Contributing to Society

A group of employees went out to Kabeminami Elementary School in Hiroshima and taught a two-hour lesson using a balance beam scale to a group of 22 sixth grade students. We have been carrying out activities such as these since 2010, in an effort to prevent children from losing interest in science.

We have been organizing monozukuri classes at elementary schools near our premises in Amagasaki and Kakogawa for seven years in a row now, since 2005, to enable children to experience the wonders of manufacturing for themselves. In fiscal 2011, participants assembled hovercrafts from kits.

Having started out with the aim of promoting exchange with members of the local community, the Shinko Kakogawa Festival has now established itself as a major local event. In 2011, around 80,000 people came to the festival and had a great time visiting stalls, taking part in rugby classes and having a look round the works.

The Shinko Festival began in 1973 as a bon odori dance event. Still going strong, it is now a firm fixture in the local community. To mark the Works' 50th anniversary, we organized a number of special events at the festival in fiscal 2011, including a welding robot demonstration and a quiz, all of which went down very well.

We have been taking part in the annual Rokko Family Festival since 1997. At the event in May 2011, around 30 of our employees volunteered to run the sports and games stand. This is one of the most popular stands and attracts long queues every year. Lots of families with children came to the stall and had fun playing the games on offer.

The Seki Fire Festival takes place every summer in Yasutomi in the city of Himeji. This year 15 employees volunteered to set up a stall selling salt-grilled ayu sweetfish, a local specialty. We have been supporting the festival for seven years now, as part of our community activities since building a training facility in the Seki area of Yasutomi in 2004.

Elementary school volleyball is big in Kakogawa, particularly among girls. In an effort to help local children grow up healthy and strong and also as a contribution to society, our Kakogawa Works organizes volleyball tournaments in spring and fall every year. Fiscal 2011 marked the 10th such tournament. Teams from various schools all train hard so that they can win the Shinko Kakogawa Cup.

We have put together a network to provide support for elderly people with dementia in the area around the Okamoto Rose Garden, including services such as helping people to get home. Building on such activities, we have continued to expand our range of initiatives. For instance, all members at the Higashinada Police Station have now undergone training courses to become "dementia supporters."

As part of our social contribution activities, we have been organizing clean-up activities in the areas in front of our Takasago Works and around Arai Station twice a year since fiscal 2010. Around 60 members, made up of committees of assistant managers and foremen, take part in these activities. Employees from different divisions work together to make sure that our clean campaign is a success.

The Health and Safety Committee at Shinko Kobe Power Station has been organizing clean-up activities in the areas around our Kobe Works and the power station itself every month for 13 years now, since 1999. These ongoing activities have received glowing feedback from local people and have also helped to make employees more aware of the local environment.

The Kobelco Steelers, Kobe Steel's rugby team, have been selling wristbands to raise money for victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake. The players all want to do their bit to bring a smile back to the faces of those affected by the earthquake. This is reflected in the inscription "SMILE AGAIN" on each of the wristbands.

The team sold 6,500 wristbands and donated the proceeds to the Japan Red Cross, via the Japan Rugby Football Union, in order to help people whose lives have been turned upside down by the earthquake.

The Kobelco Steelers also collected donations from fans, players, members of staff and family members in order to help out those affected by the February 2011 earthquake in New Zealand, as well as victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake.

As part of our recovery support activities, in May 2011 three Kobelco Steelers players went to Fukushima High School to coach the school's rugby team.

Commented Shoji Ito from Kobe: "we received a huge amount of support from many people after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, so we wanted to give something back."

The decision was made to go ahead with the Iwate Ginga 100 km Marathon Challenge in June 2011, in spite of the Great East Japan Earthquake. Flagged as a special disaster recovery event, seven members of the running club at Shinsho Corporation's Tokyo Head Office took part in the relay race.

Following an interview at the finishing line, we even received thank you letters from local people who had read about our participation in the local paper. As well as running the 100 km relay race as a team of seven, we hope to enter the individual 100 km marathon challenge in 2012.