As we reflect on 2022 and prepare for 2023, several highlights come to mind: 

Real life examples

As I was watching the Olympics that happened in Tokyo where I live and minister, I was struck by each and almost every athlete who performs at these Olympic games—different team sports or individual sports or new and old or many different things. But as you know, the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics were supposed to happen last year in 2020. and then people discussed their opinions about a possible postponement.

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.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.
— 2 Corinthians 4:7

Dear Friends,

As 2020 wound to a close, the Lord impressed on me the following passage:

"In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind." —John 1:4

LOOKING BACK ON 2020

2020 was such a disruptive year. Yet the life of Christ is the light of the world. That gives me hope heading into 2021. I pray that your Christmas and New Year’s celebrations brought joy and the reminder of what is most important, even in the midst of the challenges from 2020, some of which continue to persist.

Like you, all of us at Asian Access are facing the challenges surrounding our world from these tumultuous days. The pandemic has forced most of the countries we work in to either go on lockdown or at least practice social distancing and the economic conditions have been immense. Many of our partners shared basic survival needs that are overwhelming. I have a needs list from them for well over $100,000 alone just for food to feed the poor. Many have lost friends and colleagues to the coronavirus and the pandemic seems to have no end in sight, or at least is pretty unpredictable. Add to these the racial and political polarization rising in several countries...

Today marks the 3^rd Anniversary of Great NE Japan Disaster

It’s been three arduous years since the triple disaster of 3.11.11. Here are several sign posts from Asian Access on the road following this horrific experience, ranging from reports to reflections...

On the First Anniversary

We’ve compiled a series of reflections on Japan's triple disaster on March 11, 2011--the Earthquake, the Tsunami and the Nuclear Crisis in the Tohoku region--on the occasion of its one year anniversary.

Interactive Reflections:http://www.asianaccess.org/reflections

This monumental disaster has deeply impacted the...

Exactly 20 Years Ago

Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of first arriving in Japan 

At this very moment on September 6, 1987 I was walking out of customs at Narita Airport in Tokyo to explore Japan for the first time. I had just finished college at the University of North Carolina, where I became a Christian. At the end of my senior year, I signed up for a 1-year stint as an English teaching missionary with Asian Access (formerly LIFE MInistries) in Tokyo. My life would never be the same.