The packet of photos of Japan seemed to take everyone by surprise. On each page of the packet were two photos: The top snapshot showed a scene snapped immediately after the devastating earthquake and tsunami of March 11. The bottom photo of the exact same area taken three months later showed that the debris had been almost completely cleared away, leaving everything looking - for all intents and purposes - normal.

That Japan is making remarkable progress in its recovery was exactly the message that His Excellency Ichiro Fujisaki, Japanese ambassador to the United States, wished to impart to the guests attending “Disaster in Japan,” a private briefing held on June 16 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills.

The ambassador had been invited to speak at the event by the Artists and Athletes Alliance - a nonprofit, educational and charitable organization that serves as a nexus between the entertainment community and policymakers in Washington, D.C., and with whom UCLA is an educational partner.

“We’re coming back, so please do have confidence in Japan,” Fujisaki told the audience, which included such celebrities as actors Masi Oka, Jorja Fox and Keith David, former NFL star Nick Lowery and Japanese rock star Yoshiki, as well as members of the Japanese Consulate of Los Angeles and UCLA faculty, friends and administrators. “Of course, there are nuclear reactor issues, but it’s [in] a certain region. It’s not all of Japan that is affected. There are aftershocks, but that’s calming down as well.

“So we don’t want people around the world to think that Japan is dangerous: ‘Let’s postpone our trip for the next three years, five years,’ " he continued. “No, we are already back in that sense, as you can see from these pictures. Please go to Japan!”

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Actress Jorja Fox, well-known for her role on “CSI,” is on the board of the Artists and Athletes Alliance. She said that Fujisaki’s appearance was a testament to Japan’s persistence, hard work and bravery. “My heart goes out to the people of Japan and everything they’ve been through. We can’t even conceive it. In Los Angeles, we’re incredibly vulnerable to the set of circumstances that happened in Japan … to earthquakes, to a nuclear meltdown, to a tsunami, under the right conditions,” she said.

“So a lot of thoughts and prayers are going out in that direction. I’m grateful that the Japanese people are setting such a high example for the rest of us in times of trouble and strife. I feel pretty certain that Japan was probably the most prepared of anybody to actually receive the [disaster]. And just in an esoteric sort of way, I’m grateful. Japan took a hit for the entire world.”

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