The 9.0 earthquake off the coast of Sendai, Japan is an event that will dominate the news out of Japan for some time. Sadly, many lives have been lost, and many more have been disrupted and will continue to be disrupted in the future.
Since the quake first hit, I've received a huge number of messages from my site readers. They've asked for several things: (1) news of how Nikon has been affected; (2) ways to donate to the relief efforts; and (3) a way to send their supportive comments and thoughts to Nikon Japan.
The already-posted stories (below) have tried to deal with #1. I believe that we're not going to get a lot of significant news on that front for quite some time, as the situation in Northern Japan is still quite fluid. Rescue operations continue. Infrastructure will take a long time to restore to previous levels. The situation at the nuclear plants is ongoing and the resolution of that will further change things. Two Nikon plants are in the most affected area: the one that makes the FX bodies (Sendai) and the one that makes most of the lenses labeled Made in Japan (Tochigi). Thus, until things settle down and that area of Japan is more in a "recovery" mode we won't hear much much more about them, I think. But I'll continue to report what I do hear.
In terms of donating to the relief efforts, I'm always a little leery about the instant requests for donations that pop up after any disaster. Even the big organizations, like Red Cross, don't necessarily work the way some people think. If you donate to Red Cross here in the US, for instance, it's not guaranteed that your money will actually go towards the current Japanese relief efforts. If you want to give to Red Cross efforts, I'd suggest that you do so to the Japanese Red Cross directly. You can do so here. Unfortunately, that's not tax deductable, here in the US, so some of you may not want to do that. Also see this site for more information on charities.
Personally, I'm going to donate US$5 of every book sale I make during the month after the quake to the Japanese Red Cross (and perhaps another organization or two as I sort out who'd doing what). That's on top of my usual 2% to charity.
Finally, many of my site readers have asked for a way to express their sympathy and thoughts to Nikon after the recent quake and tsunami. What I've decided to do (thank's for the suggestion Paul) is to put a page on my site on which I'll post your messages. Simply send me an email with the text you wish posted, and each day I'll add those toughts to the page. Negative, off-topic, or hate messages will not be posted--I'll be moderating that page so that it stays on target to its purpose. The person who suggested the idea will find their message already on that page; use it as an idea of what you might want to say. There is no length limit, but do keep your thoughts on target.
The thing I like about this idea is that not only will I make sure that those I know at Nikon see it, but you'll see it, too. Nikon has many friends around the world, and it will be good for all of us to hear their thoughts, too. I know I can sometimes seem like I'm coming down hard on Nikon. I'm a perfectionist at my core, and when I see things that need improvement so I call them out. Consider this new Earthquake Thoughts page to be a small atonement for any negativity you might have sensed from me.