Carol Iwanaga, an American woman married to a Japanese man, says the Association of Foreign Wives of Japanese is a helpful organization. "I think it is good for any woman engaged or married, or who has been married to a Japanese man, in order to get a better feeling of community while she is living here," she said.
The association was founded more than 30 years ago when 47 women attended an inaugural meeting. It now has a steady membership spread throughout the country of about 600 non-Japanese wives of many different nationalities. For several wives living with their families in isolated outlying areas, the association provides friendship links with other women in similar situations to their own. It is a forum for exchange of information and of experience in living in Japan. It assists non-Japanese women to adapt to life here.
"It is helpful," Carol repeated. "If a husband gets transferred to another part of Japan, AFWJ is somewhere there to help the foreign wives get settled in new places."