Meet MS Support Hero George Nakajima
“Dear Cheryl, Hello, how are you today?”
I wrote to Mr. George Nakajima, Secretary General of the Japan MS Society (JMSS), in April, 2016. I told him I am a marathon runner with Multiple Sclerosis and want to be the first person with MS to run 7 marathons on 7 continents. George responded with great enthusiasm and started work right away to help me register for the 2017 Tokyo Marathon. This began the one-year journey of building a wonderful friendship with George over the course of 200+ emails that all began with the delightfully sweet and predictable, “Hello, how are you today?”!
Another huge help that George did for us was to fundraise for our travel expenses in Japan. Fundraising for an individual is unusual in Japanese culture. It seems like George contacted every single person he knew and surprised us with over USD 1,700. This helped us tremendously and offset some of the race registration fees and local transportation costs, which were the highest we experienced during our seven marathon adventure (with exception of Antarctica).
George has been working for JMSS since September, 2011. George is a workaholic, as described by his wife, and I can definitely see that! Besides George, there is only one other JMSS employee on staff, President Hiroyuki Mizutani. Together they serve approximately 20,000 people in Japan who live with MS or NMO (Neuromyelitis Optica is a prevalent autoimmune disease in Asia). They work long hard hours, but George finds joy in seeing people with MS live happy lives. His reward is the patient’s smile.
The most important event George organizes is the Annual MS Seminar. It takes him all year to plan. It is a comprehensive program where researchers present their latest findings to the MS community: neurologists, researchers, pharmaceutical representatives, advocates and patients. Among the presenters are young scientists who have received research grants from JMSS. Over the past 28 years, JMSS has awarded funding to 65 doctors and researchers under the age of 39 totaling USD 380,000.
Brian and I were lucky that our trip to Japan coincided with the Annual MS Seminar. We were invited to make small speeches at the event. I spoke about running and MS, and Brian advocated on how to be an effective care partner.
I am pretty good with memorization and languages. George wrote a small introduction for me to say in Japanese. It was nerve-wracking to stand up there and utter these few sentences, but I think I did well enough because the audience members did smile and looked at me with kind eyes at my attempt to speak their language.
Konnichiwa! Minasan ni oai dekite ureshii desu. Minasan ogenki desuka? Sheriru to moushimasu. Douka Yoroshiku onegaishimasu. Arigato gozaimasu. Kyou wa ganbarimasu. (And, no. I do not remember what this means!)
This was one of many unique interactions George arranged for us. We had opportunity to speak at two pharmaceutical companies (Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation and another large company), meet the President of Sanyei Corporation (a trading company who has continually supported Japan MS Society since 1977), interview with the local news, enjoy dinners with George’s colleagues in the MS community, and met other MS Warriors. We had a host of many new experiences, including shochu which is a sweet potato vodka and a big motivator to help Brian sing karaoke with our new friends!
It is commonplace for George to treat guests to his country with such graciousness. Several years prior to our visit, a French cycling team, along with their MS Warrior, cycled 200km between Tokyo and Osaka as part of their global initiative “World Cycling Tour Against MS.” George arranged for the cycling team speak at the Annual MS Seminar, rehabilitation centers, and with the media to promote their adventure and highlight MS awareness.
In 2017, George hosted a woman from the United Kingdom who traveled to Japan to research the health benefits of gardens. She also had many months of email interaction with George and said he was incredibly organized. She uses a wheelchair and George ensured she had a comfortable and accessible time in Japan as she visited gardens, as well as interviewing and meeting other MS patients, care partners, and people in health care.
George educates the general public about MS through participation of World MS Day. Since 2011, George, along with an army of colleagues and high school volunteers, pass out over 6,000 leaflets to people on the streets of Tokyo, Asakusa and Ueno areas on this day. Leaflet campaign works well in Japan because the citizens care to read the pamphlets and not just litter the streets with the paper. It is a great showing of community spirit, in addition to teaching the student volunteers the importance of supporting a worthy cause.
Because of the global pandemic, JMSS was not able pass out leaflets in 2020. Instead George organized a complimentary 30-minute yoga program for people living with MS.
World MS Day: https://worldmsday.org/2020-highlights/
Click on “Activities” to see events around the world: https://worldmsday.org/map/
There was also a talk show to celebrate World MS Day. They promoted the movie, “A Ray of Hope – Message to Me from My Future Self” about Ms. Kyoko Nakata who is President of NPO MS Cabin (link coming soon). She lives with MS and was recipient of the 2017 James D. Wolfensohn Award which honors contributions to the worldwide fight against MS.
George has been a Run A Myelin My Shoes teammate since the beginning. Every year he gathers a team of MS Warriors and MS Support Heroes to do a challenge walk around Asakusa district. They walk 1K and pose at famous Asakusa monuments. They even stop to chat to curious onlookers since the group is followed by a photographer. George takes every opportunity he can to promote our cause and to help those living with MS. He is a true MS Support Hero to so many!
