Ａ History of Tokyo Pilot Club
The year of 2001 marks the 50th
anniversary of Tokyo Pilot Club.
Tokyo Pilot Club was
founded in 1951, 30 years after its U.S. Headquarters were established.
After World War II, around 1949, Mary Carter (a member of Pilot Club in
St. Petersburg, Florida) was a civilian working for the U. S. military
government in Japan. She organized the Tokyo Pilot Club by appealing to active
and influential women here.
The first president was
Ichiko Kamichika (Upper House Diet Member).
Other presidents and members
included Tsugi Shiraishi (Japan Times reporter), Taeko Hirabayashi (author),
Mitsu Matsushita (company executive), Tsuya Nakano (Head, Women’s Housekeeping
Department, Tokyo Metropolitan Government), Taki Fujita (president, Tsuda Juku
Women’s College), Fuji Egami (Deputy Manager, Programs Inspection Bureau,
NHK-Japan National Broad casting), Fusae Ichikawa (Diet Member), and Shizue Kato
(Diet Member).
Eminent woman from
various fields were attracted to Tokyo Pilot Club because the standard of
occupational classification set by the organization in the US headquarters were
solid. Membership included administrators of enterprises,
professionals such as physicians and lawyers, artists such as authors, painters,
and actors, entrepreneurs and housewives. It was stipulated that each group
should not exceed 2 members (now 30%) of total membership. It is not an
exaggeration to say that the history of Tokyo Pilot Club is the history of
leadership and civic/social service by professional women in the post war
period.
There are many stories of
hardship by Taeko Hirabayashi, who, around the time barracks began to sprout
from the rubble of war, wandered through the city streets at night searching for
a meeting place for the club. In
spite of this, three years later, through Shizue Kato’s efforts, members went
out to the streets of Ginza and tried to raise funds for high school student
scholarships with matches made in the Pilot colors, green and gold. However, the money raised was nowhere close to the target.
Therefore, members volunteered to donate some out of their own pockets to
achieve the required sum.
At a later stage, various
events were organized for fundraising purposes including
charity bazaar from 1956, charity theater from 1989, and an eye-mate
concert for the Seeing-Eye Dog Society from 1982 as an annual event.
The funds raised from the events are being donated to worthy causes
including St. Luke’s University of Nursing, Tokyo, the Metropolitan
Government, the Social Welfare Conference Departmental Committee for the
Mentally Disabled, Fujikura Gakuen, the Tokyo Seeing-Eye Dog Society,
Hikari-no-ko-gakuen annually.
From the time of the
founding members, lecturers were invited from inside or outside the club to hold
a monthly study meeting. Each club
member was highly qualified to lecture
at every meeting. New members inherit the spirit of the Pilot Club as they are
naturally influenced by experienced members to manage their busy schedules for
volunteer work and study.
In 1972 Yuriko Saisho
(company executive) participated in the San Francisco PI convention for the
first time. She was deeply
impressed by Pilot members’ actual work in “ Friendship and Services”.
After returning home, her commitment to the
growth of Pilot in Japan started. After two years of effort with Toshiko
Fukumori (Osaka PC) and Aiko Kato (Tokyo PC), a sister club was finally
established in Osaka in 1974. Since
then, a total of 42 clubs and 6 Anchor clubs were established throughout Japan
with a total membership of around 1200. In
1990, PI headquarters in the US recognized Japan as one of its Districts.
As time passes, quality
of “services”, the Pilot renders may change, but caring deeds performed
without compensation which nourish the soul and create deeper human bonds will
be required even more in future. Club
members hope to add positive value to the tradition of excellence built by our
predecessors.