How to Help After the 2026 Kumamoto Earthquake From Outside Japan
Update, 5 August 2026: All donation routes listed here were re-checked today and remain open. Two things changed since this was written on 31 July: the Japanese Red Cross and the Kumamoto Community Chest have both opened appeals for this earthquake (until 30 October 2026). Neither takes credit cards, so the recommendations for overseas donors are unchanged.
This blog is normally about running AI on the machine in front of you. This post is not.
On 28 July 2026 a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Kumamoto Prefecture in southern Japan, reaching the top of the Japanese intensity scale in Uki City and Hikawa Town. I live in Japan but far from there, and I wrote up what people here can do a few days ago.
Most of that article is useless if you are not in Japan. The cheapest route for residents runs through the Japanese tax system, and the official prefectural channel is a domestic bank transfer. So I went back and checked what actually works from outside the country.
There are working routes. There is also one obvious-looking route that does not work at all, and I nearly recommended it.
Checked on 31 July 2026. I am not affiliated with any organisation below, and none of the links are sponsored. Situations change quickly after a disaster — please confirm on the official pages before sending anything.
First, the trap
Search for a way to donate and you will quickly land on GlobalGiving’s Kumamoto Japan Earthquake Relief Fund. It is in English, it takes international cards, and the name matches perfectly.
It is the wrong disaster.
Disaster funds outrank fresh pages in search because they have accumulated a decade of links. Check the dates on the page itself, not the title.
The same caution applies to the Japanese Red Cross. When this was first written on 31 July, the July 2026 Kumamoto earthquake was not among their open appeals and every Kumamoto entry was from 2016. That has since changed: the Red Cross opened an appeal for this earthquake on 31 July, running until 30 October 2026. Note, though, that they state credit cards are not accepted for it — donations go by postal or bank transfer inside Japan — so it still does not work as a route from overseas. And if you search for the famous name without checking dates, the 2016 pages will still come up first.
Two routes that do work
Both of these are Japanese organisations already working on this earthquake, and both can take money from outside Japan.
Takes PayPal and credit cards.
Coordinates member NGOs on the ground.
Catch: the donation page is in Japanese.
Cards via Stripe, plus PayPal, Venmo and more through Every.org.
Minimum 1,000 JPY (about $7).
Catch: the English page funds their general disaster work, not this earthquake specifically.
If you want your money tied to this specific disaster, JPF is the one. Their page states donations are open, lists PayPal among the methods, and sets a target of 200 million yen in private donations over roughly three months. You will be navigating a Japanese page, but a browser translation is enough to reach the PayPal button.
If you would rather stay in English the whole way, PBV’s English page is straightforward. They do run a dedicated Kumamoto appeal on their Japanese site, so the organisation is working on this earthquake — the English form simply is not split by disaster. Money reaching a responder who is already there is not a bad outcome.
Two things worth understanding before you give
There are two different kinds of donation in Japan
This distinction is not obvious from outside, and it changes where your money goes.
A committee divides it fairly, which takes time — often months.
Spent immediately on clearing debris, meals, transport, volunteer coordination.
Please do not send physical goods
Sorting, storing and disposing of unrequested supplies costs the receiving side people and space, both of which are scarce. What is needed changes daily and cannot be judged from far away — and that goes double from another country, where customs and shipping time make the mismatch worse.
The blunt version: from overseas, money is the only thing that reliably helps. The people there know what to buy.
What does not transfer from the Japanese guide
For completeness, here is what residents can use and you cannot.
| Route | Open to overseas donors? |
|---|---|
| Japan Platform (shienkin) | Yes — PayPal and cards. Japanese page. |
| Peace Boat Disaster Relief (shienkin) | Yes — English page, cards, PayPal, Every.org |
| Kumamoto Prefecture (gienkin) | Domestic bank transfer or in-person only. Wire fees would eat a small gift. |
| Furusato nozei (hometown tax) | No. The benefit is a Japanese tax deduction, so it only helps Japanese taxpayers. |
| Japanese Red Cross | An appeal is open (31 July – 30 October 2026), but credit cards are not accepted — postal or bank transfer inside Japan only. Not practical from overseas. |
| Kumamoto Community Chest (gienkin) | Now open (31 July – 30 October 2026), but domestic transfer only. |
| GlobalGiving “Kumamoto" fund | No — that is the 2016 fund and it is closed. |
One habit worth keeping
Fraudulent appeals follow every disaster. Two rules cover most of it: do not send money from a link in a social media post — open the organisation’s site yourself — and be suspicious of urgency. Legitimate appeals run for months. Kumamoto Prefecture’s own gienkin window is open until 30 October.
There is no need to decide today. There is also no need to give a large amount. Small and sustained beats a single burst, and the awkward truth about disasters is that attention fades long before the need does.
Summary
- Japan Platform — dedicated to this earthquake, PayPal and cards, Japanese-language page
- Peace Boat Disaster Relief — English page, international cards, from 1,000 JPY, general disaster fund
- Both are shienkin: money reaches responders now rather than victims later
- Do not use the GlobalGiving Kumamoto fund. It is the 2016 disaster and it stopped accepting donations
- The Japanese Red Cross has opened an appeal (until 30 October 2026), but it takes no credit cards — domestic transfer only
- Do not ship goods. From abroad, money is the thing that helps
- No hurry, and no need for a large sum
Sources
First checked 31 July 2026; re-checked 5 August 2026. Appeals open and close — the Red Cross and the Kumamoto Community Chest have both opened since the first version, and this page has been corrected accordingly. I intend to keep re-checking and correcting it.
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