brown and blue until you click it…
Picture from Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, one of the areas hardest hit by the tsunami.
… to reveal a wasteland. This is what remains of Kesennuma, a small town, once with tens of thousands of inhabitants.
Read the caption, and a story emerges of a person who lived in the city. This person sent the picture to a friend, Cherie, in Sydney, who posted the picture and email to the Internet. The message reads:
なんとか家族みな無事でいます。家は半分なくなりました
家の前の風景で家も駅も商店街も何にも無くなりました…
宮城県気仙沼市の被害をネットで配信したいのですが、私には出来ません 助けが必要です。出来るだけ色んな国へ知らせたいと思います。このメールも電波が入る所まで車でやっときて打ってます。これから生き残った人達が生きるために少しでも援助お願いします
Cherie adds a few words to the end of the caption:
I love u,pls dont lose hope.we can meet again, Pray for you.