Ambassador Roos Visits Fukushima

The TOMODACHI Initiative will support the travel of 12 students, members of the school's Yamakiya Taiko Group, to Washington, D.C. for the centennial celebration of Japan's gift of cherry blossom trees to the U.S.

Jan. 19 - Ambassador John Roos made his first official visit to Fukushima Prefecture to express continuing U.S. support for the reconstruction efforts there and to visit the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

The Ambassador visited the Fukushima Daiichi site on the morning of Jan. 16, and received a briefing by Japanese Government and TEPCO officials on the state of the plant. He also met with workers, whom he praised for their heroic efforts after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Afterward, the Ambassador went to a tsunami devastated area in Hisanohama, Iwaki City, where he laid a bouquet of flowers and observed a moment of silence for the victims of the March 11 disasters. The Ambassador then met with residents of a temporary housing compound who had been evacuated from their homes in Ookuma-machi after March 11. Ambassador Roos listened to the moving stories of their experiences following the disasters.