Just spend a weekend helping clean-up tsunami debris in Ishinomaki, north of Fukushima.
I only had a few minutes to take some snaps with a digital compact.
General impressions; there are hundreds or thousands of willing volunteers; Japanese, ex-pats and people flying in specially from as far afield as the US.
There has been little to no help from government at a local, prefecture or national level.
Despite this local people are making solid progress on clean-up and recovery, although it will require month or years.