Monthly Meeting

You never know where life is going to take you. That was the message from our February guest speaker, Maxine Van-Cliffe Arakawa, who has had a decades-long career as a fashion stylist, make-up artist, and fashion show director in New York and Japan. She shared her personal experiences dealing with bi-polar disorder and gave her candid advice to…

Maud Janssen always has had a passion for clothes, shoes, accessories & make up, and making others beautiful. When she moved to Italy in 1999 she thought she had style, but then she started rubbing shoulders with Italian women, and felt like a farmer’s wife. She started to consider the question of how some women,…

When Emi Takemura graduated, the internet pretty much didn’t exist, and in her first job there was only one computer, and one email address. So how have we gone from there, to the current situation of more and more powerful computers and an explosion in connectivity? That’s the question the Emi gave FEW members and…

Japan has been dealing with an influx of foreigners in the past few years, with overseas residents here reaching 2.38 million in 2016. But how has it been coping with that, and how do foreigners fit into broader government policies for a multicultural Japan? That was the issue debated by the four panelists at FEW’s…

FEW’s 2017-2018 year kicked off with the inspirational leader Kaori Sasaki, founder and CEO of ewoman, Inc. founder and CEO of UNICUL. Inc., and the driving force behind Japan’s International Conference for Women in Business, which is now in its 22nd year. It was an evening full of insights into her past as a journalist,…

By Lisa Matsumoto, Public Relations & Communications Intern The 2016-17 FEW year ended with our monthly meeting on July 13, where we were joined by guests and members to hear about the endeavors of longtime FEW member, Melanie Uematsu. Melanie was born in Germany and studied fashion design in Berlin and London. Fascinated with Japan,…

By Lisa Matsumoto, Public Relations & Communications Intern Members and guests alike joined FEW’s monthly meeting on June 8th to hear the story of Japanese war brides, a story often overlooked and untold. We welcomed Lucy Craft, a filmmaker and former FEW member in the 80s, to reveal their hidden stories. As a daughter of…

By Lisa Matsumoto, Public Relations & Communications Intern On May 11, we welcomed three creative women to our monthly meeting: Henna Veitch, a jewelry designer; Betty Sayn-Wittgenstein, a chocolatier; and Natale Adgnot, a visual artist. They joined us to discuss creativity and share their stories of following their dreams to become creators. Henna Veitch saw her…

By Raena Murakami, Public Relations and Communications Co-Director When you think of traveling in Japan, what destinations come to mind? Most people would say Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and other well-known cities. But what about Togakushi? With Golden Week approaching, Chiara Terzuolo and Rie Miyoshi challenged our notions of travel in Japan by encouraging travelers to…

By Lisa Matsumoto, Public Relations & Communications Intern Harassment is not an easy topic to grasp. It can have so many different faces said, Sachi Nakajima on March 9th, the day following International Women’s Day– a day to celebrate our victories, but also to stand together and support each other. Sachi is the founder of Resilience,…