Queensland: Yuji Kimura

Taking to heart Ikeda Sensei’s encouragement to the High School Division to develop into capable leaders around the world, Yuji decided at a young age that he would carry out his mission for kosen-rufu in an English-speaking country. He decided upon a career as a car mechanic, considering cars to be a global commodity where the skills of mechanics would be universally demanded. When he first stepped out of Japan in 1975, he found himself traveling over 11,000 kilometres to Nairobi, Kenya, where he worked as a mechanic. After two years there, he returned to Japan and soon set his sights on his next challenge, which turned out to be Australia following an immigration program to export skilled labour to (then) developing countries. 

Arriving here in 1981 at the age of 33 years old together with his young family, Yuji worked tirelessly to further the kosen-rufu movement in Brisbane, which at that time had a membership largely comprised of Japanese women who came to Australia as war brides. In 1995, he became the first Men’s Division chief of the Gold Coast chapter. His words to the youth today: “Keep challenging!” -- words of which he still embodies today, having carried on his late wife’s spirit to contribute by offering his skills in volunteering stints at both Nepal and Myanmar in 2013 and 2016 respectively.