Officials from Riverside and Sendai display a banner signed by hundreds on the UC Riverside campus following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

RIVERSIDE — A banner signed by hundreds at the University of California, Riverside following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan arrived late last week in Sendai, Japan, one of Riverside’s sister cities.

After the earthquake and tsunami, UC Riverside’s Office of International Education sponsored a week-long banner signing on campus. They also raised $4,700 of the $500,000 that a group of officials from Riverside brought to Sendai with the banner.

The city of Riverside continues to raise money. To date, more than $535,000 has been donated. Those interested in donating can visit www.riversideca.gov/sendairelief/ or call (951) 826-5311.

Because Sendai is a sister city of Riverside, UC Riverside has a number of relationships with Japanese institutions, including Tohoku University in Sendai, Josai University and Josai International University in Tokyo, and 18 others.

At the time of the 9.0 magnitude earthquake, UC Riverside had 12 graduate students, 23 undergraduates and 109 extension students who are from Japan. In addition, 11 UC Riverside students were studying in Japan at the time the earthquake hit. They all are safe.

Several people with ties to UC Riverside received national and international media attention because of their stories related to the disaster in Japan:

• Akiko Kosaka, a UC Riverside Extension student, is from a town that was overcome by the tsunami. She had visual proof of the survival of her family through Japanese TV news and a clip posted on YouTube.
• Maaya Suzuki, another UC Riverside Extension student, is from Iwake, a town about 50 kilometers from the compromised nuclear power plant. Her family survived the disasters, but her father, Umashi Suzuki, is a physician treating people who are suffering from exposure to the weather and injuries sustained in the disaster. She has returned to Japan now to try to help her family and friends.

Also, Marie Mendoza, a library assistant at UC Riverside, has a son, Steve, who teaches high school near the quake epicenter. She spent three days trying to reach him and finally succeeded.