“Until a few months ago Japan was the world’s fifth biggest aid donor, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), lending or giving away $9.5bn a year,” the Guardian reports. But the recent earthquake and tsunami have transformed the country “into a leading destination for international charity. In two months it has received what the Democratic Republic of the Congo is given in a year,” according to the article.

It will take about three years to get rid of the 25 million tons of debris from the country’s natural disasters, according to estimates from the Japanese government (Watts/Borger, 5/11).