Minoru lives in Osaka, Japan. Since April, 2002, he has been a full-time staff member of the Osaka Voluntary Action Center (OVAC). Before becoming full-time, he served as a volunteer staff member at OVAC for 2 years.
OVAC (http://cw1.zaq.ne.jp/osakavol/english/index.html) is the first private volunteer center in Japan - funded in 1965 - and still one of the largest and the most active among more than 3,000 Japanese volunteer centers. OVAC’s service covers not only volunteer co-ordination, but also providing various kind of training programs, supporting non-profit agencies as a resource center and publishing many books/magazines related to volunteerism.
At the OVAC, Minoru has three responsibilities:
- International communication
- Training program for volunteer beginner
- Masters Volunteer Project, which is targeting Baby Boom Generation business people.
Before Minoru became full-time staff of OVAC, he worked for one of the largest trading companies in Japan for 26 years. At the company he worked for aerospace business, including international space station development program, space suit promotion program, and many kinds of international commercial aircraft development programs.
Also during 26 years of company life, Minoru has lived in New York for 7 years and visited a total of 37 countries in the world. His business career gives him a worldwide view and has committed him to become the bridge between Japan and other countries for volunteerism now.
