"Assembly Donation"

When I visited a customer last month, I found something at the entrance.

　　　　　　　　

It says “Kumamoto Castle Assembly Donation”.

For those of you who are reading this outside of Japan.

A huge 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck the southern part of Japan in April, 2016, killing more than 200 people.

 

Kumamoto is the prefecture that has been most severely damaged.

Kumamoto Castle, one of the most major symbols of the prefecture, was partially collapsed and hasn’t fully restored yet.

 (It’s said that it might take decades to restore all of it..)

 

 

This company I visited is located hundreds of miles away from the region struck by the earthquake and no damage has been made to them but they wanted to do something to help the city stand back on their feet.

 

And they decided to do it through “Assembly Donation”.

It’s an assembly kit of miniature Kumamoto Castle made out of corrugated sheets.

They sell them for 2000 yen, and they donate all the money they get out of this for the castle restoration.

 

But it’s not just about money.

It’s designed to take about 30 minutes to assemble.

While putting it together, people get to think about the Kumamoto Castle and people who got affected by the earthquake.

 

It helps keep people reminded of what happened and there are people who are still struggling to get their lives back together even though it’s been over a year.

 

　　　　　　

According to the president of the company, a lot of the media and advertising agencies has been helping let the world know what they’re doing, and this project went viral on SNS such as Twitter and Facebook.

　　　　　　　

In Japan, earthquakes occur a lot. That’s a part of Japan we have to live with.

Every time an earthquake hit us, no matter where it is, the whole country unites and bounces back together.

 

That’s the beauty of this country!

 

Of course, I kicked in some money and assembled it myself, too.

It's such a shame their website says they only sell them in Japan.

But I thought I had to share this amazing project one of the Japanese corrugated manufacturers has been developing.

 

I hope Kumamoto Castle and their lives there will be back to normal soon..