Still for Japan

July 11 marked the fourth month since large parts of Tohoku were destroyed by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, and while it will have been heavy on the minds of the Japanese people, the current fear is that the victims have slipped from focus around the rest of the world. With this in mind, the Still for Japan website was launched yesterday as a collaboration between New York-based Japanese journalist, Kaede Seville, and students from the VCU Brandcenter.

Rather than ask for money, the bilingual website encourages people to donate their time, using it to think about the situation and conditions that survivors are having to deal with. The site creators state that one of the worst parts of being part of a tragedy like this is the sense of being alone and forgotten.

As the name, Still for Japan, suggests, all you need is a single minute, during which you are shown a selection of facts and Japanese proverbs designed to make you reflect. Any attempt to disturb the video with your mouse or keyboard results in a stern suggestion that you, 'take this moment to be still and reflect', after which the presentation resumes. At the end of the display, the site shows how many minutes have so far been donated, as well as an interactive map of donation hotspots and a video with a simple message of companionship, read out in Japanese, to the people of Japan.

At the time of writing, 3,668 minutes had been donated. Will you give them your time, or do you think money is a more valuable donation? Let us know by leaving a comment below.