We are proactively engaged in activities to support the development of children, who will be responsible for the future.
We started the healthier body project (We call “Sukoyakarada project”) as a reconstruction assistance activity from the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2015.
This project is aimed at reducing childhood obesity, one of social issues in three prefectures of the Tohoku region (Fukushima, Miyagi and Iwate) as well as promoting health and supporting healthy mental and physical development among the children that will lead the next generation.
In FY2018, the fifth year of the project, this project was held in Higashi Matsushima City, Miyagi prefecture. At the Kick-off event on March 30, 2019 the children experienced three types of sports with top athletes, and the heath seminar was held by a medical specialist on lifestyle-related illnesses for their parents, and a nutrition education session was given soup kitchen using local ingredients. In four Follow-up sessions from April to June, the children experienced a variety of sports and help them establish healthy exercise habits.
Through this project, implemented in partnership with the Specified Nonprofit Corporation Sports We have implemented this project with SCIX, a non-profit organization called Sports Community and Intelligence.
Since FY2019, this project has been postponed due to the impact of the novel coronavirus; however, it is scheduled to be implemented in Iwate prefecture around the autumn of 2021.
Year | Location | Total participants |
---|---|---|
FY2014 | Aizumisato, Onuma district, Fukushima prefecture | 233 |
FY2015 | Ishinomaki, Miyagi prefecture | 381 |
FY2016 | Ofunato, Iwate prefecture | 207 |
FY2017 | Soma, Fukushima prefecture | 131 |
FY2018 | Higashi Matsushima, Miyagi prefecture | 287 |
FY2019 | Delayed by COVID-19 | ― |
FY2020 | Re-delayed by COVID-19 | ― |
The purpose of this program is for students to understand dementia as a familiar disease and acquire accurate knowledge through providing a short movie about dementia awareness produced by our company, titled "Grandma's world" and lectures given by specialists. As of the end of March 2020, more than 3,000 junior and senior high school students have participated in the program. In FY2020, this program was canceled due to the impact of the novel coronavirus.
Implementation status | FY2014 | FY2015 | FY2016 | FY2017 | FY2018 | FY2019 | FY2020 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number of junior high and high schools | 7 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | - | 21 |
Number of participating student | 1,025 | 162 | 278 | 137 | 483 | 1,043 | - | 3,128 |
With the aim of increasing children’s interest in science, experiments, and pharmaceuticals, as well as with the aim of career education, our researchers have conducted outreach classes on pharmaceuticals for 6th grade students, serving as instructors. We have carried out this program continuously since FY2015 at Shimamoto Municipal Third Elementary School, which is near Minase Research Institute and since FY2019 at Hoei Elementary School, which is near Joto Pharmaceutical Product Development Center. In FY2020, despite the COVID-19 crisis, according to the strong request by Hoei Elementary School, we conducted this project by taking more careful measures than ever (wearing masks and face shields, health check before and after the class, ventilation check by CO2 measurement device, disinfection of hand and fingers and equipment for each class, limitation of number of staff members, etc.). According to the questionnaires answered by the children after the classes, their interest in pharmaceuticals and research seems to have grown and this project seems to be a trigger for them to consider a career. It is also a valuable opportunity for our staff members to get a sense of the reactions of children directly and to realize their connection with local communities.
Number of Participants per Year | FY2015 | FY2016 | FY2017 | FY2018 | FY2019 | FY2020 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Students | 71 | 64 | 59 | 72 | 141 | 81 | 488 |
Staff members supporting the experiment | 10 | 10 | 9 | 12 | 25 | 9 | 75 |
Secretariat staff members | 9 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 22 | 6 | 64 |
After the classes, we gave questionnaires to the children, teachers and our staff members to utilize them for reviewing future programs.
Implemented at Hoei Elementary School
We have donated toothpaste sets and toothbrushes to children in elementary schools, kindergartens, and day care centers (a total of 9 sites) in Shimamoto-cho, Mishima County, Osaka Prefecture, where Minase Research Institute is located since FY2014. And we have donated toothpaste sets to elementary schools next to the Joto Pharmaceutical Product Development Center since FY2018. Toothbrush sets and toothbrushes are manufactured by our company affiliate, BeBrand Medical Dental Co., Ltd. This activity is implemented in line with the June 4 to 10th "Dental and Oral Health Week" with our desire to contribute to maintaining and increasing health by working "Towards a world free of cavities.” In FY2020, we donated 3,488 sets and 350 toothbrushes. We cherish the fact that local communities and companies coexist, that they develop together, and we continue to engage in this activity as a good corporate citizen.
We are sponsoring the performance “Kokoro no Gekijo (theare of the heart)”, which is performed in Kansai and hostedby the Shiki Theater Company / Butai Geijyutu (Performing Arts) Center. Theatre of the Heart is a project to invite children (mainly elementary sixth grade students) from various regions in Japan to theaters for free and demonstrate the excitement of theater aiming to bring the most important things for people to live, such as the importance of life, consideration of other people, the joy to believe each other to children's heart through the performance. We understand such philosophy and support activities.
In FY2020, the Theater of the Heart was canceled due to the impact of the novel coronavirus throughout the year and throughout Japan.
We have donated to "Nakanoshima Children’s Book Forest” which has a project to help to stop children aliteracy. "Nakanoshima Children’s Book Forest" built the library designed by the architect Tadao Andou in Nakanoshima Park to encourage children to pursue creativity through books and the arts/culture.