Walk For Smiles raises 170,000 yen for charity

We are pleased to announce that the BCCJ’s Walk For Smiles event on Saturday raised JPY170,000 for charity.

BCCJ member company Walk Japan very generously donated all proceeds from the special one-day guided walking tour to the BCCJ’s Books For Smiles project* which, in association with NPO Bridge For Smile, supports Japan’s care leavers into work and higher education.

Sarah Firth of the BCCJ writes: After starting out from Tokyo station we visited the site where the home of William Adams, a British man and Japan’s first western Samurai, once stood. Other highlights were the history Mitsukoshimae department store, a tour of the Imperial Palace grounds, including the infamous Great Pine Corridor where Asano Takumi-no-kami drew his short sword and attempted to kill Kira Kōzuke-no-suke in 1701, and a talk on Japan’s early currency systems.

Following a traditonal lunch in Ueno we headed to Yanaka for a visit to a shrine with a dramatic history – with bullets still lodged in the wooden doorway – and stroll down a traditional shopping street.

The informative and enjoyable day was wrapped up with visit to the Fukagawa Edo Museum and the iconic Senso-ji shrine in Asakusa.

A huge thank you to everyone who joined us, and especially to our guides from Walk Japan Paul Christie and Paul Tierney for their infectious enthusiasm and fascinating insights into Tokyo’s past.

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For more details about Walk Japan’s tours, which cover many parts of Japan, please visit www.walkjapan.com

You can see more photos from the Walk For Smiles tour on the BCCJ Flickr page

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*What is Books For Smiles?

• According to Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare, an estimated 30,000 children and young adults reside in approximately 600 social welfare facilities across the country.
• Most are in care due to parental problems such as neglect: it is estimated that 60-90% of children living in homes were subject to abuse by a parent or adult before entering the welfare system.
• With most facility residents suffering from issues related to low self-esteem, only a few are in tertiary education: 20-30%, against the national average of 70-80%.
• Find out how you can support the BCCJ’s Books For Smiles project, run in association with NPO Bridge for Smile HERE