Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on April 2013

Since forming in 1973 as an English suicide hotline, Tokyo English Life Line has responded to about 200,000 calls. It has since expanded to offer multilingual support, outreach programs, face-to-face counseling, parent and child solutions and more. In fact, it has given professional counseling to over 6,500 people since TELL Counseling started in 1991.

To celebrate its 40th birthday and acknowledge there’s plenty more to be done, TELL has launched Forty for the Future, to raise ¥40 million by next March. The campaign comes amid a raft of changes in this milestone year. To embrace its broader mandate, the NPO has changed its logo, and stripped the backronym from its acronym to become solely TELL.

A new chairman has also taken the reins, Australian Craig Saphin, president of en world Group and a former big name at Silicon Valley’s EFI and Fuji Xerox.

While TELL is the only body caring for the mental health of Japan’s international community, it’s also working more and more with Japanese people in need of support. Some two-thirds of its 6,000 calls last year reportedly came from that quarter—in many cases readjusting returnees or those dealing with a mixed relationship. In a country with one of the world’s highest suicide rates, Saphin and his team have their work cut out for them. Consider helping—you might need it yourself one day.

Donations, however small, are needed to reach the ¥40 million target. www.telljp.com