Discovery, Understanding and Action!: Half a Century of serving the YMCA in Japan and The United States

The memoir of Tatsuo Honma. A man dedicated to helping others, whose life work began at the Kobe YMCA, Japan in 1955. An impassioned leader, Tatsuo faced adversity, but only saw opportunity and potential, choosing never to give up. In 1960 he married Emiko Tsukamoto and together they created a dynamic team that modeled a true life of service to others. In 1979, the explosive growth of Japanese corporations in the United States brought 40,000 Japanese businessmen and their families to New York. In collaboration with the North American YMCA, Tatsuo and Emiko Honma were sent by the Tokyo YMCA to support the Japanese residents with the challenging transition to a new culture. For 18 years Tatsuo Honma served as the Executive Director of the Partnership and with Emiko by his side, created cross-cultural experiences for Japanese and American families. Now retired and living in New Jersey, many of the Japanese children, now adults remember Tatsuo Honma’s influence on their lives and continue to call him "sensei."