KYOTO, April 28 -- Diagnosed with autism, Shoko Sakuma says she struggled working in accounting but now she is putting her childhood love of drawing to work in a special Japanese animation studio.

The groundbreaking initiative aims to provide job training and confidence to people with autism who can find it hard to cope in Japan's often high-stress and long-hours work environment.

"I was really bad at numbers, which was the first thing that troubled me," Sakuma said at Shake Hands, her workplace since last year in Kyoto in western Japan.

"I would lose things... Customers' stuff that is very important that you should never lose," the softly-spoken 39-year-old told AFP.

With attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and Autism Spe...