On February 24, as part of the Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children's Dreams Fund created to support children in the affected areas, Fukushima's strongest little league baseball team was invited to Jingu Stadium, which is their dreams to play a friendly game against a team from Tokyo. The children were excited from start to finish to be playing and as a result, Haramachi Junior Metes (Minamisoma City, Fukushima) and Fudo Pirates (Meguro-ku, Tokyo)'s match was 4-3. Following the closely contested game, members of the Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Sogokai Baseball Club warmed up the social event, the children bonded over a quiz about baseball and question time.
2019 February
3rd Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children's Dreams Fund, Friendly Games with Fukushima Team
2018 February
Through Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children's Dreams Fund, Holding Friendly Games for Fukushima Little League Baseball Teams
On February 25, as part of the Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children's Dreams Fund created to support children in the affected areas, Fukushima's strongest little league baseball team was invited to Jingu Stadium to play a friendly game against a team from Tokyo. The children were excited from start to finish to be playing at the Jingu Stadium of their dreams. Onahama Youth Baseball Team and Nine Stars (Setagaya-ku, Tokyo)'s match was 0-3. Following the closely contested game, members of the Sogokai Baseball Club warmed up the social event, the children bonded over a quiz about baseball and question time.
2017 September
The 9th Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children's Dream Cup Held
On September 23 and 24, the 9th Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children's Dream Cup baseball tournament was held at Otomo ground in Rikuzentakata. This time again, five youth baseball teams from the city took part. The children played hard, cheered on enthusiastically by their families and people from the local community, and the Yonesaki Youth Baseball Team won the championship once again.
Seven volunteers from the Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Group participated in practice matches and deepened their interactions with the children, managers and coaches at social events. Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children's Dream Cup not only helps in the recovery of the city's vitality, but also supports children growing and working hard together with their peers to pursue their dreams and can be expected to flourish and become a symbol of reconstruction.
2017 July
Collaboration to Boys' and Girls' Judo Class in Miyagi
Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ supported a boys' and girls' Judo class in Miyagi, which was held on Sunday, July 9, hosted by the All Japan Judo Federation. It was a major event, with the participation of 200 elementary school children, including ten children with no judo experience at all, and 240 people including their guardians and instructors.
Mr. Shigeru Okaizumi and Ms. Yoshie Kiya, who are judokas, were invited to the class as instructors. The little judokas enjoyed themselves to the full, learning the importance of ukemi (falling techniques), with each of them showing off the technique at which they excel.
2017 May
The 8th Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children's Dream Cup Held
The Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children's Dream Cup youth baseball tournament has been held since the autumn of 2013 for the children of Rikuzentakata City, Iwate Prefecture. On May 21 and 28, the tournament's eighth incarnation was held at Otomo ground in Rikuzentakata. Five youth baseball teams from the city took part and the Yonesaki Youth Baseball Team won its third consecutive title while being cheered on by many people.
Every game was incandescent with the children's dedicated play, cheered on enthusiastically by not only their parents but also the passers-by, bringing the city together.
Six years have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake. Commercial facilities in the Rikuzentakata central business district opened in May, and further recovery can be expected from now on. Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children's Dream Cup not only helps in the recovery of the city's vitality, but also supports children growing and working hard together with their peers to pursue their dreams and can be expected to flourish and become a symbol of reconstruction.
2017 March
Twenty-One People from Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ, Including Employees of Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Tohoku Branch, Participate in the Charity Walk 2017 for Supporting Reconstruction from the Great East Japan Earthquake.
On Saturday, March 18, a total of 21 employees of Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ, consisting of those of Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Tohoku Branch and Sentokai (Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Group companies and their business partners in Tohoku area), participated in a charity walk event, which donates proceeds from participation fees to areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake. Starting from a place near the Sendai Airport, the participants walked an approximately 20-kilometer course around Yuriage District of Natori City. On the course, they joined hands in prayer in front of a board showing the names of 944 victims and a monument to the victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake, whose height is 8.4 meters, the same as the height of the tsunami that hit the area. They also listened to a storyteller at Yuriage no Kioku (Memory of Yuriage), a facility which serves concurrently as a tsunami memorial museum. They thus walked in Yuriage District, which was greatly damaged by the tsunami, on their own feet commemorating the large number of tsunami victims. Through this event, the participants felt that reconstruction is far from being completed.
2017 March
Through Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children's Dreams Fund, Exchange Matches Held with Competitive Youth Baseball Teams in Fukushima at Jingu Stadium
Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ invited children of competitive youth baseball teams in Fukushima, who even now are still living with deep anxieties that are not immediately visible, to Jingu Stadium to give them the experience of being a professional baseball player for one day. This was based on children's needs, identified by local NGOs, arising from children in Fukushima having restrictions on their outdoor activities, and not being able to practice sports as much as they would like. These children enjoyed friendly games with Tokyo little league baseball teams held with the full cooperation of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, used the same locker rooms and practice areas as the professional baseball players, and entered the stadium through the players-only passageway. These arrangements made them excited and resulted in smiling faces throughout the day. The Onahama Youth Baseball Team draws at the end of a pitching duel with Red Sands, and Fukushima Little and Kodaira Little's match was 4-5, the Kodaira Little's walked¨Coff victory. After the baseball games, Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Group employees and volunteers from the Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ's Baseball Club deepened exchanges with the children.
2017 February
Through Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children's Dreams Fund, Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Collaborated to the Orchestra Concert Held in Iwaki City
In addition to TMSO¡ÁÏã½¶ÊÓÆµ Class Concert 2017 held in January, Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ also collaborated in holding the orchestra performance ¡°You, I and the Orchestra: Let's Unite Together by the Rings of Music?¡± sponsored by the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra with the participation of around 3,600 elementary and junior high school students in Iwaki City. All nine students from Katsurao Elementary School, which was visited for the Class Concert 2017, were invited to the performance. In addition to the emotional experience of singing together with their friends and fellow elementary school students in a joint session with the orchestra, the children also enjoyed an exchange with the conductor after the performance, a quiz, a tour of the concert hall and a surprise performance by the visiting orchestra.
2017 February
Second Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children's Dream Snowboard School Held!
On February 4, the second Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children's Dream Snowboard School was held at the Urabandai Ski Resort in Fukushima Prefecture. This school is intended to support children living in areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake who are working hard on their snowboarding skills. In order to expand the possibilities of children beyond the boundaries of conventional events, former Japan national team members and Olympic team members such as alpine and halfpipe snowboarders were invited as instructors. In the morning, lessons to cultivate general snowboarding skills were given, and in the afternoon the children did a timed race to show the results of what they had learned. The children with top placings received AIRWALK snowboards, a brand for which Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ owns the master licensing rights, or official uniforms worn by the Japan Snowboard Team. The prizes were awarded by Executive Officer Takada, and the sight of the children's smiling faces was truly memorable. It was a day in which the children learned the importance of living with a dream in mind and never giving up.
2017 January
5th Round of the Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children's Dreams Fund
Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Holds the TMSO¡ÁÏã½¶ÊÓÆµ Class Concert 2017 at School in Fukushima Prefecture
From Monday, January 16 to Tuesday, January 17, 2017, Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ supported the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra in holding the TMSO¡ÁÏã½¶ÊÓÆµ Class Concert 2017. For this third event, concerts were performed at four elementary and junior high schools in Fukushima Prefecture. The aim of the concerts is to encourage students living in various conditions through music. The schools visited include Tomioka Daiichi and Daini Elementary Schools, Namie Junior High School and Katsurao Elementary School, where some students need to travel extended periods from various locations because temporary school buildings have been erected on the grounds of old factory sites or condemned schools, as well as Kawauchi Elementary School, which despite being re-opened, has only a third of its original student population. In the classroom-style string quartet concerts, the students were taught how to play the violin by the performers. Then, while giving explanations in a quiz format, the musicians played famous pieces such as ¡°The Nutcracker¡± from Tchaikovsky. Finally, there was a joint session with the chorus ¡°Believe¡± and ¡°Mirai no Hikari he¡± (¡°To the Light of the Future¡±), an original song written by Namie Junior High School students. Amid deep snow, the concerts delivered music to children in the disaster-affected areas. The school principals offered words of thanks, and feedback from students included comments that ¡°It was fun to touch the strings of a violin for the first time and feel what it's like to play music.¡±
2016 November
Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children's Dreams Rugby Scrum Held
On November 19¨C20, the Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children's Dreams Rugby Scrum was held. The city of Kamaishi in Iwate Prefecture, known as a ¡°rugby town,¡± has been selected as one of the host cities for the ninth Rugby World Cup, which will be held in Japan in 2019. Rugby has the power to help the region in its recovery from the Great East Japan Earthquake. To support the dreams of many Kamaishi children who aim to become rugby players, Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ invited 16 elementary school students who belong to the Kamaishi Seawaves Junior team to Tokyo.
On their first day, the children served as child player escorts for the official professional rugby game at Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium. Their faces were happily animated as they found themselves within reach of active professional players. The next day, the children deepened their bonds through rugby by meeting Mr. Hidehito Izumi, a player who helped the Nippon Steel Corporation Kamaishi Rugby Club win the All-Japan Rugby Football Championship seven times, practicing with 10 Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ employee volunteers with rugby experience, and playing a friendly rugby match with children from the Nerima Rugby School team.
A few days later, the children sent Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ a letter expressing, ¡°We've had tough days because of the earthquake, but we are grateful for giving us such a wonderful opportunity. We have been longing for the Rugby World Cup to be held in Kamaishi in 2019. We want to do our best to use this experience to make our team even just a little stronger by the time of the Rugby World Cup.¡±
2016 October
Takata no Yume Rice Harvesting Ceremony Held
On October 2, a rice harvesting ceremony was held in Rikuzentakata to celebrate the arrival of the harvest season for Takata no Yume, Rikuzentakata's brand of rice that the Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Group supports through its main business activities. Approximately 120 participants gathered including Mayor Toba of Rikuzentakata City, people from the city's office, farmers, and related and local companies. Representing the Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Group, three participants from Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ and Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Food Sales and Marketing Co., Ltd., which sells Takata no Yume rice, attended. The rice seedlings that were planted in May had grown strongly to become golden rice plants. This year, Takata no Yume has once again delivered a bumper crop!
2016 October
The 7th Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children's Dream Cup Held
On October 1 and 2, the 7th Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children's Dream Cup baseball tournament was held at Akiramenai Kokoro (¡°Indomitable Spirit¡±) Stadium in Otomo district of Rikuzentakata City. This time, five youth baseball teams from the city took part. The children played hard, cheered on enthusiastically by their families, and the Yonesaki Youth Baseball Team won the championship once again. The baseball team of the city's only high school, Rikuzentakata Prefectural Takata Senior High School, made it into the top eight in the Iwate Tournament of Japanese High School Baseball Championship held this summer for the first time since the Great East Japan Earthquake. Baseball brought the city together. The Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children's Dream Cup helps to revitalize Rikuzentakata, which is still recovering five years after the earthquake. It brings dreams and encouragement to youth baseball players with the potential to become future players in Japan's Koshien High School Baseball Tournament and to local people.
2016 August
Joint activities of reconstruction support with our shareholders
This fiscal year a total of 4,958 shareholders have agreed to receive shareholder information electronically, the amount of money equivalent to the cost saved is combined with the same amount of money donated by Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ and sent to Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Foundation's "100 Children's Books Aid" project. Cooperation from the shareholders allowed us to donate new sets of books to the following 10 schools, which were severely damaged by the Great East Japan Earthquake.
Recipient schools were to choose from the 3 kinds of books sets depending on the grades of elementary school, lower, middle or upper grades, and we placed orders to bookstores in the affected areas.
We hereby express our sincere gratitude to our stakeholders for their cooperation.
[Fiscal 2016 recipients]
¡ñ Iwate Prefecture
Touni Elementary School (Kamaishi City), Johoku Elementary School (Morioka City), Funakoshi Elementary School (Yamada Town)
¡ñ Miyagi Prefecture
Onagawa Elementary School (Onagawa Town), Yuriage Elementary School (Natori City), Sakamoto Elementary School (Yamamoto Town), Arahama Elementary School (Watari Town)
¡ñ Fukushima Prefecture
Soma Municipal Iitoyo Elementary School (Soma City), Ono Municipal Iitoyo Elementary School (Ono Town), Yumoto Third Elementary School (Iwaki City)
- For details, visit:
2016 July
Third Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children's Dream Summer Camp in Rikuzentakata Held
A summer camp in English was held in Rikuzentakata, and 26 elementary and junior high school students took part.
Along with 10 Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ employee volunteers, 20 university students, comprising those from US universities such as the University of Alaska and international students studying at Japanese universities such as Rikkyo University and Iwate University, which have signed collaborative agreements with Rikuzentakata City on regional revitalization and other matters, enjoyed time with the children, playing games and sports in English, barbecuing and making a campfire.
Moreover, Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ volunteers performed a skit entitled "How Dole Bananas Get to Your Home" to introduce the work of a sogo shosha as an example of a practical use of English in future career, prompting the children to ask how to join Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ and showing their significant growth over the two days.
2016 June
Yonesaki Youth Baseball Team Regains Cup!The 6th Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children's Dream Cup
The Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children's Dream Cup Youth Baseball Tournament was held on June 11 and 12 at Akiramenai Kokoro (¡°Indomitable Spirit¡±) Stadium in the Otomo district of Rikuzentakata City. The tournament was organized to support children in Rikuzentakata and has been held six times since its start in autumn 2013. Because there were less children in the community than before as a result of their parents moving away and suchlike, the number of youth baseball teams had to be reduced from six to five. Nevertheless, the teams waged games that were even more exciting than usual. The Yonesaki Youth Baseball Team was blocked from winning their fifth consecutive title in the previous tournament, but this time around they played magnificently and got revenge by regaining the victory cup.
Three volunteers from the Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Group also participated in practice matches and deepened their interactions with the children, managers and coaches at social events. In addition, the non-profit organization Rikuzentagada Hakki Project, launched after Rikuzentakata was struck by the Great East Japan Earthquake, will run the tournament from this time onwards. Therefore, it is expected that the tournament will become even more rooted in the local community in the future.
2016 May
Ceremony for planting “Takata no Yume”, the local brand rice of Rikuzentakata City
On May 29, a ceremony for planting “Takata no Yume”, a brand rice from Rikuzentakata City, was held by inviting about 120 people including employees of Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ and Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Food Sales and Marketing Co., Ltd. that distributes the rice.
This year, 51 farmers are going to crop Takata no Yume, and the plating area will be 55 hectares. The Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Group will continue to support Takata no Yume in its efforts to support the affected areas through its main business activities.
2016 April
In-house Fundraising to Help High School Students from Earthquake-Affected Area Attend College
At the five years' commemoration of the Great East Japan Earthquake, a total of 619,036 yen was raised from employees in the in-house fundraising activities that took place during March 1 to 18. The company matched the same amount from employees and donated the total of 1,238,072 yen to the Bright Green Ribbon 311, a specified nonprofit corporation that helps high school students in the area affected by the earthquake attend college. The donated money will be used to make 12 grants of 100,000 yen each to first-year university students from the coastal areas of Iwate Prefecture, who entered Iwate University, Iwate Prefectural University, and Morioka University.
2016 March
"Art wa shinsai wo fuka sasenai [Art does not let the disaster be forgotten]. Photo Exhibition by Magdalena Sole - Since That Day." held
During March 8 to 15, an exhibition entitled “Art wa shinsai wo fuka sasenai [Art does not let the disaster be forgotten]. Photo Exhibition by Magdalena Sole ¨C Since That Day” was held at Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ AOYAMA ART SQUARE. Magdalena Sole is a photographer living in New York and a joint recipient of the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2008. In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake disaster she began visiting the stricken area, since which time she has been engaged in ongoing activities to comfort people living in the affected areas through photography. This exhibition displayed photographs as memories of the disaster in Tohoku that must not be forgotten, selected from those taken by Magdalena Sole in Iwate, Fukushima, and Miyagi in four years.
On March 11, the day Japan observed the fifth anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake, Magdalena Sole held a talk show with Shinpei Nagatomo, an illustrator who works in the disaster-affected area. To the approximately 130 visitors to the exhibition, she said “Photographs of the stricken area may remind you of painful events in your past. However, art sometimes saves people from grief. I want to let people know the beauty of Tohoku through photographs so that more people will visit the region.”
2016 March
Running the 3.11 TabeteOenShiyo [Let's Support by Eating]! Takata no Yume Project in Aoyama
On March 11, 2016, the “3.11 TabeteOenShiyo! Takata no Yume Project in Aoyama“ campaign to support Tohoku's reconstruction took place throughout the Aoyama district. Takata no Yume rice was provided to 20 participating restaurants in the Aoyama area that supported the cause and each restaurant added menu items using Takata no Yume rice in their lunchtime dishes. By allowing more customers to enjoy Takata no Yume rice, the event supported the disaster affected region and gave the participating stores and customers a way to come together to support Rikuzentakata.
- For details, visit(Japanese only):
2016 March
Selling Rikuzentakata Specialties at the Minato-ku World Carnival
On March 4¨C5, Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ AOYAMA ART SQUARE participated in the Minato-ku World Carnival held at Zojoji Temple in Minato-ku, Tokyo, and sold specialties from Rikuzentakata City. The carnival was held with the cooperation of entities located in Minato-ku, such as the 80 embassies of various countries, and allowed visitors to come into contact with world cultures. To support areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake, the tent from Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ AOYAMA ART SQUARE promoted its then upcoming exhibition from March 8 to March 15 of photographs taken in Tohoku by Magdalena Sole entitled “SINCE THAT DAY¡ªArt does not let the disaster be forgotten.” In addition, together with people from the City Hall of Rikuzentakata, volunteers from Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ including an executive officer sold Rikuzentakata specialties, such as Takata no Yume rice. Due in part to the volunteers and their remarkable job of active promotion, the products sold out.
Moreover, on the main stage, Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ AOYAMA ART SQUARE contributed to the success of the carnival by giving a greeting and throwing a mochimaki, in which rice cakes and other prizes are tossed into the crowd, to introduce Japanese culture and hand out Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ products as presents.
2016 February
Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children’s Dream Snowboard School Held
On February 28, the Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children’s Dream Snowboard School was held as a gift to children from Tohoku who are working hard on their snowboarding skills. Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ invited 9 snowboarders from the Japanese training team, including Pyeongchang Olympic hopeful Ikumi Imai and athletes who competed in the Nagano and Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, as the instructors. Children received instruction on snowboarding technique from these athletes in the morning and took part in a jump contest in the afternoon to show off their moves. The athletes grading the performance were overjoyed by the marvelous improvements they saw. The children with top placings received Japanese snowboard team uniforms by AIRWALK, a brand for which Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ owns the master licensing rights.
A person from the snowboard team of the Ski Association of Japan, which co-sponsored this event, gave appreciative words, which went “The Basic Act on Sports has come into force and the Japan Sports Agency is promoting the sporting culture all over Japan. Given this background, top athletes in Japan will hereafter be required to play a role in such interactions with society, with a particular focus on giving positive influence on children who bear the future of our country, instead of only striving to improve their competitiveness. Therefore, this event was a very valuable opportunity for the athletes.”
2016 January
Co-Sponsoring the TMSO ¡Á Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Class Concert
Together with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra (TMSO), Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ cosponsored the TMSO ¡Á Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Class Concert 2016 which was held on January 20¨C21. Continuing on from last year, the second concert held this year was a way to cheer up children who were hit hard by the earthquake in Fukushima Prefecture.
This year, concerts were performed in two schools for the disabled in Iwaki (Iwaki Yogo School and Taira Yogo School) and two junior high schools (Kawauchi Junior High School and Hirono Junior High School) located within 30 km of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. In total, four string quartet concerts were held by the orchestra.
The concerts included pieces from a wide range of genres, from classical to jazz, and the Japanese folk song “Yagibushi” and “Let It Go” from the Disney film Frozen were played. The students also sang “Believe” with the orchestra, and time was allotted to give them hands-on experience playing the violin with some of the musicians.In brief, some cheerfulness was brought to the afflicted region through music.
After the visit, we received the thank-you letters from the schools we visited with the delightful comments from children such as “I was able to hear and see music performed closer than ever before. It was a great experience” and “I could really feel the power of the four musicians playing from their hearts.”
2015 November
Takata no Yume Project Received the "Tabete oen shiyo (Let’s eat and cheer)! Prize" in the Food Action Nippon Award 2015
The Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Takata no Yume Project, part of the company’s efforts to support the areas affected by the earthquake disaster through its main business activities, has received the “Tabete oen shiyo!(Let’s eat and cheer)! Prize” in the Food Action Nippon Award 2015, which recognizes business and group initiatives that contribute to expanding consumption of Japanese agricultural produce. The awards ceremony was held in Hotel Metropolitan Tokyo Ikebukuro.
- For details, visit:
2015 September
Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Hosts the Autumn Tournament of the 5th Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children’s Dream Cup
The Autumn Youth Baseball Tournament of the 5th Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children’s Dream Cup, organized to support Rikuzentakata’s children, was held on the grounds of Otomo Elementary School in Rikuzentakata City in Iwate Prefecture on September 26 and 27. Takata Youth Baseball Team thwarted the fifth straight victory of Yonezaki Youth Baseball Team, and eared the first tournament title. At the event, a total of 17 people from the Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Group participated, comprising employee volunteers from the Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Group and players and managers from the Sogokai Baseball Club. They deepened their interactions with the children, managers and coaches. After the tournament’s first day of play, the children and Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ employees played a friendly match, with the employees suffering a regrettable 7¨C12 defeat.
As all six little league baseball teams from Rikuzentakata competed to win the pennant, the children’s activities have also uplifted the spirits of their parents and grandparents¡ªin fact, the whole town has been heartened through baseball.
2015 August
Joint activities with our shareholders to support quake victims
This fiscal year a total of 4,961 shareholders have agreed to receive shareholder information electronically, the amount of money equivalent to the cost saved is combined with the same amount of money donated by Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ and sent to Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Foundation’s “100 Children's Books Aid” project. Cooperation from the shareholders allowed us to donate new sets of books to the following 11 schools, which were severely damaged by the Great East Japan Earthquake.
Recipient schools were to choose from the 3 kinds of books sets depending on the grades of elementary school, lower, middle or upper grades, and we placed orders to bookstores in the affected areas.
We hereby express our sincere gratitude to our stakeholders for their cooperation.
[Fiscal 2015 recipients]
¡ñ Iwate Prefecture
Takonoura Elementary School (Ofunato City), Kujiminato Elementary School (Kuji City), Sentoku Elementary School (Miyako City), Tsugaruishi Elementary School (Miyako City)
¡ñ Miyagi Prefecture
Omagari Elementary School (Higashimatsushima City), Shizugawa Elementary School (Minami Sanriku Town), Okuma Elementary School (Watari Town)
¡ñ Fukushima Prefecture
Takaku Elementary School (Iwaki City), Shinchi Elementary School (Shinchi Town), Harase Elementary School (Nihonmatsu City), Mikawadai Elementary School (Fukushima City)
2015 July
Second Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children’s Dream Summer Camp in Rikuzentakata Held with 10 Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Employees Volunteers Participating
The Second Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children’s Dream Summer Camp in Rikuzentakata was held for two days, from July 31 to August 1. Seventeen American university students with top-class sporting abilities were selected by the Sports Camp of America (SCOA) organization to travel from the US to Japan. The American university students enjoyed doing a variety of activities with the 26 Japanese children that participated, who ranged from fourth grade elementary to first grade junior high school students, living in Rikuzentakata City. Activities included sports-related activities such as cheerleading, soccer and playing Frisbee, and also dancing and holding a campfire. This was the second time that the Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children’s Dream Summer Camp in Rikuzentakata was held, and this time, 10 Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ employees participated as volunteers. Many of these Japanese children are still living in post-earthquake temporary housing, and the Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ volunteers worked up a sweat with the children as shosha persons, helping them feel closer to and become familiar with non-Japanese culture and the English language, thereby widening their perspectives to embrace the world beyond Japan.
2015 May
Tears of Joy at 4th Consecutive Title! The Fourth Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children’s Dream Cup
The Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children’s Dream Cup Youth Baseball Tournament was held on the weekend of May 30¨C31 at Akiramenai Kokoro (“Indomitable Spirit”) Stadium in the Otomo district of Rikuzentakata City. The city’s youth baseball teams fought out the tournament held as one aspect of Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ’s support for recovery from the Great East Japan Earthquake.
In a rarity, close games continued, particularly in the final, where Yonezaki Youth Baseball Team was steaming on from its third consecutive title. At the top of the 7th inning with two outs and no runners on base, the team was under pressure, but showed its “indomitable spirit” in the clutch to even the score. The result after extra innings was that the team dramatically won its fourth consecutive title. “I thought we were done,” one player said, brought back by mothers in the supporter’s group frantically cheering to never give up.
Players gathered near the dugout at the end of the game and tears of joy were spilled. On the other hand, the unfortunate defeat suffered by Takada Youth Baseball Team saw tears of anguish and a pledge for a rematch. The wonderful skills exhibited by the children ensured the adults supporting them were also bestowed with courage.
2015 May
Ceremony for planting "Takata no Yume", the local brand rice of Rikuzentakata City
On May 24, a ceremony for planting “Takata no Yume”, a brand rice from Rikuzentakata City, was held by inviting about 100 people including employees of Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ and Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Food Sales and Marketing Co., Ltd. that distributes the rice.
This year, 34 farmers are going to crop Takata no Yume, and the plating area will be 52 hectares. The Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Group will continue to support Takata no Yume in its efforts to support the affected areas through its main business activities.
2015 March
Running the 3.11 TabeteOenShiyo [Let's Support by Eating]! Takata no Yume Project in Aoyama
On March 11, 2015, the “3.11 TabeteOenShiyo! Takata no Yume Project in Aoyama” campaign to support Takata no Yume took place throughout the Aoyama district. Takata no Yume rice was provided to 21 participating restaurants in the Aoyama area that supported the cause and each restaurant added menu items using Takata no Yume rice in their lunchtime rice and bread dishes. By allowing more customers to enjoy Takata no Yume rice, the event supported the disaster affected region and gave the participating stores and customers a way to come together to support Rikuzentakata.
2014 November
Employee volunteers’ PR activities for Takata no Yume, a new brand of rice from Rikuzen-Takata City
On November 1 and 2, a total of 14 employee volunteers from the Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Group gathered in an industrial festival and a cycling event “Tour de Sanriku,” which were held in Rikuzen-Takata City. In these events, the volunteers engaged in PR activities for Takata no Yume to make it known to more local people in Rikuzen-Takata City. In the venues, the volunteers carried out PR activities including distribution of samples, shooting of PR video, and distribution of small rice balls made of freshly steamed Takata no Yume to those who participated in the bicycle race. These activities also allowed them to deepen exchanges with local people.
2014 November
A session with Mayor Futoshi Toba of Rikuzen-Takata City for exchanging opinions about reconstruction measures
On October 31, Mayor Futoshi Toba of Rikuzen-Takata City and employee volunteers of Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ had a session for exchanging opinions about reconstruction measures of the city, which Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ has been supporting. Mayor Toba explained about the status of reconstruction of the city, sightseeing tours around the city combined with educational tours on disaster prevention, and new town planning measures. This was followed by discussions on reconstruction measures from the viewpoint of the participating employees as business people.
2014 September
Harvesting ceremony of Takata no Yume, a new brand of rice from Rikuzen-Takata City
On September 15, a harvesting ceremony of Takata no Yume, a new brand of rice from Rikuzen-Takata City, was held by inviting about 60 people including employees of Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ and Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Food Sales and Marketing Co., Ltd. that distributes the rice.
The amount of crop this year is expected to reach 150 tons, a significant increase from 33 tons last year. Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Food Sales and Marketing Co., Ltd. will expand the sales of this rice by offering it for business use, for example, in addition to selling it at department stores in Tokyo as the existing sales channel. We will thus continue to support the affected areas through our main business activities.
2014 August
Joint activities with our shareholders to support quake victims
Where shareholders have agreed to receive shareholder information electronically, the amount of money equivalent to the cost saved through the electronic distribution of the information is combined with the same amount of money donated by Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ and sent to Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Foundation’s “100 Children's Books Aid” project.
This fiscal year, a total of 5,184 shareholders have agreed to the initiative, which allowed us to donate new sets of books via local book stores to the following 10 schools, which were severely damaged by the Great East Japan Earthquake.
We hereby express our sincere gratitude to our stakeholders for their cooperation.
[Fiscal 2014 recipients]
¡ñ¡¡Iwate Prefecture
Ikawa Elementary School (Ofunato City), Akasaki Elementary School (Ofunato City), Takekoma Elementary School (Rikuzen-Takata City)
¡ñ¡¡Miyagi Prefecture
Urato Second Elementary School (Shiogama City), Shogen Nishi Elementary School (Sendai City), Nachigaoka Elementary School (Natori City)
¡ñ¡¡Fukushima Prefecture
Ueda Elementary School (Iwaki City), Katurao Elementary School (Katsurao Village), Daiichi Elementary School (Sukagawa City), Noda Elementary School (Fukushima City)
- For details, visit:
2014 August
"Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Kodomo no Yume English Summer Camp in Rikuzen-Takata" held as the Fourth Phase of Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children's Dreams Fund
On Friday, August 1 and Saturday, August 2, the "Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Kodomo no Yume English Summer Camp in Rikuzen-Takata" was held as the Fourth Phase of Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children's Dreams Fund. Thirteen university students from the United States, who are top-class athletes of track and field, swimming, soccer, cheer dance, and other sports, came to Rikuzen-Takata City as the Counselors (instructors) for the English camp. They played soccer, baseball, Frisbee, basketball, and other sports with 21 children in grades 5-9 residing in the city, who were invited from the public. The event allowed the children to come into contact with a different culture through these and various other activities that were carried out only in English, including a camp fire.
2014 July
Support for a panel exhibition for earthquake reconstruction assistance activities held at the United Nations Headquarters
During Tuesday, July 8 to Friday, July 11, a panel exhibition entitled “Resilience for Tomorrow -- Invitation to WCDRR in Sendai ¨C,“ which was hosted by the government of Japan, was held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The panels were exhibited by Rikuzen-Takata City, Sendai City, the International Research Institute of Disaster Science of Tohoku University, and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), for the purpose of showing the international society damages from the Great East Japan Earthquake and reconstruction efforts that have been made since the disaster. To this event, Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ donated 1,173,486 yen via Aid TAKATA, an NPO that serves as a liaison council for supporting the Rikuzen-Takata City. The amount includes 586,743 yen collected from employees in March during in-house fundraising activities to commemorate the third anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake. The company matched the amount from employees and donated the total of 1,173,486 yen.
2014 May
Support given to a volleyball team and baseball team of Nakano Elementary School of Sendai City as a part of Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children's Dreams Fund
On Thursday, May 22, Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ donated uniforms and sports bags to "Nakano Splash," a volleyball team of Nakano Elementary School of Sendai City and a tent and baseball gear to "Nakano Sparrows," a baseball team of the elementary school. They said that when the disaster took place, the first and second floors of the school were inundated and children spent an uneasy night on the roof floor. We hope that the children, who lost equipment and instruments of the teams but have been trying hard to continue their activities, will continue to enjoy playing sports and grow up healthy.
*The photo shows appreciative words, which were given by the children in the presentation ceremony.
2014¡¡²Ñ²¹²â
Ceremony for planting "Takata no Yume", the new local brand rice of Rikuzen-Takata City
A ceremony for planting "Takata no Yume" was held on Sunday, May 18. A total of eleven employees from Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ and Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Food Sales and Marketing Co., Ltd., which sells Takata no Yume, participated in the ceremony as rice-planting volunteers.
The Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Group will continue to support Takata no Yume in its efforts to support the affected areas through its main business activities.
- For details, visit:
2014 April
Support given to Rowing Club of Iwate Prefectural Yamada High School
On April 26, Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ sent a lifeboat and floating pier to Rowing Club of Iwate Prefectural Yamada High School and held an event named "Prayer for Safety Festival," which included the presentation ceremony and a prayer for victory. The Rowing Club lost most of its equipment in the Great East Japan Earthquake but tried hard to continue its activities. As a result, the club achieved brilliant results in national tournaments.
We heartily hope that further activities of the club will give power and hopes to students of Yamada High School and to the people of Yamada Town. This support was provided as a part of the Third Phase of Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children's Dreams Fund, which is aimed at supporting young people struggling in disaster-affected areas.
2014 February
"Rikuzen-Takata Photo Exhibition" and "Takaya no Yume Exhibition"
Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ held "Rikuzen-Takata Photo Exhibition ~ An Expression of Emotional Support ~," a project for supporting recovery of Rikuzen-Takata City, and an exhibition featuring Takata no Yume, the brand of rice which has been entrusted with the hopes and dreams for the city’s agricultural restoration. These exhibitions were held at the Takashiyama Department Store in Shinjuku from Wednesday, February 26 until Tuesday, March 11.
The exhibited photographs are works of photojournalist Natsuki Yasuda, who has kept a photographic record of the areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake, especially Rikuzen-Takata City. Customers who bought Takata no Yume at "Komekura Yamadaya" rice store on the 1st basement floor of Takashiyama Department Store in Shinjuku were given special packs of Takata no Yume.
- For details, visit:
2013 November
Sales of Takata no Yume have been started finally!
Sales of Takata no Yume, a brand of rice from Rikuzen-Takata City, Iwate Prefecture, have been started finally. On the first day of the sales, Takata no Yume-chan, the mascot of Rikuzen-Takata City, was present at Ginza Mitsukoshi, where the rice is sold.
Please try Takata no Yume, rice filled with dreams of people of Rikuzen-Takata City!
- For details, visit:
2013 November
Takata no Yume brioche to be available for a limited time only
On November 1, brioche made by using Takata no Yume, a new brand of rice from Rikuzen-Takata City, Iwate Prefecture, will start to be available for a limited time only at Le Pain Quotidien Shibakoen. Le Pain Quotidien is a restaurant chain operated by Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ. The company supports the production of the rice in its efforts to support the affected areas through its main business activities. Don’t miss it!
- For details, visit:
2013 October
Sales of rice balls made of Takata no Yume
On October 27, Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ co-sponsored "A Creative Jazz Concert for Kids " held at Roppongi Hills Arena. At the venue, Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ ran a booth selling Harakomeshi rice balls (balls of rice mixed with salmon and salmon caviar) made of Takata no Yume, a new brand of rice from Rikuzen-Takata City, Iwate Prefecture. Takata no Yume-chan, the mascot of Rikuzen-Takata City, was also present at the booth.
Six staff members including volunteers from Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ sold the rice balls with the aim of having Takata no Yume known to more people. They sold all of the 200 rice balls prepared for the event.
- For details, visit:
2013 October
Takata no Yume rice harvesting event in Tokyo
On October 18, a press event of harvesting Takata no Yume, a brand of rice from Rikuzen-Takata City, Iwate Prefecture, was held at Moritora Farm, a rental farm in Toranomon, Tokyo.
The event was attended by Mrs. Akie Abe, who is the wife of the Prime Minister and also produces rice, Mayor Futoshi Toba of Rikuzen-Takata City, President Takashi Koyama of Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Food Sales and Marketing Co., Ltd. that distributes the rice, General Manager Takada of Corporate Communications Division, Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ, and children residing in Tokyo.
On the day of the event, Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ received a letter of appreciation from Rikuzen-Takata City for its seamless support from production to sales of Takata no Yume, including provision of volunteer staff members for supporting the production process from rice planting to harvesting and sales of the rice through Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Food Sales and Marketing Co., Ltd.
- For details, visit:
2013 October
Takata no Yume harvesting
From Friday, October 4 to Sunday, October 6, our voluntary colleagues gathered to harvest Takata no Yume for the first shipping in this year. The volunteers visited the municipal office of Rikuzen-Takata City, engaged in the entire process from harvesting to hazekake (drying) and helped distribute samples of rice that were right after being harvested at Tour de Sanriku.
- For details, visit:
2013 September
Takata no Yume, new brand of rice from Rikuzen-Takata, tasting event
A tasting event for Takata no Yume took place in front of the Tokyo Head Office’s cafeteria in the lunchtime on Monday, September 9 and Tuesday, September 10.
- For details, visit:
2013 August
Joint activities with our shareholders to support quake victims
This fiscal year, a total of 6,216 shareholders have agreed to receive shareholder information electronically. Amount of money equivalent to that saved through the electronic distribution of the information was donated by Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ to Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Foundation’s “100 Children's Books Aid” project. Under this project, new sets of books were donated this year again via local book stores to the following 11 facilities. The books will be enjoyed by children including those from Otsuchi Elementary School of Otsuchi Town, Iwate Prefecture, which has integrated three other elementary schools damaged severely by the tsunami, and those from “Kodomo Hon-no Ie Soramame (Soramame the children’s book house),” a facility in Fukushima City that was forced to be relocated due to the nuclear accident.
We hereby express our sincere gratitude to our stakeholders for their cooperation.
[Fiscal 2013 recipients]
¡ñ¡¡Iwate Prefecture
Otsuchi Elementary School of Otsuchi Town, Kamaishi City Library, Ofunato City Library, Takkon District Community Center of Ofunato City, Sano District Community Center of Ofunato City, Fureai Kyoshitsu (Rikuzen-Takata City)
¡ñ¡¡Miyagi Prefecture
Shishiori Elementary School of Kesennuma City, Kids’ Room Ohisama (Kesennuma City), Masuda Children’s Center, Shimo-Masuda Hokago Jido Club ( Natori City)
¡ñ¡¡Fukushima Prefecture
Kodomo Hon-no Ie Soramame (Fukushima City)
- For details, visit:
2013 July
The Joint Concert hosted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra ended in a big success
Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ supported the Joint Concert hosted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra as the second initiative under the Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children's Dreams Fund. The concert was held at Tokyo Bunka Kaikan on July 27. In this Joint Concert, the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra collaborated with a business company for the first time. At the suggestion of Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ, 14 junior high school and high school students from disaster-affected areas in Fukushima Prefecture were selected from applicants and invited to join the orchestra. The students received lessons for two months together with children from Tokyo, who were also invited to join the orchestra. On the day of the Joint Concert, the students performed with the professional orchestra on a dream stage and deeply moved the entire audience.
2013 July
Volunteer activities in Rikuzen-Takata City
(Takata no Yume Project)
On July 27, five employees of Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ visited Rikuzen-Takata City to provide support for local people's efforts to ship “Takata no Yume”, the local brand rice of Rikuzen-Takata City, for the first time in this autumn. In June this year, Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ employee volunteers planted rice in the city for the same purpose. This time, the employees visited the city as grass-mowing volunteers.
They initially planned to remove weeds from footpaths between rice fields by using grass cutters. However, it rained heavily on the scheduled day so they did farm work in a plastic greenhouse and heard important ideas from producers' point of view from people from five of the twelve farm families producing Takata no Yume. The employees also met the Deputy Mayor of Rikuzen-Takata City, with whom they exchanged opinions about future activities related to Takata no Yume and reconstruction plan of the city.
2013 July
Happy Island ~ Blossoming in the Future ~ at Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ AOYAMA ART SQUARE
For three days from July 16 to 18, an art exhibition and “Ko(think)fuku(happiness)Talk Show” by Hiroki Maeno, a flower arranger and a master of Sogetsu school, was held at Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ AOYAMA ART SQUARE. Through the exhibited art works (arranged flowers), Mr. Maeno expressed his wish for reconstruction of Fukushima and his hope that flowers will blossom in the future of all the people. Each day the event attracted many visitors, who were also interested in the talk shows held by inviting guests and exhibition of “debris” art works.
2013 July
Activities with the Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Foundation in Tohoku for sending picture books to Southeast Asia
Shanti Volunteer Association engages in activities of sending Japanese picture books to children in Southeast Asia, by affixing labels showing text translated into local languages on the picture books. Every week, employee volunteers of Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ affix the labels on the picture books together with the Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Foundation by using a dedicated kit purchased from Shanti Volunteer Association. This time, an initiative was taken to expand these activities to children in areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake. Employee volunteers of Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ visited Sendai City of Miyagi Prefecture on July 6 and Shirakawa City of Fukushima Prefecture on July 13. The volunteers gave instructions on how to affix the labels to local children with groups engaged in book aid in the local areas and other organizations.
2013 June
Rice planting campaign
On June 30, a rice-planting event for children was held at “mori tora farm,” a rental garden in Toranomon, Tokyo. This event was aimed at spreading “Takata no Yume", the local brand rice of Rikuzen-Takata City, Iwate Prefecture. Two children of Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ employees participated in this event. The Mayor of Rikuzen-Takata City and “Takata-no-Yume-chan,” the mascot character of the city, also took part in rice-planting and gave a boost to the event.
2013 June
Interaction with Takata Higashi Junior High School of Rikuzen-Takata City
Under the Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children's Dreams Fund, Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ donated uniforms to sports clubs of Takata Higashi Junior High School of Rikuzen-Takata City. On June 24, 24 employee volunteers of the Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Group visited the school and interacted with members of basketball club, volleyball club, and track and field club. The students were wearing the new uniforms with the name “TAKATA EAST” of the new school, which was established by integrating three junior high schools. Their faces were shining brightly with the uniforms.
2013 June
Motivational rally for Takata Higashi Junior High School’s sports club members wearing new uniforms
On June 13, a motivational rally was held at Takata Higashi Junior High School of Rikuzen-Takata City for members of the school’s sports clubs, who were participating in the regional Inter-Junior High School Athletic Competition. At the rally, members of the school’s basketball club, volleyball club, and track and field club wore blue uniforms sent by Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children's Dreams Fund and the Tohoku Supporting Children’s Dreams Project. They expressed enthusiasm for the competition and the principal and all the students of the school sent cheers to the members.
2013 June
Ceremony for presenting a donation to youth baseball teams
On June 8, a ceremony for presenting a monetary donation to local youth baseball teams was held at the school ground of Otomo Elementary School in Rikuzen-Takata City. It was the first project under the Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children’s Dreams Fund, under which money was donated to help the teams make an expedition. The district of Otomo was heavily damaged by tsunami, which hit the area from both the Ofunato side and Kesennuma side. The new school ground with a five-meter embankment was completed, and the day of the ceremony finally came. After the first pitch ceremony, the teams competed fiercely for a place in the prefectural tournament.
2013 June
"Rice planting volunteers" as agricultural support
On June 7, five employees of Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ planted rice as volunteers in Rikuzen-Takata City, Iwate, to provide support for local people's efforts to ship "Takata no Yume", the local brand rice of Rikuzen-Takata City, for the first time in this autumn. It was unfortunately raining on the day but the volunteers planted rice with local people including the Mayor of Rikuzen-Takata City. They also interacted with local people by visiting Takata Higashi Junior High School, to which Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ donated uniforms under the Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children’s Dreams Fund, and seeing and listening to people who engage in storytelling activities.
2013 May
Teenagers from Fukushima will join the Joint Concert hosted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra
Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ will make donations to the Joint Concert hosted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. It will be the second initiative under the Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children’s Dreams Fund, a support program for children in areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake.
The Joint Concert is an annual event in which approx.100 children and teenagers are selected from among applicants, receive five programmed lessons, and perform with the professional orchestra on a dream stage. Applicants must be children or teenagers from fourth graders to high school seniors who reside in Tokyo or attend schools in Tokyo. For the 15th Joint Concert to be held this year, however, 14 junior high school and high school students from Fukushima Prefecture, who were selected from applicants, will join the children and teenagers in Tokyo and deepen exchanges with them. This special arrangement was proposed by Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ. The event will be held at Tokyo Bunka Kaikan on Saturday, July 27.
(Photo provided by the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra)
2013 April
Opening of Takata Higashi Junior High School of Rikuzentakata City
Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ has established Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children’s Dreams Fund to provide support for children in Rikuzentakata CIty jointly with "The Tohoku Supporting Children’s Dreams Project" run by the Nippon International Cooperation for Community Development (NICCO). Three junior high schools in the city damaged in the Great East Japan Earthquake -- namely, Otomo Junior High School, Hirota Junior High School, and Yonesaki Junior High School -- integrated into a new school named Takata Higashi Junior High School. On April 6, the first semester started at this new school.
2013 March
Cooperating in Ishinomaki Line Mangattan Liner
A departing ceremony for the Ishinomaki Line Mangattan Liner, a joint enterprise by Ishinomaki City and East Japan Railway Company, was held on March 23 when the Ishinomaki Mangattan Museum reopened. Many children and families flocked to the station platform to see the train printed with Cyborg 009, Kamen Rider and other popular characters of cartoons created by the late Shotaro Ishinomori. Hoping that Mangattan Liner will attract tourists and help reconstruct affected areas, Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ donates all expenses for the production of character stickers to Ishinomaki-shi.
2013 March
Amount of Donations for the Support of Reconstruction from Great East Japan Earthquake
Two years have passed. Our activities to collect donations have continued with our unchanging wishes for the reconstruction of affected areas. With cooperation gained from our domestic and overseas branches and labor unions, the donations have amounted to 904,867 yen.
We also collected donations on Monday, March 11. Furthermore, ingredients purchased from the affected areas were used to cook meals served at the company cafeteria on that day. A shop selling local specialties of the affected areas was also opened. A movie titled “3.11 Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ's Support for Reconstruction from the Disaster” was shown on the same day. In this way Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ will continue to support reconstruction efforts.
2013 March
Tohoku Supporting Children's Dreams Project
The Nippon International Cooperation for Community Development runs the Tohoku Supporting Children's Dreams Project. Sympathizing with the aim of the project, Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ supports extracurricular activities and youth baseball teams of junior high schools in Rikuzentakata City, Iwate through Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Children's Dreams Fund, a fund that has recently been established.
- For details, visit:
2013 March
Fundraising Activities to Mark Two Years Since the Great East Japan Earthquake
Marking two years since the Great East Japan earthquake on March 11, the fundraising activity at the Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Tokyo headquarters collected 546,890 yen during the lunch hour. We have also had warm reactions from our branches and overseas offices during the week and Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ will match the donations with a sum equal to the total amount collected.Unchanged from the time immediately after the earthquake, the sense of “we will not forget” is put to use rebuilding schools and supporting young people in the areas affected by the disaster through the Nippon International Cooperation for Community Development (NICCO) and the Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Foundation.
2013 March
Exhibiting the Works of Takuya Gamo of Iwaki City in Fukushima Prefecture
We organized the Art Exhibition PEACE ART for the Future (March 5 to 11) at Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ AOYAMA ART SQUARE. The whole venue including the support message board was given over to the “Great Earthquake, Tsunami and Heart Memories Spoken by Children's Arts” organized by East Japan Support Crayon Net. The exhibition of works by Takuya Gamo, who has overcome a disability to play an active role as an artist in Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture, will be held at the same time.
2012 September
Fund-Raising Activities Started a Year and a Half after the Great East Japan Earthquake
On September 11, Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ started in-house fund-raising activities at its offices to provide support for areas devastated by the giant earthquake and tsunami. The campaign lasted until September 21, and money was donated by many people, including expatriate employees and Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Group employees, not to mention directors, executive officers, and employees of Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ. Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ added the same amount to the final campaign result and donated their sum, which was 607,230 yen, to the Nippon International Cooperation for Community Development (NICCO). NICCO will use the money to support children in the devastated area under the 'Supporting Children's Dreams' project in Tohoku.
- For details, visit:
2012 June
The 100 Children's Books aid
The 100 Children's Books aid that we conduct together with our shareholders has starting arriving at a volunteer organization in Tohoku. This activity transfers paper and postage costs saved from shareholders approving electronic registration of their information to the Itochu Foundation that runs novel book aid. With our company donating the same amount, we have delivered 15 sets (1 set = 100 books) of children's books in fiscal 2012 to an organization operating at areas suffering the effects of the Great East Japan Earthquake to be used effectively for reading aloud to children.
2012 March
In-House Fund-Raising Campaign on the First Anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake
On March 12 and 13, Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ organized an in-house fund-raising campaign based on its policy of sustaining support for areas devastated by the giant earthquake and tsunami. The campaign raised 638,171 yen (including donations made at Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ's Tokyo Head Office and Osaka Head Office), thanks to a high level of interest employees expressed.
One Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ employee who cooperated in this campaign said, “One year has passed since the earthquake, but news programs I saw gave me the feeling that we must support affected areas much longer. I'll keep doing what I can.”
Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ plans to add the same amount to the final campaign result and donate their sum to programs for supporting the affected areas.
2012 February
Fund-Raising Campaign on St. Valentine's Day'
A fund-raising campaign titled “Let's Send Love to Devastated Parts of the Tohoku Region by Donating Our Money” took place at Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ's Tokyo Head Office and Osaka Head Office on February 14, which was St. Valentine's Day. This campaign started with the idea of “sending money kept for buying gifts for St. Valentine's Day and the so-called White Day (a Japanese invention for returning St. Valentine's gifts) to people in affected areas,” conceived by volunteers among Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ employees, and spread from them to people in the entire company.
Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ will donate 378,817 yen raised through this campaign to a public service corporation called Nippon International Cooperation for Community Development (NICCO), which has been undertaking reconstruction support activities in Miyagi and Iwate prefectures since the period immediately after the earthquake and tsunami, requesting the aid-supplying corporation to apply the donations to programs for supporting schools in devastated areas.
2012 February
Miyagi Prefecture Thanks Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ for Its Post-Earthquake Support with a Letter of Appreciation
On February 21, Vice Governor Masahiro Wako of Miyagi Prefecture visited Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ's Tokyo Head Office to hand a letter of appreciation for support Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ had provided to the prefecture since the period immediately after the Great East Japan Earthquake. Representatives from Yayoi Foods Co., Ltd., an Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Group company continuing to support manufacturing activities in Kesennuma City, Miyagi Prefecture, also came to the Tokyo Head Office on this day. Concerned Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ officials and the Yayoi Foods representatives listened to various topics Vice Governor Wako covered in his speech, including on-site progress toward reconstruction and the need for sustained assistance. On the occasion, Vice Governor Wako also thanked the Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Group for its continuing practice of sending volunteer employees to a support location within Miyagi Prefecture on a regular basis.
2012 January
Taiwan Business Partner Donates Blankets to Ogatsu-cho District of Ishinomaki City in Miyagi Prefecture
Soon after the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred last March, Eastern Microelectric Lab Inc., an Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ business partner in Taiwan, donated about 1,500 blankets to Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ as emergency relief supplies. Although this was a warmhearted act of support, at the time it wasn't possible for us to deliver this donation immediately to the stricken area. However, the first winter since the earthquake came round. On January 21 and 28, we delivered these warm blankets directly into the hands of local people with the help of an NPO active in the area called Sweet Treat 311. The blankets were given to people living as evacuees in their homes and the residents of temporary housing complexes at nine locations centered on the district of Ogatsu-cho in Ishinomaki City in Miyagi Prefecture.
2011 July
Donating baseball equipment and holding a baseball coaching session for children affected by the disaster
Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ's baseball club has been supporting children affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake by, for example, donating baseball equipment to a boys' baseball team in the Iwate Prefecture city of Rikuzentakata. On the weekend of July 2-3, some 20 leading members of the baseball league of 10 trading companies, including our own club, held a baseball coaching session for about 150 elementary and junior high schoolchildren in the city of Iwaki in Fukushima Prefecture.
2011 July
Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Charity Concert for Earthquake Disaster Reconstruction
On July 19, the Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Charity Concert for Earthquake Disaster Reconstruction was held at the Denryoku Hall in Sendai. On the day, about 1,000 visitors, including Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Group employees, their families, business partners, and victims of the disaster, enjoyed a performance by the New York Symphonic Ensemble. All proceeds collected from the audience on the day was donated to the Kiwanis Club of Sendai Children's Fund.
2011 June
Disaster relief project led by new employees in fiscal 2011: Offering picture books with bookmarks
From among the four shortlisted proposals made at the training session for new employees in April, Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ chose the Minna Happy Project. For this project, we prepared bookmarks with messages and pictures and put them in books to be offered to children in the affected zones. On June 17, the first 50 picture books with bookmarks carrying messages from our new employees were delivered to the Tampopo Nursery School in the city of Koriyama in Fukushima Prefecture.
2011 May
Packing of Uru-Uru Packs to support regions hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake (Nagoya)
On May 7-8, packing work for Uru-Uru Packs to be sent to victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake took place in Nagoya. Eight volunteers from the Nagoya Branch, including family members, volunteered to do the packing. Containing stationery items and lunch boxes for children, 2,000 Uru-Uru Packs were delivered to the town of Shichigahama in Miyagi Prefecture.
2011 April
Packing of Uru-Uru Packs to support regions hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake (Tokyo)
On April 5, packing work for Uru-Uru Packs to be offered to victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake took place in Tokyo. An Uru-Uru Pack is a set of relief supplies for one person, such as cosmetics for women and stationery items for children, put into a package so that they can be easily distributed in the affected areas. Six staff members of the Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Group took part in the work.
2011 April
Disaster relief projects proposed by new employees in fiscal 2011
In training for new employees in fiscal 2011, the trainees were divided into 14 groups with each group studying and proposed a specific project that Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ could undertake to help those regions affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake. The new employees cast their votes to choose four proposals that will be presented to a board of examiners, including our chairman Eizo Kobayashi, for the final decision. Then, Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Foundation and the new employees will develop the chosen project into more specific form and finally put it into action as a relief activity.
2011 March
Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Donates ?400 Million to Aid Victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake
Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ has decided to contribute ?400 million in aid to help the victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake. Moreover, we are prepared to offer as much support as we can, depending on the needs that arise in stricken areas as the situation progresses. We offer our heartfelt sympathy to people in the disaster-hit areas and hope for a swift recovery.
2011 March
Collecting Employee Donations for the Great East Japan Earthquake
On March 15 and 16, 2011, we held a two-day emergency drive to collect donations from employees in the B1 basement lobby of our Tokyo Head Office. Further donations were collected at other Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ sites in and outside Japan, bringing the total amount collected at the end of March to ¥8.15 million. Donations collected within Japan were given to the Japanese Red Cross Society, and those collected outside Japan were given to overseas Red Cross societies or similar organizations, to be used for the support of people in the areas affected by the disaster.
2011 March
Material Aid for Disaster-hit Areas
In addition to providing ¥400 million in monetary aid, in March Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ also helped to supply food, clothing and other living essentials to the affected areas, including the following.
- 1. Clothing
10,000 items of underwear, children's clothing, and towels are currently being shipped and distributed in Miyagi Prefecture. - 2. Emergency dwellings and rooms for indoor installation (TECCEL products)
These are currently being shipped to emergency shelters in Higashi Matsushima City. Plans are to use them for changing rooms and other purposes. - 3. “Spam” precooked meat (Canned meat)
1500 cases (36,000 cans) of spam have been shipped to the prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukishima.
All the material supplies from Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ mentioned above were secured and delivered in response to requests from the prefectures.
2011 March
Indonesian Children Send Messages of Encouragement
Employees at PT Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ INDONESIA have long provided support to local children forced to search through refuse as a way to help their families survive. When these children heard about the Great East Japan Earthquake, they wanted to send a message of thanks and support to the people of Japan in return. Although they had no money to spare for donations, the children sent letters of support together with drawings addressed to the people living in the disaster zone.