Dear US friends,

I, as one of the Japanese, would like to express our sincere appreciation for the US contribution to rescue and relief efforts on the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami on 3.11.

In Japan, it has been reported that, under the name of Operation Tomodachi, more than 18,000 of US military forces are being dispatched to the damaged areas and that they have been playing a fundamental and significant role in the operation in cooperation with Japan's Self Defense Force.

I believe that the Japanese will remember this and reassure the importance of US-Japan Alliance, and also hope to overcome the recent political uncertainty (e.g. Futenma US Airbase) with the spirit of the US-Japan "Tomodachi" friendship.