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Cooperation with Local Communities

The Kobe Steel Group undertakes a wide range of activities aimed at contributing to the local community at each of our business locations. As a good corporate citizen existing side-by-side with society, we conduct activities that are rooted in local communities and that originate from our individual works and plants.

The following section outlines our approach at the Kobe Steel Group to living and working hand-in-hand with society and local communities, including nurturing future generations, interacting with local society, and contributing to local communities outside Japan.

Supporting Future Generations

We actively engage in activities aimed at helping the next generation grow and develop.

Kobelco Community Contribution Fund 2012

Expanding activities to support children in the community

Kobe Steel Established the Kobelco Community Contribution Fund on the occasion of its 100th anniversary. Since 2006, the Fund has supported activities for children in the community conducted by many facilities and organizations in municipalities where the Kobe Steel Group has manufacturing operations and laboratories. In fiscal 2012, the number of target communities was expanded with the addition of four Group companies.

Floor hockey game (Harima)

Floor hockey game (Harima)

Donated digital height meter (Higashihiroshima)

Donated digital height meter (Higashihiroshima)

Children playing with wooden toys (Inabe)

Children playing with wooden toys (Inabe)

Playing store keeper in a play house (Ogaki)

Playing store keeper in a play house (Ogaki)

Thank-you message from a children's support center (Shimonoseki)

Thank-you message from a children's support center (Shimonoseki)

 

 

Projects Supported by the Kobelco Community Contribution Fund in Fiscal 2012

Location

Recipient

Type of Support

Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture

Local children's association (1)

Funding to purchase a frame tent and metal shed, etc.

Children's home (1)

Funding to purchase a vehicle

Youth Development Association (1)

Funding for a youth festival

Community exchange organization (1)

Funding to purchase equipment for a refreshment booth used at disaster events

Nature preservation organization (1)

Funding to purchase equipment for a New Year's kite-flying event

Kakogawa, Hyogo Prefecture

Childcare support groups (5)

Funding for events

Volunteer organization (1)

Funding to purchase equipment for activities

Softball association (1)

Funding to purchase equipment for activities and administration planning assistance

Takasago, Hyogo Prefecture

Organization running after-school daycare facilities (1)

Funding to purchase equipment for after-school daycare facilities and funding for events

Harima, Hyogo Prefecture

Organization supporting social interaction for children with special needs(1)

Funding to purchase floor hockey equipment

Volunteer organization providing environmental education for children (1)

Funding to purchase supplies for learning about the environment

Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture

Steam Locomotive (SL) Youth Club (1)

Funding for materials when building a mini train

Fukuchiyama, Kyoto Prefecture

Kindergartens (6)

Funding to purchase books, including picture books, storybooks, etc.

Ibaraki, Osaka Prefecture

Daycare centers and development assistance centers (12)

Funding to purchase soft touch mats

Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture

Daycare centers (5)

Funding to purchase digital height meters and baby height meters

Moka, Tochigi Prefecture

Elementary schools (18)

Funding to purchase English conversation picture cards, etc.

Inabe, Mie Prefecture

Childcare support centers (6)

Funding to purchase toys and equipment

Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture

Childcare support centers (5)

Funding to purchase toys and equipment

Kasumigaura, Ibaraki Prefecture

Junior high school (1)

Funding for materials and production of an aluminum storage box for rakes

Ogaki, Gifu Prefecture

Kindergartens and daycare centers (4)

Funding to purchase miniature dollhouses

Akashi, Hyogo Prefecture

Elementary schools (2)

Funding to purchase frame tents for sports festivals and other events

Kurayoshi, Tottori Prefecture

Daycare centers (5)

Funding to purchase educational toys and play equipment

* Projects highlighted in yellow are supported by Group companies that joined this initiative in fiscal 2012.

Community Contributions and Community Interaction

Each of our business locations engages in a variety of activities to contribute to their communities and participate in community events. It is our hope to be good members of local society.

Kakogawa Works (Hyogo Prefecture)

Helping students with physical disabilities take swimming lessons

Employee volunteers assisted students with physical disabilities take swimming lessons at Kakogawa Special Needs School from June to October. The school said: “It was really helpful, since we are short of hands, and the students really enjoyed it.” The volunteers indicated that for them it was time well spent.

Shinko Engineering Co., Ltd., and Kobelco Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. (Gifu Prefecture)

First time to carry a corporate portable shrine in the Ogaki Jumangoku Festival

The Rugby Club's mascot Korokun

The Rugby Club's mascot,
Korokun

Parading our original mikoshi in front of the train station

Parading our original mikoshi in
front of the train station

Shinko Engineering and Kobelco Construction Machinery participated in the carrying of a corporate mikoshi (portable shrine), which was the main event in the 39th Ogaki Jumangoku Festival that showcases autumn in the old castle town of Ogaki. A total of 160 officers, employees, and their families from the two companies paraded down the main street in front of the train station carrying an original mikoshi made in the image of Korokun, the mascot of the Kobe Steel Rugby Club. It was a day to feel just how rooted the Kobe Steel Group is in the Ogaki community.

Chofu Works (Yamaguchi Prefecture)

Chofu Festival attended by nearly 4,000 people

Tug-of-war under the autumn sky

Tug-of-war under the autumn
sky

The sound of Heike Taiko drumming reverberating through the venue

The sound of Heike Taiko
drumming reverberating
through the venue

Held since 2000 on the grounds of Chofu Works as a way to interact with the community and deepen friendship among employees, the Chofu Festival has become well established in the community as an autumn event. In fiscal 2012, the festival was held on October 21 and featured a tuna-cutting show, Heike Taiko drumming, and a charity bazaar. Nearly 4,000 people, including employees, their families, and community members attended the festival, making for a full day of fun in the autumn.

Kobe Head Office, Kobelco Systems Corporation and others (Hyogo Prefecture)

Volunteering at the Kobe Marathon

Commemorative photo of the volunteers

Commemorative photo of the volunteers

Members of the Kobe Steel Group volunteered at the 2012 Kobe Marathon, including helping to hand out water to the runners. This initiative followed on from the previous year when the 1st Kobe Marathon was held. From here on we will continue volunteering and think of other ways we can contribute.

Fujisawa Plant, Tokyo Head Office (Kanagawa Prefecture)

Labor unions work together and visit nursing home

Employees singing and performing

Employees singing and
performing

Dancing with nursing home residents

Dancing with nursing home
residents

On July 7, 2012, the labor unions of the Fujisawa Plant and Tokyo Head Office worked together to arrange a visit to the Fujisawa Nursing Home in the Kugenuma area of Fujisawa. This activity has been ongoing for more than 20 years, since 1989. This time about 30 union members participated and had fun singing, giving performances, and dancing with the nursing home residents. It was a day to remember and scored big with the participants as well, who were glad to see the smiles of the nursing home residents.

Shinko Human Create Co., Ltd. and others (Hyogo Prefecture)

Sponsorship for the Heroes Cup elementary school rugby competition

Heroes in exciting games

Heroes in exciting games

Shinko Human Create and the Kobe Steel Group provide sponsorship for the Heroes Cup rugby competition for 6th graders organized by the NPO Heroes. Every year the number of participating teams increases in this competition, which conveys the rousing excitement that comes from experiencing rugby. In 2012, almost 100 rugby schools from around the country participated in the 5th competition. We will continue supporting the competition and the battle of the heroes.

Tokyo Head Office (Tokyo)

Cooperating in the Shirobarasai cultural festival at Shinagawa Joshi Gakuin (Shinagawa Girls Academy)

Thank-you letter and members of Class F

Thank-you letter and members of Class F

Shinagawa Joshi Gakuin held the Shirobarasai cultural festival on September 2012. We accepted a request from the school, which wanted to do a research presentation on a nearby company. The presentation included topics such as: About Kobe Steel, About Kobe Steel's Tokyo Head Office, About Aluminum Cans, and About the Kobe Steel Group's Technology Used in the Tokyo Sky Tree. The 7th graders from Class F who did their presentation on us won the highest award. Afterward we received a warm thank-you letter from Class F.

Prizes provided for Gotenyama Elementary School's radio calisthenics participants

We received a thank-you letter from the head of the Gotenyama Elementary School PTA.

We received a thank-you letter from the head
of the Gotenyama Elementary School PTA.

The Tokyo Head Office has made donations to the nearby Gotenyama Elementary School since fiscal 2010. In fiscal 2012, we donated erasable highlighter pen sets. Every time we receive thank-you letters and picture diaries from the students of Gotenyama Elementary School.

Social Contribution Activities Outside Japan

The Kobe Steel Group operates a global business. Our business locations around the world carry out ongoing contribution activities as corporate members of their respective countries and communities.

Kobe Precision Technology Sdn. Bhd (Malaysia)

Planting 1,000 mangrove trees

Employees and mangrove saplings

Employees and mangrove
saplings

On December 8, 2012, 80 employees of Kobe Precision Technology used donations from employees and the company to purchase and plant 1,000 mangrove trees in Nibong Tebal, Penang in collaboration with the Penang Inshore Fishermen Welfare Association. “I learned the importance of mangrove forests through this tree planting initiative,” said a participant. “I hope that increasing mangrove forests in the future will lead, even a little, to environmental preservation of the coastal region.”

Kobe Aluminum Automotive Products (China) Co., Ltd. (China)

Twice-weekly community cleanup

Cleaning up

Cleaning up

Kobe Aluminum Automotive Products conducts community cleanups, recognizing that running a stable business requires the understanding and support of the local community. Employees clean the street in front of the company every Tuesday and Friday, and the company has received a commendation from the local police department for their efforts. Through this experience, “we're able to see the value of this activity,” commented the participants.

Midrex Technologies, Inc. (USA)

Interacting with children at an orphanage

Interacting with children at an orphanage

Employees of Midrex Technologies help children who live at the Barium Springs Home for Children in North Carolina. The children at Barium Springs include those who need foster care or those who need care because of abuse or neglect. In addition to making donations to Barium Springs, Midrex also supports the children in other ways, such as taking them to a professional baseball game in the summer and giving them presents at Christmas time.

Kobelco Construction Machinery Group (China)

Planting 105 cherry trees for reforesting after the Sichuan earthquake

Planting trees gives hope of restoration

Planting trees gives hope to
restoration

Since 2011, four companies in the Kobelco Construction Machinery Group with facilities in Chengdu have been working with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Sichuan Provincial Government in their Post-Sichuan Earthquake Forest Restoration Project, helping to maintain and plant trees on a hillside that collapsed during the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake. In 2013, a tree-planting event was held in Beichuan County, in which 47 volunteers from group companies participated and planted 105 cherry trees. We will continue protecting the environment so that some day we can see the cherry trees in full bloom.

Local Cleanup Activities

Cleanups around facilities are a basic initiative for existing in harmony with the local community. Many of our business locations engage in beatification activities in their neighborhoods.

Saijo Plant (Hiroshima Prefecture)

Beatification around the plant that started from volunteers picking up trash

Removing weeds with grass cutters

Removing weeds with grass
cutters

Volunteers from the general affairs department started picking up trash in 1990 so that people could feel comfortable walking down the streets around the plant. Later this became an established practice at the plant.

At present we pick up trash once a month and pull weeds four times a year.

Chofu Works (Yamaguchi Prefecture)

Cleanup along a national road has become a community fixture

Cleanup activities make residents happy

Cleanup activities make
residents happy

Every Thursday morning we clean up the sidewalk and surrounding area along the national road in front of the works. We started this activity in June 1999 with the desire of contributing to the community. It is now a familiar sight to nearby residents, who say that the cheerful greetings of the cleaners are refreshing.

Shinko Leadmikk Co., Ltd. (Fukuoka Prefecture)

Weekly cleanup with 200 people

All employees cleaning up

All employees cleaning up

All 200 employees, mainly from the environmental and equipment departments, clean around the plant on a rotating basis every Thursday. This activity has been ongoing for over five years since we started in December 2007, when we joined local beautification activities with the aim of coexisting in harmony with the local community. It is now a very familiar activity among employees.

Kobelco & Materials Copper Tube, Ltd. (Kanagawa Prefecture)

Green clean walking combines beautification with health

Enjoying the green and keeping it clean

Enjoying the green and
keeping it clean

In May 2012, employees of the Hatano Plant and their families picked up litter in the area between Hadano Station and the trailhead a hiking course. This initiative combines both a beautification activity and a walking event that we conduct every year.

Hadano, where the plant is located, is a city where volunteer cleanups take place everywhere. We'll keep on carrying out beautification activities, for every little bit helps.

Shinwa Wood Works, Ltd. (Hyogo Prefecture)

Cleaning the waterway every day for 10 years

Cleaning the drainage channel is a daily task

Cleaning the drainage channel
is a daily task

When we moved to a new facility in Akashi, Hyogo Prefecture in 2003 we started cleaning the nearby waterway. Since then we have taken turns and kept on cleaning it every day for 10 years.

Osaka Branch Office (Osaka Prefecture)

Osaka Marathon cleanup

Everyone cleaning up before work

Everyone cleaning up before
work

We helped to clean up around the Osaka Branch Office (Midosuji Mitsui Building), which is along the course of the Osaka Marathon. The Osaka Branch Office has taken part in this activity since 2011 as a social contribution activity that we can keep doing. In 2012 more people helped out, and we were able to collect a considerable amount of litter in a short time before work. Feeling that the sidewalk had become clean, many people said that they were glad to have taken part.