Osu,

Today marks one year after the Great Tohoku Earthquake.

Last year at this time the world watched in disbelief as great stretches of the northeast Japan coast was washed away and flattened by the following tsunami. Towns were completely disintegrated and tens of thousands of men, women and children were lost. The nuclear disaster that arose in the aftermath of the quake left the country of Japan with a tenuous future.

Many thousands of IKO members around Japan and all over the world came together to offer assistance to help our nation. Branch Chiefs and students from all over the country rallied collections of water, food and blankets and brought these items to the region personally. Quickly, funds and supplies started arriving to Honbu and the outpouring was beyond our capacity. The IKO established a non-profit fund specifically to receive and distribute funds that our Japanese and international members sent to Honbu to help our Tohoku branches. In the last year, your contributions have been officially presented to the Mayors of the specific towns worst affected by the tsunami. These funds have directly helped the rebuilding of their communities. We will continue to support in the future as it is a long process.

I said then, that the Kyokushin Spirit is built on the concept of "Osu no Seishin", or perseverance through adversity. In life, none of us desires to experience hardship in order to find truth, but hard times at some point are inevitable in the course of a lifetime. It is through each difficulty we face, with strength and positive determination, that we grow stronger and wiser, and are able to truly realize the Kyokushin Spirit.

I am sincerely proud of our members in the Tohoku region who continue to live through this experience with bravery and perseverance. I am also deeply touched by the empathy shown by our members around the world that have helped give Japan reasons to hope for a bright future. On behalf of all our members in the Tohoku region, thank you again for your heartfelt support.

Osu!

Kancho Shokei Matsui