Fifteen short-term exchange students from Tonji University in Shangai, China, attended the “International Workshop on Safe and Sound City Development Lessons Learned from the Great East Japan Earthquake” held February 15-29, 2012 at Tohoku Institute of Technology.

They visited the Sendai City Hall and Miyagi Prefectural Office to learn about the post-earthquake recovery efforts and viewed the area around the Sendai Airport where all of the buildings had been swept away by a 3-meter tsunami wave. They also heard from the priest at the Zuiganji temple in Matsushima about their experience serving as an evacuation shelter and were shown the restoration work being done on the main shrine of the temple.

The student leader of the Tonji University group, Ms. Lian Qiong, wrote the following words of encouragement in her report on the visit. “Throughout the city in Sendai, signs bearing slogans like ‘Don’t give up, Tohoku!’ and ‘We won’t be beat!’ can be seen. I was moved to see people working so hard. The air in Sendai is clean and the food is fresh and delicious. We can study with peace of mind knowing the radiation levels are low enough to not affect our health.”

Many other exchange students, including Mr. Wang Guan and Ms. Han Mengxuan, wrote “Don’t give up, Tohoku! Don’t give up, Japan!” in their reports. After returning to China, another exchange student, Mr. Qu Guanhi, collected donations with fellow students at Tonji University to contribute to the recovery efforts from the Great East Japan Earthquake. The leader of the short-term exchange student group from Tohoku Institute of Technology that studied at Tongji University, then first-year Architecture student Kamiya Souichiro, accepted these donations on behalf of our school. The following is the letter he received from Mr. Qu.

Dear Friends at the Tohoku Institute of Technology,
As a result of the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, many precious lives were lost and the Tohoku region experienced great destruction. It broke my heart to see the news of the disaster. Wanting to help in some way, 40 classmates and I collected donations.

When we attended the International Workshop on Safe and Sound City Development, we were able to witness the state of the reconstruction. We pray that very soon you can live in safety.

Qu Guanhi
Department of Japanese Language, Tongji University