COMMUNITY

We hold the Campus Art Awards in partnership with The Yomiuri Chukosei Shimbun. Campus Art Awards is a drawing competition for students at junior high school and high school. The award program began in 2015, and 2,039 works were showcased this year. The theme for 2021 was titled “my sweet hometown.” This theme focused on the landscapes, customs, traditions, events, cuisine, confectionary, and other motifs associated with the students’ hometowns. The purpose was to give students an opportunity to take an interest in their hometown, discover its charms, and express them. For the top individual prize, the winner received 50 Campus notebooks featuring the person’s winning picture. The school of the winner received 1,000 of the notebooks featuring the winning picture.

Since the year after the Tohoku disaster of March 11, 2011, we have donated to Michinoku Future Fund*, a scholarship program for students who lost their parents in the disaster. In 2022, the foundation awarded its 11th annual set of scholarship. Scholarships were awarded to 70 students, securing them a place in a higher or further education institution, where they can start their journey towards a bright career. In previous years, supporters, students, graduates, and foundation staff would gather at a ceremony held in March for the benefit of the recipients of the scholarships as well as for scholarship students who were about to graduate. However, because of Covid concerns, the ceremony was restricted to students and foundation staff. Unfortunately, that meant we were unable to hear from the recipients directly. Nevertheless, we remain as committed as ever to supporting the good work of the foundation.

Founded by Rohto Pharmaceutical, Calbee, and Kagome, Michinoku Future Fund provides higher or further education scholarships to students who lost their parents in the March 2011 disaster, on the belief that future generations are the foundation for the recovery. There have been 1,044 scholarship recipients since the foundation of the fund. Over 760 students have already finished their schooling and are working in their respective fields.

We want to contribute to a self-directed, collaborative society, in which everyone thrives. In 2014, we launched a community outreach program called Chasing Big Dreams with Small Notebook. This year marked the seventh year of the program, following a three-year suspension amid Covid concerns. Volunteers from KOKUYO’s workforce visit an elementary school in Hunan, China. They conduct a lesson and organize games with the children to forge ties with the community. The school receives a donation from KOKUYO and the children receive KOKUYO notebooks.