Outdoor Environmental Classes Held at Preschools

As part of our community-engagement initiatives, we conducted outdoor environmental classes at two preschools near the Toyama Technology & Manufacturing Center and donated bitter gourd seedlings.

On Thursday, May 22, and Monday, May 26, an executive officer and employees of our company visited Fukujima Preschool and Sugihara Childcare Center, both located near the Toyama Technology & Manufacturing Center, and held outdoor environmental classes performing picture-story shows to deepen children’s understanding of the environment. In each class, we performed a handcrafted picture-story show to explain the benefits of bitter gourd and how to grow it, while interacting with the participating preschoolers. In addition, each of the participating preschoolers was given seedlings of three varieties of bitter gourd—Okinawa Abashi bitter gourd, white bitter gourd, and Ganju bitter gourd—and we planted them together. These environment-related exchanges with the children have given all of us a valuable opportunity to think about the environment.

By summer, the bitter gourd seedlings will grow vigorously, forming lush green curtains. These green curtains block direct sunlight and help prevent indoor temperatures from rising. The grown and harvested bitter gourds will be made into bitter gourd chips at both preschools and will also be distributed to parents. Additionally, at the Toyama Technology & Manufacturing Center, we are also cultivating bitter gourds as part of our initiatives to create green curtains for wall-greening and will serve the harvested gourds in the employee cafeteria. This initiative has been in place since 2011 and is expected to continue in the future.

Under the corporate slogan “Technology & Tai-wa for Tomorrow,” we will pursue economic, environmental, and social values from both business and ESG (resolving environmental and social issues and strengthening governance) aspects, with the aim of contributing to the achievement of SDGs and realizing a sustainable society and our group’s sustainable development.