Dana Neufer had never lived anywhere other than the Midwest of America until she came to Japan. Her husband's employment with General Motors brought the family here in 1988, when their daughter Erin was still very small. Dana went into a hospital in western Tokyo to have her second child, Jeffrey. "That was in January when the skies were very clear. Each morning from the hospital I had a glorious view of Mount Fuji. I took that to be a good omen," she said.
Building on that omen, other elements have helped make the Japan years good ones. Most important perhaps are Dana's own efforts in taking part in many local associations. For her, such involvement is often, she says, "a labor of love."
She graduated in 1978 from Franklin College with a degree in journalism, and minor degrees in French and business. "I always had a love of travel," she said. "I took business studies, as I thought maybe I would be a foreign corespondent, which would involve traveling as well." At first she worked as the public relations/marketing communications coordinator for Resort Condominiums International. After two years she became associate editor for Endless Vacation, a consumer magazine that serves the resort condominium industry.