MEMBER SERVICES
employee
of the month
Yuko Shiroki by Nick Jones
T
he “cute uniforms” may well have piqued her interest in lacrosse as a sophomore at Kanda University of International Studies in Chiba, but it’s taken something more to hold Yuko Shiroki’s attention. As a member of an alumni team that she helped establish around 11 years ago, she says that much of the sport’s appeal now is the friendships nurtured over many seasons. “I like the team and my friends. It’s more about the relationships with those people,” she says. “Competing is fun, of course, but it’s also fun to talk to my kohai [juniors] from my university.”
With the Kanto women’s lacrosse league season set to kick off this month, Shiroki, 39, will soon be taking to the field for weekend practice sessions ahead of league matches during the sweltering summer months. But the fast-paced team sport isn’t the only pursuit that keeps her sweating. This month also sees her join the hordes of runners crowding Kyoto’s streets for the city’s second marathon. Running her sixth 42-kilometer race, the Tokyoite says her goal is to finish in 4 hours, so long as a nagging knee injury doesn’t disrupt her plans. Running around a lacrosse field or the city’s backstreets might be enough exercise
for most people, but in between those workouts, Shiroki heads to a boxing gym once a week or, more recently, a gym for shoot boxing, a combat sport similar to kickboxing. In between all of that, Shiroki works as a designer and administrative assistant at the Club, which she joined in 1998 and where she has become something of a serial award winner. Named Employee of the Month for January, she adds that title to her previous two such accolades and her Employee of the Year award for 2002. o Employee of the Quarter—Rie Tanaka The Sky Pool’s Rie Tanaka picked up the latest Employee of the Quarter award. The keen swimmer and accomplished musician was named Employee of the Month for November.
New Member Profile
New Member Profile
Why did you decide to join the Club?
Why did you decide to join the Club?
(l–r) Jeff, Emi, Ikuko, Miyu and Yuna Schrepfer
(l–r) Frank, David, Kevin and Una O’Neill
Jeff Scott & Ikuko Schrepfer United States—Morrison & Foerster LLP
“I have been in Tokyo for more than 15 years and have often thought about joining TAC, but a number of recent changes finally nudged those thoughts into action: TAC’s gorgeous, new facilities; the fact that we seemed to be dropping off one of our daughters at a birthday party at TAC once or twice a month, anyway; and the ASIJ bus that can drop off our kids to a safe environment with their friends after school. A number of colleagues at my law firm have recently joined TAC as well, and we are all looking forward to making good use of the wonderful facilities and other benefits that TAC has to offer.”
Frank & Una O’Neill Ireland—AIG Japan Holdings K.K.
“Working for AIG, I have already had many opportunities to use TAC for different work-related events since moving here three years ago from Paris. However, pressure to join TAC actually came from our sons. At TAC, they can meet their friends from the British School and French School and use the Club’s great facilities. Una is the principal of the kindergarten and junior school at the International School of the Sacred Heart and is hoping to join some interesting activities for working women at TAC. Working with three different school calendars and a busy work schedule isn’t easy, so it’s great to have a year-round facility like TAC to help out.”
Services and benefits for Members 31