ISSJ 50th Aniversary Celebration

SEISHIRO ETO
President, ISS Japan

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I am Seishiro Eto, the President of International Social Service Japan. I would like to express my gratitude to so many of you here to join us at the 50th anniversary ceremony of ISS Japan.

In the middle of chaos brought by the World War II, when people were just managing to live their lives, a group of people set up a committee in September 1952, for the salvation of the war orphans, specially children of mixed parentage. That was the American Joint Committee for Assisting Japanese-American Orphans, which later on in 1959 would become the International Social Service Japan, a social welfare agency recognized by then the Ministry of Health and Welfare. As a private international social welfare agency, ISS Japan has provided for those people in need. ISS Japan saw prejudice by people towards children of mixed parentage, legal difficulties of Intercountry adoption and negative reaction towards refugee acceptance in Japan. However, the successive staff of ISS Japan with zeal, have been working for the mission beyond differences in culture, religion and race. I would like to underline the warm supports and encouragement from everyone here with us, including the Ministry of Health, Labour & Welfare, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the UNHCR, governmental agencies such as child guidance centers, private agencies such as children's homes, private groups, individual members and volunteers of ISS Japan, because this 50 years of our continuous activities would never have been possible without your supports.

I in fact, was first introduced to the work of ISS Japan when I was requested to take the post of the President of ISS Japan, and until then, I had no knowledge of the agency or its activities. I was informed at the time, that when a parent and a child are separated for some reason, assistance is provided to the natural mother through counseling. Assistance is also given to adoptive parents by consultation, helping them and their adopted child to be able to effectively adjust with each other, and also search for the natural mother in such a case that the adoptee wishes to reunite with the natural mother. I was very much impressed with such activities carried out for half a century by female experts in social welfare. I was amazed also for that fact that eminent members of the Diet such as Takechiyo Matsuda, Ken Yasui and Keiwa Okuda, with the best of intentions, had been involved with the steady activities of ISS Japan as President.

I am myself a member of the Diet, and I assume that a Nation is consisted of a 'group' of individuals. At ISSJ we will continue to put our efforts into helping children, women, refugees and other people in difficult situations so that those people would be able to feel happiness, and to be able to smile.

We will aim to develop a new approach towards the true internationalization, establishing individual personal links, not to be isolated in the globalized world.

I would like to ask your kindness to continue to give ISS Japan your guidance and warm support as you have been. Thank you very much.