Family house heavily destroyed by the Kumamoto earthquakes

Hello, thank you for taking the time to look at our page.

My parents retired in 2012 after many years of hard work.

As part of their retirement, they spent most of their life savings in renovating their house in 2014 where they planned to enjoy their retirement.

The house is rich in family history – it has been in the possession of the Ushijima family for almost 150 years and it is where they raised their two daughters - me and my sister Maya - so holds many happy memories for the family.

My father's greatgrandfather built the house in 1868, which was the start of Meiji period in Japan.

The architectural style is timber framing and it is rare to see such a house in the area.

The Kumamoto area was the scene of two major earthquakes measuring 7.0 in magnitude on April 14 and April 16 resulting in fatalities and injuries and widespread damage to buildings throughout the city.

My parents' house was heavily destroyed in the earthquakes, forcing them to leave their home and into emergency accommodation.

The cost of repairing the damage is estimated in be in excess of £30,000 due to the rare and historical style of the building which is a significant amount for our family.

We applied for Government help and insurance and we are waiting for the results, however it will not cover more then 25% of this amount.

My parents are heartbroken as they renovated the house only 2 years ago at the start of their retirement and they used most of their life savings for it; therefore we are appealing for donations which will help to rebuild my parents' shattered house.

We would love to raise £6,000 which would be used towards doing the most important repairs - roof (most of which is gone), repair of walls with holes and cracks and house stability (it is leaning a bit on one side).

My parents alternate between sleeping in their car and their friends' house as they do not want to leave the area. Especially my father who is emothionally attached to the house and it is stressful for him to leave thehouse; that's why he wants to stay close to it.

My sister and I are buying a prefabricated house (3m2) that will be placed in their garden so they can stay close and have privacy.

Last week an expert came to assess the house and said that the house can be renovated. This will take approximately 6-12 months.

However, we cannot start with the renovation for next couple of weeks as there is an official warning about 60% possibility of a new earthquake within next two months.

This together with coming rainy season in Japan (it rains here for one month 5 or 6 days a week all day which can worsen the house's stability) is a big concern to us.

We appreciate all your donations and will be happy to send everyone a thank you card from Kumamoto.

※Now apporoximate exchange rate is 1￡=155yen

Best Regards