Residents of Hyogo Prefecture, the scene of a major earthquake in January 1995 that devastated the Kobe area, on Tuesday donated 85.49 million yen to the United states as an education fund for the children of victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Hyogo Gov. Toshizo Ido presented the donation to the Citizens' Scholarship Foundation of America in a ceremony at the Japanese Consulate General in New York.
"While there may be a difference between a natural disaster and a man-made tragedy, this is an expression of the wish of the people of Hyogo who have also suffered great harm," Ido said during the presentation ceremony.
Hyogo officials said the money was collected from more than 100,000 residents in Hyogo.
Under an agreement signed Tuesday by Ido and Phyllis McGrath, president of the Citizens' Scholarship Foundation, the money will be incorporated into the scholarship fund the Minnesota-based foundation has set up to finance the higher education of children of the Sept. 11 victims.
The Hyogo Prefecture Friendship Fund recipients will get $5,000 a year from the Citizens' Scholarship Foundation of America. The Hyogo scholarship will be given to 14 recipients each year over a 10-year period.