Katz Ueno spoke with us via Skype in Japan, where the news is constantly changing.
"We are trying to save the people's lives in the north and there are many suffering; about 400,000 people being evacuated," said Ueno.
Ueno has worked as a journalist in Houston, covering the energy industry. Last April, he launched a news web site that translates English news to Japanese and Japanese news to English. Traffic on his site picked up significantly following the earthquake and tsunami.
"Many people all over the world, responding to me, including the people in Texas, in Houston as well," he said.
The pictures of the devastation, the death toll; such grim news. But Ueno says there have been a few stories to lift the spirit.
"We just got the one miracle story about two survivors that were found after nine days," he said.
As we finished our conversation with Ueno in the early morning hours Japan time, he wanted to leave the people of Houston with some final thoughts.
"We have survived many earthquakes in our history of Japan," he said. "I'd like you to see how Japan is going to rebuild ourselves."
Ueno expects to make a return trip to Houston later this spring.
