making everyday special for disabled and terminally ill children
Our Founder
Masayo Kidani MBE 1936-2019
Masayo was born in Tokyo in 1936 during a tumultuous period of Japanese history. In the last year of the Second World War her father – who was a member of the Japanese parliament – was killed in a plane crash. The government then confiscated her family’s wealth after the war to pay compensation to Great Britain and the United States.
Better known as ‘Masa’, she and her sister were sent to a Catholic school in Tokyo. Masa went on to study at Keio University before working at Japan Airlines as a cabin attendant. It was during her time at Japan Airlines that she met her husband Yoshio. Masa then spent three years in Paris.
Masa was friends with Empress Emerita Michiko of Japan, who was a childhood friend. It was Empress Michiko who introduced her to the Red Cross in Japan to help at the Tokyo Paralympic Games in 1964. Thereafter she became a Red Cross volunteer for 50 years in Japan, Hong Kong, Germany, and the UK.
Continuing to live across the world, Masa worked as a junior member of the Executive Committee in Hong Kong during the early 1970s. She planned various projects for youth groups and volunteered at the Princess Alexandra School for Special Needs, a boarding school for disabled children for three days a week.
In Berlin, Masa was told she would have to learn German before working for the German Red Cross. In typical fashion she learnt the language fluently and over a seven-year period took on many different types of jobs – including several visits to villages behind the Iron Curtain in Poland to deliver aid supplies.
After leaving Germany in 1985, Masayo lived in the UK until her death in June 2019.
In 2016, Masa’s dream was finally realised when Momiji House was opened in Tokyo. The hospice provides crucial support and care for young people and their families and is the first of its kind in Japan.
Her charitable work in the UK was widely recognised and she was awarded an MBE in the 2012 Queen’s Jubilee honours as well as the Order of the Rising Sun in 2010, the highest civilian honour in Japan.
She was a staunch supporter of the Helen and Douglas House Children’s Hospice, a charity which provides respite and end of life care to children and young people. This children’s hospice is the inspiration of an Anglican nun, Sister Frances Dominica, and it has led to the establishment of 40 such hospices spread over five continents.
Masa then set up her own charity “Momiji” which arranges exchange visits between Japan and England for children with disabilities and life-threatening illness. The charity has given many young disabled people the chance of a lifetime to experience a new culture.
In addition, Masa has been a trustee and member of Abbeyfield International – the provider of housing and care for the elderly – and in 2006 she helped establish the first Abbeyfield House in Japan.
In 2016, Masa’s dream was finally realised when Momiji House was opened in Tokyo. The hospice provides crucial support and care for young people and their families and is the first of its kind in Japan.
Masa bravely battled Parkinson’s disease for over 15 years and despite her failing health in her latter years, still continued to hold lunches at her house for the Windsor Blind Club and other local charities she was involved with.
She passed away peacefully with her family at her side in June 2019.
Masa received a number of awards for her humanitarian work:
The Japanese Red Cross recognised her with the ‘Golden Performance Award’ (Kiniro Yukoushou) (1982).
Commendation to Momiji by the Japanese Government (2001).
The Asian Woman of Achievement Humanitarian award (2007).
The prestigious Order of the Rising Sun (2010) – Japan’s highest award for civilians.
The MBE in the Queen’s Jubilee Honours (2012) for services to charity and for fostering Anglo-Japanese relationships.
Masa in her garden near Windsor, UK. She was an avid gardener and had a great love of flowers.
Our Founder
Masayo Kidani MBE 1936-2019
Masayo was born in Tokyo in 1936 during a tumultuous period of Japanese history. In the last year of the Second World War her father – who was a member of the Japanese parliament – was killed in a plane crash. The government then confiscated her family’s wealth after the war to pay compensation to Great Britain and the United States.
Better known as ‘Masa’, she and her sister were sent to a Catholic school in Tokyo. Masa went on to study at Keio University before working at Japan Airlines as a cabin attendant. It was during her time at Japan Airlines that she met her husband Yoshio. Masa then spent three years in Paris.
Masa was friends with Empress Emerita Michiko of Japan, who was a childhood friend. It was Empress Michiko who introduced her to the Red Cross in Japan to help at the Tokyo Paralympic Games in 1964. Thereafter she became a Red Cross volunteer for 50 years in Japan, Hong Kong, Germany, and the UK.
Continuing to live across the world, Masa worked as a junior member of the Executive Committee in Hong Kong during the early 1970s. She planned various projects for youth groups and volunteered at the Princess Alexandra School for Special Needs, a boarding school for disabled children for three days a week.
In Berlin, Masa was told she would have to learn German before working for the German Red Cross. In typical fashion she learnt the language fluently and over a seven-year period took on many different types of jobs – including several visits to villages behind the Iron Curtain in Poland to deliver aid supplies.
After leaving Germany in 1985, Masayo lived in the UK until her death in June 2019.
Her charitable work in the UK was widely recognised and she was awarded an MBE in the 2012 Queen’s Jubilee honours as well as the Order of the Rising Sun in 2010, the highest civilian honour in Japan.
She was a staunch supporter of the Helen and Douglas House Children’s Hospice, a charity which provides respite and end of life care to children and young people. This children’s hospice is the inspiration of an Anglican nun, Sister Frances Dominica, and it has led to the establishment of 40 such hospices spread over five continents.
Masa then set up her own charity “Momiji” which arranges exchange visits between Japan and England for children with disabilities and life-threatening illness. The charity has given many young disabled people the chance of a lifetime to experience a new culture.
In addition, Masa has been a trustee and member of Abbeyfield International – the provider of housing and care for the elderly – and in 2006 she helped establish the first Abbeyfield House in Japan.
In 2016, Masa’s dream was finally realised when Momiji House was opened in Tokyo. The hospice provides crucial support and care for young people and their families and is the first of its kind in Japan.
Masa bravely battled Parkinson’s disease for over 15 years and despite her failing health in her latter years, still continued to hold lunches at her house for the Windsor Blind Club and other local charities she was involved with.
She passed away peacefully with her family at her side in June 2019.
Masa received a number of awards for her humanitarian work: