In respect to environmental concerns, the Kobe Steel Group also strives to work in cooperation and harmony with society.
Beginning in fiscal 2013 we implemented a groupwide program known as the KOBELCO GREEN PROJECT. Activities include the KOBELCO Forest Fairy Tale Prize designed to raise children's environmental awareness, visits to children's centers to give lessons on caring for the environment, and forest development programs carried out by Group employees.
The Kobe Steel Group collects stories on forest themes from students in elementary schools and junior and senior high schools across Japan with the aim of raising a generation of children who will carry with them an appreciation for all the many blessings that forests offer us. Winning stories are transformed into picture books with illustrations by picture book authors Moe Nagata and Roko.
The third annual prize, held in fiscal 2015, garnered a total of 574 submissions. Mori no Maho no Yofuku (The Magic Clothes of the Forest), written by Mimi Sakito (Elementary School Division), and Morino Ginko Koyama Shiten (The Koyama Branch of Morino Bank), written by Eito Fujiwara (Junior High and Senior High School Division) were selected as the grand prize winners.
The finished picture books were presented in a ceremony to Hyogo Prefecture, the Kobe City Board of Education, and the Hyogo Prefectural Library, after which around 1,800 sets were donated to elementary schools, junior high schools, high schools, special needs schools, and public libraries in jurisdictions of supporting local governments.
3rd award ceremony
3rd KOBELCO Forest Fairy Tale Prize winning stories
Since one clear aspect of this prize is get children to learn about forests, I had the intention, when doing the illustrations, of creating books that could be used to study plants, for example. Dr. Tamotsu Hattori (Professor Emeritus, University of Hyogo), an internationally recognized authority on forests, was involved from the judging process to completion of the books. His involvement made this project interesting in a way that is different from the creation of other picture books and led to learning opportunities. I hope that Kobe Steel will continue this prize for a long time as this contest is something that people always look forward to.
Mori no Maho no Yofuku (The Magic Clothes of the Forest)
Mimi Sakito
(Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, 3rd grade)
"I did not think my story would really be turned into a picture book. I am really happy that [the illustrator] made the main and other characters look so cute."
Morino Ginko Koyama Shiten (The Koyama Branch of Morino Bank)
Eito Fujiwara
(Kanzaki-gun, Hyogo Prefecture, 7th grade)
"My house is surrounded by rich forests and nature, and so I used that scenery as the stage for the fairy tale. I was really surprised, because the illustrations in the picture books are more beautiful than even I imagined."
Reading The Forest's Birthday Wreath to Children
Mori no Birthday Wreath (The Forest's Birthday Wreath), which was the winning story in the elementary school division in the second contest last year, was read to children during an event to report on the activities of the Hyogo Prefecture Junior Green Club, held at the Hyogo Hands-on Ecology Center in October 2015. The club members and their parents—about 50 people in all—listened with deep interest to the story.
Using picture books as a tool to nurture feelings of wanting to value forests and nature is deeply meaningful, and I think that the stories resonate with children. I hope that Kobe Steel will continue making picture books like this.
Yumi Furukawa, Hyogo Forest Instructor
Since the autumn of 2011, the Kobe Steel Group has been utilizing employee volunteers to carry out forest development programs. Forest development is carried out at two locations within Hyogo Prefecture: the 4.7-ha KOBELCO Forest in Miki City and the 0.6-ha ECOWAY Forest in Kobe's Nada Ward. Also, since fiscal 2014 the Ibaraki Plant has been conducting conservation of around 1.6 ha of countryside forests and agricultural land in the Zenihara district of Ibaraki, Osaka Prefecture.
So far, over 2,000 employees have participated in these activities, which have included tree thinning and cutting of undergrowth. Sunlight has now started to reach into the forest, which is slowly becoming healthier as a result.
Kobe Steel is a member of the Kobe Children's Eco Challenge 21 Club, sponsored by the city of Kobe. The club supports environmental learning at children's centers, which are places to provide learning and life support for children. The club operates environmental education outreach programs to get children interested in the environment so that environmentally friendly activities will continue to be carried out.
Kobe Steel provides a program on the topics of steel and electricity for children to learn about the importance of the environment and electricity and the convenience of steel in our lives through science shows, quiz games, eco card games and other fun activities.
In fiscal 2015 the program was carried out at three children's centers (Ikeda Children's Center in Nagata Ward, the Hanayama After-School Center in Kita Ward, and the Takatori Children's Center in Suma Ward), with approximately 100 children participating. Kobe Steel will continue contributing to children's environmental learning through the environmental education outreach programs at children's centers.
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