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New Year 2019 Greetings, President, Naoko Shimizu ()

Naoko Shimizu, President, Sakura Lifesave Associates, Inc.

Happy New Year

I may be one small force, but I want to make the world a better place. I made that mission the basis of our company when I established it 15 years ago, to offer consultation on a variety of services, crossing borders to save lives and help create new lives.

In 2009, with the help of NHK ( Japan’s national public broadcasting organization) reporter Mayumi Makimoto, I was able to spread the word for the first time in Japan that eggs age. Egg freezing and preservation has been possible in the US, and I was able to introduce this concept to Japan to give Japanese women a new possible option. Every year since then, I have given a lecture on reproductive medicine, so women in Japan can have accurate information about reproductive medicine and know the many choices they have for life.

This past year, the world certainly entered the 21st century, through news from the British royal family that broke through longstanding ideas and traditions. Britain’s Prince Harry took as his wife an older, foreign woman—with interracial parents—who was also a divorcée. Fifty years ago, the royal family would have never allowed him to marry her, but he persuaded them to welcome her into the fold. This woman has since spoken out as an advocate for gender equality, saying that “every woman has a voice and should be treated the same as a man.” I hope that her strength from within the royal family will spread to help improve the rights of women around the world.

The 21st century world has been rapidly changing from one with conventional roles and preconceived notions about who you should be, to one where you are free to live your life as you wish. There are many different paths that you can take in your life, and as we enter the new year, we are dedicated to supporting Japanese women in these rapidly changing times now more than ever.

I sincerely wish each and every one of you a happy and healthy New Year.

Weekly Biz New Year’s Greeting 2019 :US-Japan’s leaders
New York Biz is a major Japanese paper distributed in 36 cities in the United States

新年のご挨拶(日本語)