Paper short abstract:

This paper is about Japan Islamic Trust with special reference to the 2011 Tohoku quake. JIT has many South Asian Muslims as active members. They volunteered in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture. As JIT is a part of global Muslim network, many Muslim NGOs and indivisual supported their activities by donation.

Paper long abstract:

Focusing on a Muslim NGO and volunteers, this paper demonstrates that we live in the global age of mutual support. JIT is based on Ohtsuka Masjid in Tokyo and has many South Asian Muslims as active members. They visited the affected areas many times in the aftermath of the 3/11 disaster. Without any paid staff, they continued relief operations and food distribution for four months. They visited Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture in particular. Due to the nuclear crisis, many transport operators refused to deliver relief goods to Iwaki. The city became isolated, and those left behind in Iwaki experienced great difficulties. Therefore, JIT was welcomed in Iwaki and many Japanese took part in their volunteer activities. Prior to the 2011 quake, JIT had already established a coordinated domestic network through the Afghanistan project. Many Japanese regularly send clothes for Afghan refugees from various places in Japan. Using this network, they have collected food, water, and other goods. JIT arranged a part of relief operation in collaboration with a Buddhist temple too. Muslim NGOs, such as Muslim Aid in the UK and the Zakat Foundation in the USA, entrusted their donations to JIT. The total amount of these donations reached 40 million yen, which made the organization's long-term relief operations financially possible. Case study of JIT demonstrates that Muslim NGOs and their activities are arenas that enable us to help each other.