Isuteru Oshiro’s life is a tale of two cultures. The daughter of a Filipino father and a Japanese mother, she spent her first 26 years in the Philippines, as her family struggled to make ends meet due to economic woes and a lack of job opportunity.
In 1987, she moved with her family to Okinawa and held many jobs as a waitress, cashier, photo studio attendant and bank employee but never felt fulfilled.
In 1996, her father encouraged her to work for the Camp Foster Exchange in support of U.S. Marines. Twenty-five years later, she believes that was one of the best decisions she’s ever made.
“I started working at Foster’s Burger Bar as a counter attendant and after a year, I moved to the main store as a cashier and I can’t believe that I have been with the Camp Foster Exchange for 25 years,” Oshiro said. “I feel like everyone at my store is part of my family because we care for each other…from our management team to my fellow cashiers.”
Oshiro appreciates the Exchange’s core value of family serving family. As a mother of two sons, she has always had the support from her Exchange team to take care of her family.
“Taking care of my family has always been important to me especially when they were younger,” Oshiro said. “The Exchange always gave me the time I needed to take care of my sons.”
Oshiro’s attitude as a cashier has always been to provide a polite and friendly face to all of the customers who come through her checkout line.
“When I first started my job with the Exchange, I was very shy and didn’t talk much,” Oshiro said. “But as a cashier, my personality has changed and I love talking to all of my customers.”
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