Boy of nine searching for family with a homemade sign

Still hoping: Toshihito Aisawa holding his sign.

Source: Daily Mail UK

He has become a poignant symbol of the human tragedy in Japan.
Day after day, nine-year-old Toshihito Aisawa walks from shelter to shelter looking for his family.
Clutching hand-written signs bearing the names of his missing relatives, the schoolboy has spent the past week wandering the corridors of refugee centres in his ruined home city of Ishinomaki.
The boy last saw his mother, father and grandmother when they piled into their car in a desperate attempt to escape the tsunami.

Video: Tsunami hitting coast guard ship

High radiation found in Japanese spinach and milk

Source: Market Watch

The Japanese government said Saturday abnormally high levels of radioactive materials have been found in spinach and milk at farms as far as 70 miles from the crippled nuclear power plant, according to news reports. The government pleaded for calm, stressing that levels were still relatively low. Japan is the world's largest net importer of food and any concern over domestic agriculture is likely to worsen the trend. The tainted food products come from a fertile agricultural region. Tokyo Electric Power Co said it would offer compensation to farmers. The utility continued its efforts to cool the damaged reactor. A transmission line has been connected to one reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

Update: Death toll rising

Death toll: 6,911
Missing persons:10,316

Video: Man captures moment tsunami hit

Hollywood and celebrities donate to Japan

Source: Reuters

Hollywood has made plenty of disaster movies, but the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan is no fiction and the entertainment industry has responded to the dire situation there with generosity.

Oscar winner Sandra Bullock became the latest to join the cause when the American Red Cross said on Thursday that she had given $1 million to help victims of the disaster in Japan.

Several other celebrities and Hollywood studios have also pledged support to the nation.

Google updates its donation page

Google has updated its donation page with more charities to donate to. You simply enter an amount into the box of the charity you want, and you're good to go!

Screen capture

Video: Japanese dog refuses to leave injured friend behind.

Japan's Search for More Than 8,000 Still Missing

 Source: AOL News

NATORI, Japan -- Line after line, a list on the wall of city hall reveals the dead. Some are named. Others are identified only by a short description.

Female. About 50. Peanuts in left chest pocket. Large mole. Seiko watch.

Male. 70-80 years old. Wearing an apron that says "Rentacom."

One set catches the eye of Hideki Kano, a man who appears to be in his 30s.

"I think that's my mom!" he says. He rushes out into the snow, headed for a makeshift morgue.

The list in Natori, and others along Japan's northeast coast, will only get longer.

Japan's Emperor: "Never give up hope."

Source: CNN

(Updated with video)

Tokyo (CNN) -- Japan's beloved emperor dramatically took to the national TV airwaves Wednesday and buoyed the spirits of his disaster-stricken citizens in an extraordinary address before a nation grappling with the aftermath of an epic earthquake and a devastating tsunami, and amid growing fears of a nuclear catastrophe.
"I truly hope the victims of the disaster never give up hope, take care of themselves, and live strong for tomorrow," said the dignified and understated Emperor Akihito, in a calm and poignant oration delivered from the Imperial Palace.