As of March 31st, 2016

The residents in Fukushima Prefecture still endure various kinds of affliction due to the Great East Japan Earthquake and the subsequent accident in the Tokyo Electric Power Company's Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant. In addition to the direct damage, they suffer with reputational damages in farm produce and decline of tourism in fear of contamination. Even though five years have passed since the double disaster, they are still facing numerous challenges that require your support toward restoration and revitalization of the region.

In Japanese, Ouen is the act of supporting, invigorating and helping. Kanagawa Fukushima Ouen Project (kfop) is a project to send aid and support to Fukushima from Kanagawa Prefecture where founding members live. Every member of kfop has gathered together on his or her own initiative to contribute time and skills. Either an organizing staff or a participant of volunteer activities acts in accordance with the principle that everyone does what he or she can, when possible, without straining oneself.

We don't have a paid staff, and keep accounting transparency. The fund raised as donations and membership fees is used for the planned and approved activities.

Group Overview

English name (Acronym):

Kanagawa.Fukushima.Ouen.Project (kfop)

Type of organization:

Voluntary organization, unincorporated

Date of establishment:

January 11, 2012

Membership:

274 people

Cumulative participants:

1,002 people (total number of participants went on board on the chartered buses headed to Fukushima as of March 2016)

Our Activities

There are three pillars to our activities.

1. Direct Action（Activities in Fukushima Prefecture）

• Help cleaning up the streets in residential areas where people live ordinarily, to dispel concern about radioactive contamination
• Coordinate and conduct volunteer activities in the evacuation zones where entry is allowed, including cleaning up the private houses
• Visit the evacuees who live in temporary housing
• Cooperate on various support activities for schools, children and their mothers, etc.

2. Local Action（Activities in Kanagawa Prefecture）

• Cooperate on or jointly organize gathering for evacuees living in Kanagawa, with other voluntary groups
• Cooperate with administrative bodies and private groups, in both of the disaster-affected municipalities and the municipalities receiving evacuees

3. Active communication of information

• Present activity reports to the public to try to convey current situations and facts we capture in Fukushima
• Spread and share information about tourism and local produce, hoping that it gives vigour to Fukushima

Organization of the group

Membership

Operation

General meeting:

Held annually. Officers and full members discuss and make decisions regarding activity plans, etc.

Regular meeting:

Held as needed (roughly once per month)

Extraordinary meeting:

Called by the representative when officers agree it is necessary

Volunteer sub-teams within the group

Fukushima Ouentai:

Members who participate in private projects that aim to clean up hotspots dotted around residential areas. This has been our starting point for our activities. Currently there is no activity which accepts volunteer participants.

Sharing a taste of Fukushima (started on June 14, 2015):

Activity to introduce delicious things from Fukushima, through participating in events, etc.

Track Record

Membership

 *1 Our fiscal year runs from April 1 to March 31.

Participants in direct actions

 *2 In 2011, the number of actions includes the ones as Fukushima Ouentai carried out before the establishment of kfop.

No. of people supporting local actions

 *3 A dedicated mailing list for people who wish to participate in activities in Kanagawa.