Charity Lectures for Great East Japan Earthquake 

by Yasuhiro Odanaka

On March 11, 2011, the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Japan hit the pacific coast of the Tohoku region of Japan.  It triggered the tsunami, which caused the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. 

Due to the earthquake, tsunami, fire, and related damages, more than 18,425 deaths were reported, many others were injured and still missing in 12 prefectures, including the Tohoku region. Soon after the earthquake, Mr. Willi Geller called me, and said to me, "I am always happy to go to Japan to help."  It was his kind offer.

Meanwhile, Mr. Makoto Yamamoto called out his fellow dental technicians, including myself, to hold a meeting in Osaka.  Technicians from Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, and Kyushu attended this meeting.  During the meeting, Mr. Yamamoto told us that he was concerned the people affected by the disaster.  After the earthquake, he rushed to the bank to make donations for them.  His donation was not a small amount for an individual, but he felt an emptiness in the reality that it would not be much of help for every person affected by the disaster.  For that reason, Mr. Yamamoto asked our help to organize charity lectures in Kyushu, Osaka, Nagoya, and Tokyo.

In that meeting, I told Mr. Yamaoto that Mr. Geller called me a few days ago and he would support Japan.  I also told Mr. Yamamoto that Mr. Geller mentioned, “many people give donations right after the earthquake happened, but what necessary is to do charity before they forget what had happened.”  Similarly, Mr. Yamamoto intended to hold the charity lectures starting in the cities of Fukuoka (Kyushu), Nagoya, Osaka, Tokyo, and finish in Sendai, one of the cities where the earthquake hit, expecting by the time to hold the charity lecture in Sendai, the disaster would have been settled down to some extent.  Mr. Geller’s and Mr. Yamamoto’s wishes became one, and the Charity Lectures for Great East Japan Earthquake began.

The biggest challenge we faced was to select which organization to donate our proceeds from the Charity Lectures.  Many such organizations take about 20% managing fee from the donations, and it is not visible how the remaining 80% of the donations are being funded for the victims.  Another issue was that the process took too long to distribute the money to the victims.  Therefore, Mr. Yamamoto searched and found the foundation called "MANABERU (learning) KIKIN (fund)”, which all donations go to the scholarship for high school students’ tuitions without any fee.  We all agreed to donate to the foundation.

東日本大震災復興支援チャリティー講演会の始まりについて

小田中康裕

　2011年3月11日にに発生した東北地方太平洋沖地震による災害およびこれに伴う福島第一原子力発電所事故による災害である。東日本各地での大きな揺れや、大津波、火災などにより、東北地方を中心に12都道府県で18,425人の死者・行方不明者が発生した大震災である。

　震災後すぐ、私のところにWilli Geller氏から連絡が入り、それは「私は日本に協力は惜しまない、日本に行く準備はいつでもできている。」という東日本へのチャリティーの応援供与のための連絡であった。時を同じくして、山本眞氏から東京、名古屋、大阪、九州の彼の知り合いの歯科技工士に声がかかり大阪に召集した。山本眞氏は震災後から心が落ち着かず義援金を寄付をしに銀行に駆けつけた。その寄付した金額は個人の寄付金としては決して少ない金額だとは思わないが、被災された一人一人にとっては、大きな援助にならないという現実に、虚しさを感じたのである。そして山本眞氏は九州、大阪、名古屋、東京でチャリティー講演会を行いたいということであった。

　私は山本眞氏に、数日前にWILLI GELLER氏から私のところに連絡があり、「彼は日本に対して応援供与をしてくれる」という旨を伝えた。上記でのWILLI　GELLER氏との会話の中で「今の時期には誰もが募金等行うが、本当に必要なことは、みんながこの震災を忘れかけている頃にチャリティーを行うことだ。」ということであった。同じく、山本眞氏は震災が落ち着き始める頃にでも、最後に仙台でもチェリティー講演会を行いたいという意向であった。こうして二人の意見は一致し、東日本大震災復興支援チャリティー講演会は動き出したのである。

　チャリティー講演会を行う上で生じた我々の大きな問題は、その寄付金をどこに寄付をするかという問題だった。多くのそういった組織は寄付金から20％の手数料を差し引かれ、その残り８０％の寄付金がどのような形で援助されているのかが可視化されておらず、被災者までにそのお金が届くまでに対応が遅いという欠点があった。そこで、山本眞氏はあらゆるそういったボランティア団体を調べ、その中から手数料０％で寄付した全てのお金が、高校生の授業料のために全額給付型の奨学金を行う「まなべる基金」を見つけ出し、みんなの意見でそこに寄付することに決定したのである。

The proceeds from charity lectures in each region and the total proceeds are as follows

Willi Geller Hand's on course 2016 SENDAI

April, 14-15, 2016

The number of applicants for the hands-on course was 50, but 74 people, more than that number, took the course.

East Japan earthquake reconstruction assistance

Charity Lecture recruitment flyers

The lecture had participation application of more than 1000 people

Electronic ticket for lecture participation certificate

Charity Auction 

Hands-on course venue : TKP Garden City Sendai Kotodai

Lecture venue                : Denryoku Hall 7th floor         

Social gathering Venue  : Ark Hotel / 2nd Floor Grand Court    

To everyone who participated in the Sendai venue

We would like to report that the Great East Japan Earthquake Reconstruction Assistance Charity Lecture Sendai Tournament, which was attended by more than 1,000 people, was successfully completed on April 16th and 17th, 2016. We will end all the schedules with a charity lecture that has been held in 4 cities and a large-scale lecture that lasts for 2 days at the final destination, Sendai, the disaster area. We believe that the Sendai Tournament, which was attended by 39 performers from Japan and overseas with the main theme of "the splendor of craftsmanship," left a mark as a lecture that will remain in the history of this industry.

74 participants of Willi Geller clinical training course, revenue 4,418,612 yen, 982 participants of Sendai convention lecture, revenue 18,028,651 yen (participation fee, auction revenue), total revenue 22,447,263 yen. We would like to express our gratitude to all the members of the executive committee for their support of the purpose of the charity and for their participation from afar.

The entire amount of the proceeds was donated to the "Manaberu (learning) Kikin (fund)" of the Great East Japan Earthquake Reconstruction Assistance Foundation on May 27, 2016, so we would like to report it as well.

In completing all the programs of this charity lecture, the speakers, volunteer staff, sponsored manufacturers, organizations, executive committee members, and lecture students who took part in all five competitions Thank you for your cooperation.