Tsuchiya Corporation Hosts Caregiving Event "From the Entertainment Industry to the Caregiving Profession" Mayuko Iwasa's four years of work as a caregiver Talking with her ally and nursing care talent Miho Nishida

Tsuchiya Corporation (Head office: Ibara City, Okayama Prefecture; Representative Director: Toshiyuki Takahama; Number of employees: 2,646), a social business company that provides home-visit care services for people with severe disabilities nationwide, as well as daycare services, regular patrols, and home nursing services for the elderly, held a public talk event on December 14, 2024, in Tokyo, featuring former actor and current caregiver Mayuko Iwasa. (Ibara City, Iyama Prefecture, CEO: Toshiyuki Takahama, Head Office: 2,646 people) held a public talk event on nursing care, "From the Entertainment Industry to the Nursing Care Profession," in Tokyo on December 14, 2024, inviting Mayuko Iwasa, a former actor who now works as a caregiver.

The event was moderated by Masayuki Takahama, Executive Director of our company, and featured a lively discussion between Mayuko Iwasa, who was making her first public appearance since retiring from the entertainment industry, and her close friend Miho Nishida, who is active as a nursing care celebrity. The conversation focused on the new charms and possibilities of the nursing care world, which can only be discussed by two people with such different backgrounds.

Mayuko Iwasa and Miho Nishida

Event Summary

Title: Mayuko Iwasa talks about her 4 years of nursing care work with her ally, nursing care TV personality Miho Nishida

Date: December 14, 2024

Speakers: Mayuko Iwasa (former actor and current nursing care worker)

　　　　　Miho Nishida (Nursing care TV personality)

　　　　　＜Moderator

　　　　　Masayuki Takahama (Managing Director, Tsuchiya Corporation, Chairman of the Committee for Promotion of Community Life for the Elderly)

Sponsor : Tsuchiya Corporation, Committee for Promotion of Community Life for the Elderly

Venue : AP Shinagawa, Room A / Online

Ms. Mayuko Iwasa's Career

She made her debut in the entertainment industry at the age of 16 in "Miss Magazine 2003" and starred in the TV drama "Deep Love: Ayu's Story" and the movie "Passion". She has appeared in numerous dramas, gravures, and variety shows, including "Hana Zakari no Kimitachi e ~Ikemen♂ Paradise~" and "Mei-chan no Butler", and will end her 17-year career in show business in 2020. After retiring, she has gone into nursing care and is currently struggling as a caregiver 5 days a week.

Summary of the day's events

<His experience as a caregiver and the insights he gained from it

At the beginning of the event, Mayuko Iwasa says, "I am often asked, but I really do work as a caregiver." She was drawn to the nursing care industry by her great friend, Miho Nishida, who has been working as a caregiver talent since her retirement from show business, and was attracted to the nursing care business.

With no qualifications and no experience, Ms. Iwasa began working as a temporary worker at a special nursing home for the elderly. Although she was at a loss to communicate with people with dementia, she gradually became accustomed to the nursing home with the steel mentality she had cultivated through her performing arts career.

I had a strong image of nursing care work as changing diapers, but that is only a part of it. I want to make people feel good about their daily lives! And I live a fulfilling life.

Ms. Iwasa is no stranger to the same stories repeated by people with dementia, which many caregivers have a hard time dealing with.

She always has fresh reactions to the stories. And since I can improvise, I can handle situations where I am mistaken for the actor's daughter or asked to respond on short notice.

Ms. Iwasa then moved on to day care services, home-visit nursing care, and a geriatric health care facility, and now works part-time at a private-pay nursing home. Of all her duties, Ms. Iwasa says she especially enjoys assisting with bathing, and she struggles daily in the bathtub, drenched in sweat. I used to love saunas, but I don't go to them anymore," she says. I used to love saunas, but I don't go anymore because I can enjoy sauna conditions at work. I'm lucky because I don't have to pay for it," she laughs.

In the midst of the gloomy news about nursing care, Ms. Nishida says that the actual nursing care field is "bright." She has been involved in nursing care for six years and says, "I want to work happily, I want the patients to have a good time, and if I can bring a little satisfaction and enjoyment to their lives, I am glad I am working as a caregiver. If I can bring a little satisfaction and enjoyment into their lives, then I'm glad to be a caregiver. She continues to share her enjoyment of nursing care work on social networking sites to let everyone know how wonderful it is to work as a caregiver, saying, "I have a lot to learn from the seniors in my life.

Ms. Nishida spoke about a memorable episode.

There was a male patient in his 90s, and at first I didn't know what to say to him, so it was a one-sided conversation. But one day, when I picked him up and dropped him off at his home, there were many beautiful flowers blooming, and I learned that he grew flowers in a wonderful way. We talked about flowers and gradually began to communicate with each other, but then she was hospitalized due to illness. When I picked her up for the last time, I said, 'Let's look forward to seeing the white flowers blooming in a little while,' but she never came back... One day, when I passed by her house on the way to pick her up, the white flowers were blooming, and I cried there. He is the one who nurtured my communication."

<Career care as a job that can be done regardless of educational background or area of residence

Ms. Iwasa, who entered the entertainment industry at a young age, says that one of the attractions of nursing care is that it is possible to obtain a national certification without an academic background, and she is currently working toward certification as a care worker.

Ms. Nishida also says that studying for her certification has made her enjoy the job itself, as she can immediately apply her studies to the care of patients. She says, "When I deal with patients who have said they want to go home, they don't say so anymore, and I realize that it was a good thing I studied. It's a great feeling to know that it was a good thing to have studied.

What they are careful not to do is "not overdo it.

Iwasa says, "It is not our job as caregivers to do as we are told, but to help them do what they can do on their own so that they do not lose their existing abilities. She says that her goal is "not to just do whatever I am told to do, but to help people do what they can do on their own and help them lose their current abilities." She is very imaginative and sincere in her caregiving, putting herself in the other person's shoes. He also said, "I want to be involved in some way on the caregiver side.

From his experience of changing jobs, he said, "There are many places to work, so even if you find that you don't fit in after working for a while, don't quit the nursing care business right away. As a caregiver working in the nursing care industry, which is facing a serious shortage of human resources, he expressed his earnest desire to secure human resources.

<Message

Iwasa: "All I can say is that I really want them to come... Of course, it's not all fun and games. Of course, it's not all fun. There are hard times, sometimes even tears, but even with that, I think it's fun. ...I would like people to work not only in nursing care, but also with the feeling of "Is there anything fun I can do today? I would like to do my best, thinking that what I can do is just a small accumulation of such things.

Nishida: "I think that everyone will be involved in nursing care more and more in the future. If you know even a little bit of information, I think you will feel less anxious at that time. There are sad things such as loneliness and being bedridden, so I hope that by learning a little bit about the world of caregiving, people will be able to relieve some of their anxiety about their future lives and ease their isolation and loneliness, so I would be happy if people knew about it.

Many other topics were covered at this event, including the issue of low wages, compensation and career advancement for care workers.

■Comments from Tsuchiya Corporation, Managing Director and Chairperson of the Committee for the Promotion of Community Life for the Elderly

Masayuki Takahama, Managing Director, Tsuchiya Co.

Although there is an image of "diaper changing," "meal assistance," and "bathing assistance," the so-called three major types of assistance in nursing care, it is also thought that these are in themselves only fragments or tasks of nursing care. In the process, there is always the question of "how the other person is feeling," and I believe that it is our job as caregivers to keep thinking about this behind the scenes.

After all, the role of a caregiver is to be a companion for the user himself/herself to enrich his/her life in his/her own way, and I feel that the fact that Mr. Iwasa and Ms. Nishida were able to say this was extremely significant for this event.

I was also very surprised that they were able to realize this part of their lives in just four years. On the other hand, it is also a closed environment, which can lead to paralysis of the caregiver's own senses, and as time goes by, it becomes difficult to maintain motivation, and there are moments when the work becomes a work-like sensation. I think there are moments when the caregivers themselves lose their senses and find it difficult to stay motivated over time.

However, I feel that it is precisely because the participants came from other industries that they were able to look at the job of caregiving dispassionately and realize the "value" and "importance" of the work that we had taken for granted too often.

I also felt strongly that they were able to communicate these things in a way that we could not. I believe that many people will be interested in listening to the two of you speak frankly about nursing care, and I believe that the two of you have the potential to reach people that we cannot, because you are well known and have different channels of communication. I believe that the two of you have the potential to reach people we cannot. We hope that the two of you will continue to communicate about nursing care in a variety of venues so that more people will learn about it.

Related URL

<Official website

https://tcy.co.jp/

<Official X (former Twitter)

https://x.com/tcy_honsha

＜Official YouTube channel

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCboj8uAyr_W7Vw4kT9HS7ng

Company Profile

Company name: Tsuchiya Corporation

Location ：2F Hisayasu Central Building, 192-2 Ibara-cho, Ibara-shi, Okayama

Representative Director : Toshiyuki Takahama

Establishment ：August 2020

Business description ： Disability welfare service business and community life support business,

　　　　　　In-home service business based on the Long-Term Care Insurance Law,

　　　　　　Planning, holding, and operation of lectures and workshops, and training business,

　　　　　　Home-visit nursing business