Amid the destruction and devastation left by Japan's earthquake and tsunami, Japanese youth have stepped up in volunteering to help.
Aided by social media, young people unused to pitching in are streaming toward the devastated northeast coast, eager to deliver relief supplies and clean up.
Kenta Umeda arrived in the town of Ishinomaki last weekend from Tokyo to help haul garbage out of neighborhoods that were destroyed by the tsunami. For the trip, he loaded some new music into his iPod, hung an alarm whistle around his neck, and tucked some drumsticks into his backpack.
"I thought it would be cool," the art student, 25, says with a smile, wearing a raincoat and work boots. "Because we're all Japanese, that's why I came. In terms of myself as an artist, I want to share the emotion of the people effected by this disaster and take that experience back with me."
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http://www.npr.org/2011/04/12/135348165/japanese-youth-step-up-in-earthquake-aftermath?ft=1&f=1001&sc=tw&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter:)