How to use Twitter and its tags?

[xx e.]

I'm trying to tweet messages out with a tag (i.e. #sendai) - but when I do so, it doesn't come up when I search for recent tweets with "#sendai". I'd like for my tweets to turn up when "#sendai" is searched on Twitter so I could possible receive some information from others regarding my family there.

I hope you understood my question. All inputs appreciated. Thank you!

[clayboyboss]

It may take it a moment to show up, and since there are alot of people tweeting #Sendai because of the earthquake, it will be nearly impossible to find.