Former Japan Self Defense Force official Mr. Nejime

The Nippon Skilled Volunteers Association (NISVA), is an organization that recruits highly experienced Japanese senior citizens and dispatches them to developing countries in Asia. Recently, the group recruited a Mr. Fumio Nejime (61), a former official of the Japanese Self-defense Forces. Nejime, from the city of Yokohama, be will be sent to the Philippines in the near future as the first ex-Self Defense Force member dispatched by NISVA. "Since people from the Self-Defense Forces have the ability to adapt to their environment," he noted, "I think we are particularly well-suited to serving as volunteers overseas."

Nejime has years of experience in the Self-Defense Forces. Born in the Iki-Tsushima Islands region of Nagasaki Prefecture, at age 16 he entered the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Youth Technical School in Yokosuka. From that point until his mandatory retirement in 2002, he devoted his entire career to the service, working in a variety of positions. After retiring, he worked at a disaster training company in Tokyo, until this past March.

After hearing about NISVA from a friend, Nejime thought, "I could do that," and with strong encouragement from his family, decided to register for the program. He will be assigned to Sual City, Pangasinan Province, the Philippines. NISVA has already dispatched two female volunteers to Sual City as dressmaking instructors, and when personnel from the organization visited the city, the mayor made a point of requesting a volunteer to train people in welding.

Sual City houses a thermoelectric power plant purchased by a Japanese firm. The mayor would like to develop the city's industry, centered on this plant, and to do so would like to train a cadre of welding technicians. For this reason, he chose Nejime from among the NISVA registrants. Although Nejime learned to weld while working for the Self-Defense Forces, his training took place when he was still young. Thus, after being appointed to Sual City, he attended the JGSDF Ordnance School in Kasumigaura, Ibaraki Prefecture to brush up on the latest welding technologies. He also obtained training materials from the school, and through a one-week visit at the end of October has made preparations for obtaining the equipment he needs. Following this, he will spend six months in Sual City, training the city's young people in welding.