We really appreciate the support extended by friends around the globe, such as donations & fund-raising activities, inviting students and researchers, offering research facilities for temporary use, providing financial support for traveling, tuition, housing, etc. We are relieved to hear the strong positive feelings of the students, staff and faculty members of partner universities towards Tohoku University and your high opinion of our student exchange programs. This is encouraging to us at Tohoku University. Thank you very much for your support.
While the university will no doubt take some time to recover, we would like to turn the challenges we are facing now into opportunities for the next stage of our activities, education and research. The natural disaster destroyed or damaged 526 student residencies on our five campuses. Immediately after the quake, 28 buildings were deemed dangerous and unsafe to enter. However, nobody died at any of the Tohoku University campuses. The dormitories for international short-term exchange students were hardly damaged during the earthquake and can be used as normal. These dormitories and Tohoku University’s main campuses were not hit by the tsunami, as they are located in the central region of Sendai City, about 14 km from the coast and are free from airborne molds （a common problem in the areas affected by the tsunami）. Tohoku University remains steadfast, and is working positively toward reconstruction and further development.
In Sendai, electricity, water, gas and city public transportation are almost back to normal. At this time there are no restrictions on everyday activities in Sendai, including university life. However, radiation has been of great concern as the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant is located about 100 km （62 miles） south of Sendai. According to monitoring of radiation in the air, radiation levels have remained low and stable, and do not pose any health risk in Sendai. The environmental radioactivity level at 1 m from the ground in Sendai is 0.067 μSv/hr, which is about the same as in Tokyo, Osaka and other cities in Asia, such as Seoul, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Singapore etc. We are carefully monitoring environmental radioactivity levels in Sendai in order to ascertain whether or not radiation levels here will continue to remain low and stable. At this time, radiation poses no restrictions on everyday activities. We are looking forward to seeing you here in Sendai.
Jozenji street
A Bird’s Eye View of Sendai from Aobayama Campus （Graduate School of Science）
