The fate of "Madame Platinum"Trapped in the Bubble Economy

KARAKI Tomoko
President, Japanese Turkish Friendly Association

Fifteen years ago Japan's bubble economy collapsed and the country slid into a long depression. It has seen symptoms of recovery in recent years, but many good Japanese people were swallowed by the wave of the recession and are still left behind. Many are trying hard to escape from this trap, and Mrs. KARAKI Tomoko, president of the Japanese Turkish Friendly Association, is one of them.

A Request for Cooperation from President ·AL
Mrs. Karaki was born to a modern-minded father who owned an ivory shop in Kobe and a mother who strongly supported her husband. She was raised in a rich family and married a diligent and honest doctor. Having two beautiful daughters, she lived a happy life. Even now in the latter part of her life, her elegance and beauty are noticeable at first glance.

However, her husband, who was a doctor in a private practice, died suddenly of myocardial infarction in 1981. As it was not possible for Mrs. Karaki and her two daughters to take over his work, the practice was closed. Mrs. Karaki then made a cash purchase of an apartment (mansion) situated in Jingumae, one of the most high-class areas for far more than 100 million yen. She recalls, "As the period of the bubble economy began after that, the property price soared to 1.4 billion yen in a short period." The elegant and beautiful Mrs. Karaki was called "Madame Platinum" and her graceful life continued.

One day she received a call from her acquaintance ARIK, the Turkish Ambassador to Japan, who said that there were many women suffering from breast cancer in Turkey and that the Turkish government was having difficulties providing curative treatment and preventive measures, and asked her whether Japan could provide breast x-ray camera equipment. Mrs. Karaki was invited to visit Turkey and meet the wife of President Selma ·AL and was officially requested to assist.

As a volunteer-minded doctor's wife, Mrs. Karaki felt a sense of mission and accepted their request. She called her friends working at university hospitals and succeeded in obtaining the second hand equipment. However, she was not able to pursue her duty as she could not obtain funding to transport the equipment to Turkey.

Establishing Japanese Turkish Friendly Association
On this occasion Mrs. Karaki set up "Japanese Turkish Friendly Association," which is a purely volunteer-based organization. The group hosted a lecture meeting at the Imperial Hotel when the wife of President ·al came to Japan in 1990. Mrs. Karaki, participated in the lecture with 50 of her friends. "Though many Japanese celebrities attended the party, Madame ·al came up to me and held my hands firmly. I felt her expectations on me," she says.

The association has actively promoted many events including an art exhibition for a Turkish painter, fund raising for the great Turkish earthquake of 1999, and participates in the "International Children Festival" held every year in Istanbul. Six young sword fighting students participated in the festival this year. Their airfares were paid by the association and most of these expenses were borne by Mrs. Karaki and her friends. Mrs. Karaki has also carried out various activities in cooperation with five Ambassadors to Japan. Recently, the beautiful Ambassador Solmaz UNAYDIN was inaugurated in Japan and Mrs. Karaki is working through exchanges to create a good trusting relationship with her.

On another note, after her husband's death, a bank branch manager began visiting Mrs. Karaki almost every day and recommended she loan money to purchase insurance saying that the inheritance for her two daughters would require that a large amount of tax be paid. If she borrowed money she could offset her assets against debt and no inheritance tax would be imposed. In addition, the principal paid on the insurance returns after a fixed number of years and the interest on the loan could be paid by the interest gained from their invested insurance funds. Mrs. Karaki thanked the bank for their caring attitude.

However, after the collapse of the bubble economy, the value of Mrs. Karaki's assets plummeted by nearly 90% and she could not pay back the interest on her loan with the insurance interest received. Then the bank mortgaged her Jingumae apartment and made her two daughters the guarantors. The bank that Mrs. Karaki once thought was being kind to her turned out to be cruel and forced her into one severe condition after another. "I was ignorant," she says. "I was sucked into the situation and deceived after all. My daughter said, 'Mother is just like having an explosive.' They must have thought I would be forced into bankruptcy one day and that they would be involved."

Mother wants to convey Love to Her Married daughters in Britain
She strongly protested against the bank's cruel treatment and had her two daughters released as guarantors, but their daughters started to put a distance between themselves and their mother. Later, the daughters married and moved to Britain. One of the daughters married into the distinguished British Harris family. Both daughters now have children and are living a good life, but they have been keeping a distance from Mrs. Karaki for seven years. This broken relationship stemmed from a mother's love and determination not to cause trouble for her daughters, and the daughters' wish to keep their mother's troubles outside their families. "It is too sad that I can't see my dear daughters and grandchildren ..." she said, wiping away tears with her handkerchief.

Having to face this painful situation led Mrs. Karaki to often feel anxiety due to stress and concerns. One day she fell down from some train station steps and fainted. "As I'm alone I feel uneasy, so I walk as much as possible instead of riding trains. As I was tired, it was easy for me to fall asleep." She acquired an avoidance technique to cope with her uneasiness. She can now well understand the minds of underprivileged people and often leaves towels or second hand books for homeless people when they are away. "They are considered lazy by people who have money, but most of them are victims of a merciless society."

The same fate may be waiting for those who look down on homeless people should their company ever go bankrupt. Now, many large enterprises are making record profits, but behind these rosy results, tens of thousands of employees have been laid off and many employees belonging to abandoned subsidiaries are facing difficulties. Many of the big banks that were the authors of the bubble economy and once used to hold massive debts received huge amounts of public funds from the government and have since recovered to produce huge profits, while good citizens like Mrs. Karaki are still left as a sacrifice. They are silently bearing up against absurd treatment without any means of rescue.

"The most important thing is peace of mind," she says. "When I had enough money, I think I judged people by money. Now I can see more deeply into people. I can see people's warmness and also its limits. I overcame a severe situation with positive intentions. My daughters also did their best and I wish to thank them." At present Mrs. Karaki puts her heart and energy into the Japanese Turkish Friendly Association. "This is my breath of life. I really appreciate myself that I have continued the association for 15 years." Mrs. Karaki cares for her looks and health and always keeps her youth and beauty. Now she has resumed a new challenge as a strong woman, as wants to convey to her two loved daughters that she is doing just fine.

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