A British expatriate who lives in Tokyo is going on a tour of the United Kingdom to raise awareness about the recent natural disasters that have devastated Japan.
Originally hailing from Plymouth, Caroline Pover has been living in Tokyo for the last 15 years, now she has returned to the UK in a bid to create a greater sense of awareness, not only about the natural disasters, but about Japan in general.
Miss Pover is travelling to schools around the country to teach children about Japan.
In Japan Miss Pover runs a specialist publishing house that caters to expatriates, after the awful disaster struck she decided that she would venture across the UK to collect donations for Japan.
Known back in Japan for her efficient nature, Pover had created a way of transporting these donations back to Japan with ease- via a secured system with Virgin Atlantic.
She quickly raised support for her campaign via social media and the internet and within one day’s work ten schools had nominated themselves to take part in the tour. Pover told The Telegraph: “The reaction from people in the UK has been amazing. As soon as I got the van I parked where people could see me. People were donating money and goods from the start. There is a deep sense of care for what has happened and a real respect for the way Japanese people are handling the situation. It makes me very proud to be able to call Japan my home.”
Carol Pover originally moved to Japan in 1996 to become a primary school teacher. Soon after her teaching career took off, Pover launched a new venture- a magazine for expat women in Japan- ‘Being A Broad’.
The magazine was an instant hit and led to other publishing opportunities, and ultimately led to Pover taking over the reins of Japan’s leading expat magazine.
Pover is the perfect example of a former British citizen who moved abroad and fell in love with her new home: “Japan is my home. This has not been a social visit. If my friends have wanted to see me they’ve had to stand next to me in a car park collecting donations,” she said.