Background
TAKESHI TAKAZAWA was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan. He became a Christian through a children’s English class held in partnership with A3 and a local Japanese church. After college, he joined A3 as Acting Business Manager for the English language schools and from there he worked with others to start the Church Planting Networks. He was part of the restructure of A3 to launch cutting edge leader development program in Asia. He continues to contribute to develop various innovate iniates such as Pan Asia Leader Development Program. Recently, he is helping to develop new iniatives in leader development.
DORRIE TAKAZAWA met Takeshi while serving as the TESOL director for the English language schools and programs and has been involved in training over a thousand cross cultural workers. She has been developing curriculum, training programs and has served as a trainer in various settings. Dorrie also assisted Takeshi in developing and leading the Pan Asia Leader Development Program. Currently, she is involved in public educational development in Japan.
Kei was born and raised in Japan and attended local schools through 9th grade. He attended a US high school for three years and graduated this past June with high honors. He is attending Wheaton College now. His current interest is physics. He has been a big help in serving both with us and on his own in Japan as well as in the States in a church plant targeting 2nd generation Vietnamese.
Kie was also born and raised in Japan and attended local schools through part of 8th grade. She entered 9th grade in a US high school without ever really finishing 8th grade! After a rocky start, she is now a senior in the same high school and doing very well. She is on the varsity basketball team and also enjoys playing in the Asian Leagues. She has a heart for children and serves as one of the children’s leaders in the church plant. She loves helping Japanese youth (she was invaluable when we hosted a group of kids from Fukushima last March) and is interested in social sciences and Japanese.
Ministry Assignment
Takeshi is the Vice President for Innovative Initiatives for A3. He served as the National Director of A3/Japan from 2015-'17. In addition, he currently serves on the A3 International Ministry Leadership team.
Since the three-fold disaster in Japan on March 11, 2011, Takeshi has been in Japan every month to serve pastors and leaders in the disaster area. He has been involved in various projects that have developed out of needs discovered on his visits and through his relationships. He also facilitated a three-year renewal process for JCGI Network (A3's work in Japan) that brought in younger leaders and culminated in 2017. He continues to teach and train in other parts of Asia when asked.
Dorrie and the kids continue to pitch in as needed.
ARTICLES RELATED TO TAKESHI & DORRIE
Every crisis is a time of dangers and opportunities
Japan (MNN) — Japan faces a new wave of confirmed coronavirus cases as the government starts testing more people. Many have referred to the April uptick as a second wave, the first happening in March, but Takeshi Takazawa of A3 views it as a delayed wave. Up until the beginning of April, Japan had not seen many cases, even though the virus first arrived in January. Read our full COVID-19 coverage here. Takazawa says of active cases, “I think the number has been steadily growing. 
Japan (MNN) — There’s a new day dawning in the land of the rising sun. Japan’s current emperor – Akihito – is stepping down at the end of April. His son, Crown Prince Naruhito, will take over this largely-symbolic yet culturally-vital role on May 1. The move basically amounts to resignation, which doesn’t seem like a big deal at first glance. Yet, as Takeshi Takazawa of explains, “This is the first time a current emperor has decided and requested… that he would resign [and for the] Crown Prince to assume the emperor’s position. “This is a brand new thing in our history.” ... 
