About Us

Named from the 1912 American novel, “Daddy-Long-Legs”, Ashinaga is a non-governmental organization (NGO) that offers educational and emotional support for children who have experienced the loss of one or both parents or guardians (or who have a parent/guardian with a serious disability). For almost half a century, “the Ashinaga Movement” has been encouraging bereaved children to pursue educational endeavors. With the support of our diverse donors, we focus on educating and nurturing students who will contribute to society via caring attitudes, the energy to act, and an international and open-minded perspective. Ashinaga offers financial assistance to such children so that they can attend high school and university/vocational schools—so far we have been able to support approximately 90,000 students. We have also raised close to 100 billon Japanese yen (approximately 1 billion USD) which makes us one of the largest NGOs in Japan.

Many bereaved students face financial challenges, such as the cost of living and their studies. In response to those needs, Ashinaga established educational facilities, “Kokoro Juku” (“School of Hearts”), in Tokyo and Kobe to help students obtain their goals in higher education. For younger bereaved children, we provide psychological support at our facility for emotional healing, called “Rainbow House.” Ashinaga also holds summer camps (called “Tsudoi”) every year for bereaved students which provide them with an opportunity to share their experiences and heal together.

Ashinaga expanded its field of operation to Africa and established the Uganda Rainbow House in Kampala to provide emotional and educational support for children who lost their parents to AIDS. We also offer reading, writing, and math lessons at the Ashinaga School in Uganda called “Terakoya.”

When the devastating Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami occurred on March 11, 2011, Ashinaga immediately announced the provision of one-time emergency relief grants to children who had lost parents to the disaster, and we were able to collect 10 billion yen (approximately 100 million USD) from all around the world. Since then, we have established an office in the Tohoku region and as of March 31, 2013, we have provided a uniform 2.8 million yen to each of the 2,073 children who lost their parents to the earthquake and tsunami. We are also currently building three additional Rainbow Houses across the affected areas.

The Ashinaga Internship Program

The internship program that began last year was a great success. Students from prestigious universities around the world, such as Oxford University and Princeton University, came to Japan for two-three months and stayed at Ashinaga Kokoro Juku in Tokyo and Kobe, or went to Uganda, where interns taught English to Ashinaga students. Another crucial task for the interns was to help build the students’ self-confidence and

encourage them to voice their opinions. Through the English lessons and also the multi-cultural interaction and communication outside the classrooms, the interns helped students discover their own voices and become strong independent figures, who will be able to actively take part in the global sphere in the future. The interns themselves, also greatly benefitted from the program. Living in a foreign country and experiencing a dissimilar culture allowed them to broaden their horizons and gain a broader perspective in order to be able to contribute to human society in the future.

What makes our Internship Program Unique?

The Ashinaga Internship Program is distinct from traditional internship programs

because participants can expect high quality outcomes. Intern students will be living at Kokoro Juku, where both Japanese and international students reside, and share the same environment with them. Through life experiences at Kokoro Juku, interns can acquire problem-solving skills needed to navigate multi-cultural environments. Not only do we expect interns to teach English to the students, but also educate students to be positive, to speak up, and to be confident, even around people they are unfamiliar with. In return, interns will also have an opportunity to learn about Japan (Japanese culture, politics, economy, etc.) through discussions with the students.

The interns will also be participating in “Tsudoi”, a yearly summer camp for students who lost their parents and are receiving financial assistance from Ashinaga. This will be an opportunity for the interns to meet students from all over the country, and also take part in the educational activities and lectures being held during the Tsudoi. We also hope to provide a chance for the interns to be directly involved in Ashinaga`s project, such as the long-term planning to provide educational support for Africa, and provide input in the decision-making process of the organization.

Message from the Interns

Travis Hill (New York University)

I am eternally grateful to the Ashinaga Foundation for providing me with the opportunity to work and teach in Japan. I am also equally grateful for the lessons that I have learned in my time here. My father passed away when I was 16 and after that moment, my life became full of questions: How do I want to be remembered? What do I want my story to be? How do I achieve the goals I set for myself? After struggling with these questions, I realized how important it is to have some kind of mentor – someone that we can ask advice of, someone that

cares about us and wants us to succeed. I believe the Ashinaga Foundation is an immeasurably valuable organization because it takes on the mentorship role in ways that I had never thought of before learning about the organization. The Ashinaga Foundation provides meals, shelter, financial aid, and educational resources to students that have lost parents, while also providing a network that enhances the lives of these students in a profound and meaningful way. I have had the rare opportunity of teaching English to these students and they are all extraordinary people that recognize the gift that they have been given by Ashinaga. We spoke about our dreams and honor the loved ones that we have lost by striving for success. This is such an important message that I believe runs deeply in the philosophy of the Ashinaga Foundation. We have the ability to transform traditionally negative circumstances and struggles into positive energy. By receiving the tools to overcome these challenges, Ashinaga students represent a brighter, stronger future and I am honored to be a part of this organization.

Oliver Marsh (Princeton University)

Never in my life have I received such an opportunity as extraordinary as this one. I would like to thank the Ashinaga staff and all of the organization’s donors for having made this experience possible for me. I would also like to thank all of the students for having taught me so much about Japan, their lives, and their interests. I understand that learning a foreign language is not an easy process. It is also especially time consuming. I appreciate the fact that the students put their utmost effort into learning the English language during the past two months, even amidst their very busy schedules. Traveling is not something we often have the chance to do. However, I believe that everyone should travel in order to better understand our deeply complicated and mysterious world. Whether we are born in Japan, America, England, Uganda, or any other country, we often receive only a single perspective on life.

Traveling helps us acquire new perspectives. It expands our minds and broadens our horizons. If any of the Ashinaga students ever have an interest in traveling to New York, I would strongly encourage them to contact me. I think that human beings around the world often hold prejudices and preconceived notions about one another. By traveling, I have learned that we are all not nearly as different as we think we are. Regardless of our racial, ethnic, cultural, national, and religious differences, we all have shared experiences as human beings that surpass all genetic and environmental differences. I want to thank Ashinaga and all of the Kokoro Juku students for giving me the opportunity to connect with the human race on a greater level than ever before. Margaret Wang (Princeton University)

Besides coming to Japan to improve my Japanese and to just experience a new culture, one of my motivations for interning at Ashinaga this summer was simply, to learn. My aspirations of being involved with academia strongly exemplifies my love of learning and teaching, but the kind of learning I wanted to take away from this summer was a bit different. I wanted to learn the in’s and outs of organizing a group of people for a common cause. I wanted to learn how to teach. I wanted to learn how to communicate. What better way of doing this than to work in a nonprofit organization that aims to fight poverty through education. But what I

really ended up learning the last couple of weeks was purely unexpected yet just as valuable: I just learned about other peoples’ lives. The summer program in Ashinaga has so much potential mostly due to the power of cultural

interaction and the diverse group of students and interns that are put in contact with each other. I

hope that this program will continue to grow and empower students with the gift of not only

learning English but with long-lasting friendships.

Oliver Gill (Oxford University) Before starting this internship I was very uncertain of what to

expect and, this being the first year of the program, I’m sure those organizing it were also uncertain of what exactly would materialise after two months. However it can safely be said that the broad aims of the program have been met. Students and interns alike have formed strong, lasting and understanding relationships with each other, many ideas about our respective cultures have been exchanged, and our outlooks and thoughts have been enriched from being around peers from diverse backgrounds and situations.

Of course, English language skills have also improved and lessons have been structured and engaging for students. Although I feel it is important to stress that this has just been

one aspect of our work with Ashinaga. Despite the description of the role being based around English teaching, it is just the tip of the iceberg. The best way to make lessons engaging, to motivate students to learn about other cultures and to improve confidence does not come through a handful of hour-long lessons a week. Rather it is the culmination of weeks spent living together, talking and having fun outside lessons and becoming accepting friends beyond the teaching environment. It is almost impossible to capture the true nature of this role in a short description for potential interns; it is something that can only be really understood once time has been spent in this unique environment.

To say that this program has been a true success is not to say that it should not evolve. As interns we are valuable resources to spread the core values of Ashinaga, whilst also helping it to adapt appropriately to new settings. The passion and ambition of Ashinaga has infected all of us, however it is vital that the ideas that have come from this experience are acted upon to make each coming year more successful than the last. Cindy Wang (Vassar College)

When I first arrived for this English-teaching internship Ashinaga, I honestly had absolutely no idea what to expect. I’m happy to say that this internship exceeded my expectations by far and helped me grow as both a teacher and a person in so many ways. I feel that not only have I been able to help students improve in their English conversational abilities and share my culture with them, but they have also inspired me in many different ways. Every day, we watch the students at the Kokoro Juku leave early for class and return late, tired from studying and their long commutes. Yet, they are still able to come back here and attend all their mandatory lectures as well as our

English classes with positive and open attitudes. Their motivation to come to our English lessons even with everything going on in their lives just further inspires me to work harder to create the best possible lesson plans and to help them to the best of my abilities. I feel that these English lessons have served more as just lessons, but also as opportunities for students to learn more about the world and different cultures. I think that we have been able to instill an interest in other cultures and in expanding their knowledge of the world. In return, the students have piqued my interest in Japan and helped me better understand the Japanese culture. I feel that I have formed strong bonds with many of the students that I sincerely hope to continue even after I leave Japan. I hope that I can continue to be not only an English learning resource, but a friend that they know they can count on even when I return home. This internship has been life-changing for me as it has given me a clear idea of what I possibly want to do for the rest of my life – which is to help others through teaching English, because knowing English can open doors to many, greater things that they may hope to achieve one day. I just hope that I have had some sort of impact on these students, no matter how big or small, and helped them get one step closer to achieving their dreams.

Message from a resident at Kokoro Juku

I am extremely grateful for the internship program. There are not that many foreign exchange students at my university so I barely ever have the chance to speak English. However, my life at Kokoro Juku really changed when the interns came because I was so happy that I had the chance to speak in English and interact with native English-speakers. I was able to become close with the interns, which also helped me broaden my perspective. I hope the internship program continues next year as well.

Layla Uematsu (Meiji Gakuin University)

Message from President Yoshiomi Tamai of Ashinaga

I am currently 78 years old. I grew up in a time when those in elementary, middle, and high school, could not receive adequate education because of war. I had a very limited quantity and quality of knowledge, and I could not speak English. It was horrible! Nowadays, it is normal for young children to go overseas for a family vacation, but I went overseas for the first time when I was 37. I had a lot of work experience but could not go overseas because there were not enough foreign exchange reserves in Japan at that time.

My experience when I was younger made me aware of the importance of interaction among international spheres, and inspired me to provide such opportunities to the younger generation. I started a short-term program and sent them overseas, to places such as Brazil and America, to stay with a host family and gain experience. When I met these students 10- 20 years afterwards, I could tell that they had become very open minded and steady-handed. This is why I established the international internship program to send trainees to live and work in Brazil for a year. My colleague Osamu Fujimura (who became the Chief Cabinet Secretary in 2011) and I sent 750 interns to Brazil over the course of 25 years. Through the program, students gained not only an international perspective but also a multilateral and diversified point of view. I was impressed that they were able to overcome language and cultural barriers and understand others at a deeper level, establishing an emotional connection with foreigners, which allowed them to have thriving careers and also nurture meaningful friendships.

Recently, Ashinaga started a new internship program. I am very happy with the result so far, and the success can be credited to my own bitter experience with education and the hard work and valuable experience that our young students gained through multicultural interaction. I praise the outstanding quality of the interns, their efforts, and also the accomplishments of the students. I believe the succeeding interns will continue to engage in the enrichment of the program; as the saying goes, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” Thank you.

Yoshiomi Tamai, Founder and President of Ashinaga

<Contacts>

Uganda: Yuka Yamada (Ms.)

Email: yamada.y@ashinaga.org / Phone: +256 414-535610

Website: ashinaga-uganda.org

Postal Address: P.O. Box 71533, Kampala – Uganda

Physical Address: Kagga Road, East II Zone, Nansana Town Council, Wakiso District

Japan: Kazuyoshi (Yosh) Hotta (Mr.)

Email: hotta@ashinaga.org / Phone: +81(3)3221-0888

Website: www.ashinaga.org

Address: 1-6-8 Hirakawacho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-8639 Japan