The number of individuals and organizations that have stepped up the plate to assist financially and otherwise in the wake of the March 11th Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami is truly staggering. Curator Marc Feustel was quick to highlight some of these efforts on his eyecurious blog, and he has been updating it, so I fear this post is not only late in coming but mostly superfluous, but like assistance, there can’t be such a thing as too much in this case.

Zen Foto Gallery — Tokyo’s Zen Foto will be holding a photography exhibit and auction this weekend (March 25 – 27th) with all proceeds to go to Tohoku relief charities. Photographers based in Japan are encouraged to bring ready-to-display works to the gallery in Roppongi on the 25th and 26th. Prices will be set by the artists themselves. Those interested in participating are encouraged to contact the gallery by Wednesday March 23rd, but given the short notice it should be okay to just show up on Friday or Saturday with your piece(s). (Map). Contact Mark or Amanda for more information.

Charity Print Auctions — Charity Print Auctions is a Flickr group that was originally set up to support relief efforts following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, raising over £18,000. The group is now actively supporting Japan earthquake and tsunami relief efforts. The concept is simple — members of the group submit photos (one per day per user) and people can bid on the photo by committing to donate a certain amount to one of the recommended charities. When the highest bidder submits proof of the donation, the photographer will send the bidder the print.

Life Support Japan — The Wall Space Gallery in Seattle and Santa Barbara was very quick to set up an online photo auction and as of March 18th they had already raised $20,000 and had to temporarily ask artists to stop submitting works so they could catch up. They have also started a dedicated blog with information about their efforts as well as spin-off efforts, including this effort in the UK.

See Marc’s post for even more efforts. Also, while not photography-related, Jean Snow has compiled a list of various creative efforts being done to raise money. Other creative efforts you might want to support include Font Aid V, Artists Help Japan, the Poster Cause Project (more poster/print related efforts here), and Anime and Manga Bloggers for Japan.

The above images of flowers is from Japanese photographer Akira Gomi, who has offered up these and other images for “license-free” use in the hope that they will be used to create merchandise goods that can sold to raise money for earthquake/tsunami relief efforts.