Latest information about the disaster in Japan and
information about ways you can help.

My friend, Emily Murase, points out that the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California (JCCCNC), a US 501(c)(3) organization, has established a fund to help the victims of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on March 11, 2011 and is accepting online donations.
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The tragedy of the Japan earthquake this week has focused attention on Sendai, a city not well known outside Japan. Sendai is the home of Tohoku University. (Tohoku means “northeast” and is the traditional name of the region where Sendai City is located.) For readers of this blog, Tohoku University is the parent of the Research Institute of Electrical Communication, a fabled research lab in radio communications, best known as the place where the Yagi-Uda antenna was invented in 1926. The “yagi”, shown in the RIEC logo above, is the classic TV antenna in the US and has had a major impact on wireless communications over the decades. The RIEC website could tell you more about their accomplishments, past and present, but is down due to the disaster.

I have spoken several times at conferences hosted by RIEC and have fond memories of the staff, their kind hospitality and the excellent facilities. I hope this famous facility and its wonderful staff survived the disaster without serious impact and will continue their pioneering wireless research.

(The SpectrumTalk logo is based on a photo taken in Sendai.)

Yagi-Uda antennas of Tohoku University
Amateur Radio Club and cherry blossoms
April 2009

UPDATE

The Tohoku University and RIEC websites are now operational. Hopefully this is a good sign that recovery is proceeding.