[/floatr]Asahi: 25 years on, Welcome Furoshiki still rolling out mat for expats
Adjusting to life in Japan is still a challenge for many newly arrived expatriates, even as the world becomes an ever more familiar place thanks to the Internet and increased opportunities for overseas travel... Thankfully, help is at hand in the form of Welcome Furoshiki, a Tokyo-based nonprofit community service whose sole goal since 1983 has been to help those fresh off the boat feel right at home here. "Today there is so much information available out there, on the Internet and in various publications, but sometimes we forget that people can miss that information. It's amazing that people still say that they didn't know (about a service or event)," said Sherry Hartsell...The idea to create a community welcoming service came at a time when information on Japan was relatively scarce, according to founder Charlotte Kennedy-Takahashi... She first pitched the idea to an executive at a major bank that was looking for a way to advertise its services to the foreign community. The bank initially rejected her idea because "they couldn't understand the idea of foreigners helping other foreigners," Takahashi said. So Takahashi decided to start the service on her own, soliciting help from English-language newspapers and other publications...more...
