There's someone I wish to send to in Japan and I have made the decision to wait. They have bigger things to be thinking of right now. But that's just my personal opinion.

Kyoto is a long way from the earthquake and tsunami region, so is probably functioning fairly close to normal. My wife teaches Japanese students (around Tokyo mainly, which is a lot closer to the area affected) online and their lives appear to be running fairly normally, thank goodness.

I would be inclined to send, but be more than usually thoughtful about the wording of the letter.

Hello!,
There is an individual I'd like to send to based in Kyoto, but I don't want my request to be considered insensitive in light of the recent dreadful disaster. If you were me, would you send the request or wait a few months?
Thanks for the input : )
Lucinda