In October 2023, an "unneeded notebook collection box" was placed at the employee entrance of the Tokyo Head Office to collect unneeded notebooks for a recycling project by third-grade students at Aoyama Elementary School. The students, who had been unable to play outside due to the excessive heat this year, investigated the causes of the rise in temperature and learned about global warming, realizing that the way they live is deeply related to global warming. They then decided to engage in a project to collect unneeded notebooks and recycle them into new notebooks as a practical example of making a difference with the involvement of those around them. After about a month of setting up the collection box, ITOCHU collected 310 notebooks and approximately 500 loose-leaf notebooks.

On Monday, November 20, ITOCHU Corporation hosted company visits from Hachiman Commercial High School in Shiga Prefecture, where Chubei Itoh II graduated. The students received an explanation of ITOCHU Corporation at the Radio Station in the ITOCHU SDGs STUDIO, visited the ongoing exhibition "TIME CAPSULE DEPARTMENT," and enjoyed a hands-on experience at the photo booth.

Please click here for details of the exhibition (Japanese only)

On Wednesday,　November 15, vocational lecture was held at Aoyama Elementary School as part of career education for 6th graders. Based on the theme of “What is it like to work?”, we explained about ITOCHU’s business activities and the concept of meaningful work at ITOCHU.

On Tuesday, November 14, ITOCHU Corporation received a letter of appreciation from Taizo Mikazuki, the governor of Shiga Prefecture, for its donation to “79th Japan Games” and “24th National Sports Festival for People with a Disability” to be held in Shiga Prefecture in 2025. After the ceremony, Governor Mikazuki visited I-KIDS, an in-house childcare center, and the ITOCHU SDGs STUDIO.

On Friday, November 10, vocational lecture was held at Aoyama Junior High School as part of the career education program for first-year students. In addition to ITOCHU Corporation, seven companies and organizations based in Minato City participated in the program, presenting on their work activities and providing opportunities for students to deepen their understanding of careers and to think about their career choices.

On Wednesday, November 1, ITOCHU Corporation accepted a group of Metropolitan High School students for an inspection tour of Dubai EfW (“Energy-from-Waste” －waste treatment and power generation facility) construction site. The tour is as part of Tokyo Metropolitan Office of Education's multicultural overseas training program. This is the second time ITOCHU has hosted the students, following last year, and this time 23 people participated. Dubai EfW is one of the world's largest EfW that ITOCHU has been contracted by Dubai government to construct and operate. Construction of the facility is currently underway, and when completed, it will process approximately 1.9 million tons of waste per year, or less than half of Dubai's general waste, and generate electricity using the heat generated by the incineration process. During the visit, after an explanation of the project in the conference room, we showed them the control room of the plant, which is now partially open for business. The students asked many questions and had a lot of fun. We plan to host another 16 students from metropolitan specialized vocational high schools next January.

In October 2023, a total of 51 employees and family members from Hitachi Construction Machinery Middle East Corp. FZE and ITOCHU Middle East LLC. picked up trash in the desert of Jebel Ali Industrial Area in Dubai. The organizer is a local recycling organization called “DGRADE”, and the plastic bottles collected are turned into thread and eventually clothing. It was a good opportunity to keep the desert clean and raise awareness about recycling. Collaboration with Hitachi Construction Machinery also provided a good opportunity to deepen mutual communication. We will continue to deepen our collaboration with local partners and actively engage in social contribution activities.

Since 2021, we have been supporting mangrove tree-planting activities in Uken Village. This tree planting is an initiative in which local elementary school students plant trees to protect the nature of the village and to foster their pride in the nature of their hometown. Sophia University and JAL have been working together since 2022 to build a model in Uken village to revitalize the local community by both protecting the environment and promoting tourism. The two initiatives will collaborate to promote Uken's goal of a zero-carbon city and the conservation and restoration of biodiversity, while leveraging the human and material resources and expertise of the four parties, as well as to build a symbiotic relationship between nature and people and create new human flows for sustainable regional revitalization.

On Saturday, July 29, ITOCHU Corporation held an environmental study tour for employees and their children in Shiga Prefecture, where ITOCHU was founded.

10 families (23 people total) participated in the tour. In the morning, they rode the Megumi environmental study vessel to learn about the water and microorganisms of Lake Biwa, and in the afternoon, they rode a canoe to observe the YOSHI (※) in Lake Biwa. Finally, they had the opportunity to create LED sensor lamps using paper made from these YOSHI.

It is said that the founder of ITOCHU, Chubei Ito the First, crossed Lake Biwa by boat and started his business. ITOCHU’s roots in this area of Shiga are deep, where children learned about water, flora and fauna through their experiences at Lake Biwa, and deepened their understanding of environmental conservation.

※'YOSHI' are reeds that grow in clusters around Lake Biwa and play a major role in environmental conservation, such as purifying the water, providing a habitat for flora and fauna, and preventing erosion on the shores of the lake. Shiga Prefecture is making major efforts to preserve this YOSHI.

ITOCHU Corporation welcomed junior high school students from Tokyo Metropolitan Aoyama Special Needs School to gain workplace learning experience at its Tokyo Head Office on Tuesday, July 11.

ITOCHU’s comprehensive workplace learning program is designed to motivate and prepare students　for their transition into future employment and social independence. The students learned new skills and built confidence through actual work-related tasks such as cleaning and sterilizing desks and chairs in the lobby on the first floor and conference rooms on the tenth floor. ITOCHU will continue to provide workplace learning experiences in the second half of 2023.

This initiative is the first step for students who need special support to connect with their communities and play an active role in society. ITOCHU Corporation supports this initiative and will continue its community-based social contribution activities going forward.

In view of the magnitude of the damage caused by the Turkey-Syria earthquake, ITOCHU donated 10 million yen to the WFP World Food Programme for emergency food assistance in the field. We received a certificate of appreciation for this assistance directly from Masahiro Komura, Representative of the Parliamentary Union for WFP, Sakon Yamamoto, Executive Director, and So Aoki, Executive Director, Japan Association for the WFP, on Tuesday, June 27. We sincerely wish the affected areas a speedy recovery.

*Right photo: From left: Mr. Aoki, Mr. Komura, Mr. Kobayashi (Member of the Board Executive Vice President CAO) and Mr. Yamamoto

On Thursday, June 22, 29 third graders from Minato City Aoyama Elementary School took part in a tour of the Tokyo head office, where they saw the north, south, east and west of Minato City, where they live, from the reception room on the 22nd floor and the management meeting room on the 21st floor. In addition to an explanation of ITOCHU, we also introduced staff such as receptionists, security guards, Palace Hotel and cleaners who support us, and showed how they actually work.

On Sunday, May 14, WFP Walk the World 2023 was held in Yokohama Minatoｍirai. The event is a charity walk in which part of the participation fee is donated to the World Food Programme (WFP) school lunch program in developing countries. ITOCHU Corporation employees and their families, including CAO Kobayashi who serves as a board member of Japan Association for the WFP, and Food Company President Miyamoto who serves as an adviser, participated in the walk. We all walked famous places in Yokohama, hoping to eradicate hunger among children in developing countries. In addition to Yokohama, the charity walk was held in Osaka and Nagoya, with a total of 182 participants from ITOCHU Corporation.

ITOCHU Corporation has started displaying handicapped art on the first floor of its Tokyo Head Office. In conjunction with World Autism Awareness Day on April 2, we start by displaying paintings of autistic people, and after that, we will display paintings of all types of handicapped people. The supervision is Nijiiro no Kaze, a non-profit organization operating in Minato Ward. This initiative, which supports the social participation of handicapped people through art, is part of the SDGs, "No one is left behind". Consistent with our philosophy, we are contributing to the "Community Contribution" and "Growth of Future Generations" of our Basic Activity Guidelines on Social Contribution. In the spirit of “Sampo-yoshi”, we will continue to contribute to the achievement of the SDGs through our social contribution activities and business activities.

On Thursday, February 23, the Itochu Baseball Class was held at Meiji Jingu Stadium for the first time in 4 years. This class is an event where children with disabilities enjoy sports and interaction with employees through baseball. Coaches from the Tokyo Yakult Swallows Baseball Academy were invited as instructors, and approximately 250 people, including children, their families, and more than 100 volunteer employees from 21 Itochu Group companies, enjoyed baseball at the vast stadium.