Photo/Illutration Workers remove rubble March 29 from a collapsed structure under construction in Bangkok. (Eishiro Takeishi)

Myanmar nationals living in Japan were frantically seeking word of loved ones back home following the huge earthquake there.

With over 1,000 people already confirmed dead in the March 28 disaster, damage to communications systems only compounded their anxieties.

“Information over the internet keeps increasing the number of dead, but I have no idea what has happened to my acquaintances,” said a 28-year-old Myanmar woman who works at a shop close to JR Takadanobaba Station in Tokyo. “Although I am worried, there is nothing I can do.”

The woman said she had no choice but to closely follow social media posts to determine the extent of the damage. The area where she works is dubbed “Little Yangon” because so many Myanmarese have opened businesses there. 

The second largest city of Mandalay appears to be one of the hardest-hit areas, and establishing contact has proved difficult.

The Japan Myanmar Culture Center, which offers Japanese classes at its facility in Takadanobaba, is a natural spot for local Myanmarese to gather as they await the latest developments in the disaster.

Ma Hay Mar, who heads the center, has been using social media to contact her family, but so far has only been able to reach her father, who was safe in Yangon. She is still unable to contact an aunt living in Mandalay.

“I am worried because of a report that a hotel (in Mandalay) collapsed,” she said.

Friends in Myanmar who have responded to her social media posts are calling for bottled mineral water and medicine.

Across Japan, Myanmar nationals and Japanese had already begun fund-raising campaigns to support quake victims.

On March 29, about 10 people gathered in Osaka city calling on passers-by to help.

The 50-year-old Myanmar man who organized the event used a megaphone to call out, “Please help Myanmar.”

He said there were many from Myanmar who were still unable to contact friends and family living in Mandalay.

“From people I have reached, I have heard about collapsed homes and that everyone was sleeping outdoors,” the man said. “I want to do what I can to help.”

A 33-year-old Myanmar woman also living in Osaka city was able to reach relatives living in Mandalay by phone and confirmed they were safe, but additional information could not be gained over the internet due to poor access.

The woman came to Japan as a student more than a decade ago, but has not returned to her native land since due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the military takeover there

“I am worried whether relief supplies from various nations will reach disaster victims under the military regime,” she said.

Other organizations in Japan have also begun fund-raising drives.

The Aichi Prefecture-based Japan and Myanmar Aspiration Houyu Association provides educational support for ethnic minorities in Myanmar. Along with the Osaka-based Burmese Relief Center Japan, it organized a March 30 event in Kyoto to raise funds.

“We are trying to collect money to send to Myanmar as quickly as possible, along with relief supplies,” said 84-year-old Shuji Kondo, who heads the Aichi organization.

The Japanese Red Cross Society said it would also provide support after working closely with local organizations in Myanmar to gather information.

(This article was written by Nobufumi Yamada, Mami Okada, Takuya Asakura and Asako Hanafusa.)

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