Social Report
Approaches with the Community
We in the Kuraray Group consider the sound and sustainable advancement of society a precondition for corporate growth and prosperity, and the ultimate objective of corporate activities. It goes without saying that we see it as our duty to contribute to society through provision of products and services of genuine value to people. Beyond this, we consider assistance with resolution of social issues within a proper scope to be another requisite form of social contribution in our capacity as a corporate citizen.
Activities of Social Contribution
The Kuraray Group applies its ingenuity and initiative in promoting activities of social contribution on an ongoing basis in the fields of education, medical and welfare, which require improvement of social infrastructure. We also support volunteer work by our employees toward the goal of harmony with local communities.
Chemistry Classes for Boys and Girls
Since 1992 Kuraray has conducted the Chemistry Classes for Boys and Girls program with the goal of enabling elementary school students to experience the fun of chemistry through experiments by themselves.
Kuraray employees volunteer to serve as instructors or assistants to conduct classes at special classrooms on plant premises and at local elementary schools and public facilities. A total of 282 children participated on ten occasions in fiscal 2010.
In Singapore as well, Kuraray Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. invited junior high schoolers to tour its plant and experience chemical experiments by themselves.
Since 2002, we have been exhibiting at Dream Chemistry-21, a chemistry experiment show held during summer vacation by the Japan Chemical Industry Association. In fiscal 2010, our experiment for production of aromatics using highly water-absorbent resin attracted the participation of about 1,200 children and their parents.
Exciting Chemistry Class (Saijo Plant)
Learning at Kuraray Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. (Singapore)
| Plant | Class name | No. of classes to date | No. of participants to date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 192 | 6,291 | |
| Kurashiki Plant | Fun Chemistry House | 57 | 1,627 |
| Saijo Plant | Exciting Chemistry Class | 53 | 1,566 |
| Okayama Plant | Fun Chemistry Class | 32 | 1,098 |
| Niigata Plant | Wondrous Laboratory | 41 | 1,328 |
| Kashima Plant | Fun Chemistry Class | 9 | 672 |
Sending School Bags across the Sea
Sending School Bags across the Sea is an annual program of international cooperation under which we send school bags once used by Japanese elementary school students along with school supplies and letters to children in Afghanistan and other countries where wartime devastation has robbed children of schooling opportunities.
The year 2010 marked the seventh year since the start of the program in 2004. The program has been steadily expanding and we collected some 9,000 school bags from all parts of the country in 2010. Filled with the good wishes of the children, the bags are sorted and packed by the members of the JOICFP (Japanese Organization for International Cooperation in Family Planning) and other concerned groups as well as Kuraray Group employees, before being sent overseas with the cooperation of many other volunteers. This year, too, we delivered the bags to children in need of them in Afghanistan and other countries.
In efforts to widen the scope of our activities, we continued to participate in the Himalaya Project held at Akita Prefectural University to bring electric lights to elementary schools in Himalayan villages. Through this project, we presented school bags and stationery supplies to Nepalese children.
Children in Afghanistan (photo provided by JOICFP)
Children in Nepal (photo provided by the Akita Prefectural University Himalaya Project)
Support for Self-help Efforts of the Mentally Challenged
To help the challenged lead self-supporting lives by providing them with opportunities for employment, Kuraray sets up workplaces especially for the mentally challenged in coordination with local welfare facilities.
The Kuraray Workshop at the Niigata Plant opened its doors as a place of work for the mentally challenged in 1997, with the cooperation of Nakajo town (the current city of Tainai) and the social welfare institution Nanahokai "Niji-noie". Employees at the workshop perform sorting for recycling of scraps derived in production processes and produce articles. At the Himawari Workshop, which opened on the grounds of the Saijo Plant in 2007, employees engage in recovery and weighing work required for recycling of leftover fiber derived in production processes.
In February 2011 as well, we opened Aozora Works at our Kashima Plant with the help of the social welfare institution Kamisu Keiai-en. The workers there have begun making bags for packaging liquid-state resin.
With the inclusion of those engaged in the tasks of cleaning work garments and affixing labels to dental materials at our Kurashiki Plant, we employ eight instructors and 34 workers at a total of four locations.
The work room in Aozora Works
Employees making bags for packaging liquid-state resin
Support for Medical and Welfare Facilities
Magosaburo Ohara, our founder, also helped to pioneer philanthropy in Japan, and was involved in the establishment of numerous medical, welfare, and cultural/research facilities. As part of its activities of social contribution, Kuraray continues to offer support in the management aspect to the Ishii Memorial Aizen-en, Ohara Museum of Art, Kurashiki Central Hospital, and Doushinkai Saijo Central Hospital. In addition, we operate a nursing facility for the aged utilizing welfare facilities in our plants.
Ohara Museum of Art
Aizenbashi Hospital
Kurashiki Central Hospital
Saijo Central Hospital
Relief and Assistance in Response to the Disaster
In response to the Great East Japan Earthquake, the Kuraray Group donated 100 million yen to those victimized by the disaster and the affected areas. As material aid, we also donated Kuraray products of various types, including sanitary masks and cloths, sterilized wipers, and bandages. Meanwhile, all of our sites collected donations from employees mainly through the Kuraray Fureai Fund*, and member companies both inside and outside Japan matched them with gifts of their own. As this indicates, our Group provided relief and assistance for the affected areas in various forms.
In addition, our Niigata Plant opened employee housing to evacuees from the affected areas and supported their residence in them.
- * Kuraray Fureai Fund
- We set up Kuraray Fureai Fund in July 1992. Under this fund, companies make donations consisting of the donations made by their employees plus a matching gift of the same amount. Employees endorsing the Fund agree to donate amounts of less than 100 yen from their salaries to it, and the company matches this amount. The funds collected in this way are used for purchase of items for donation to social welfare organizations or other such parties, for contribution to the good of society.
