Tohoku Reconstruction Support
We would like to express our condolences to those who lost their precious lives in the Great East Japan Earthquake, and our deepest sympathy to all those affected by the disaster.
The Sapporo Group's "Tohoku Future Project" has been carrying out various reconstruction support activities in cooperation with all Group companies under the key themes of "promoting consumption of local products," "information dissemination," and "nurturing of the next generation." We will continue to carry out activities for the future through the business activities of the Group companies, together with the people in the affected areas, with a united desire to "never forget the earthquake disaster."
Support with the Cooperation of Customers
The amount equivalent to beer sales at the annual “Yebisu Beer Festival” held in September at Yebisu Garden Place have been donated to reconstruction efforts for the Tohoku region since 2011. These donations have also been applied to reconstruction efforts after the Kumamoto earthquake since 2016. The donated amount exceeded a total of 150 million yen in 2019. We extend our utmost gratitude toward customers participating in the festival.
Support with the Cooperation of Shareholders
Sapporo Holdings, from 2013* to 2021, donated an amount equal to the "Social Contribution Donation" chosen by shareholders as part of their shareholder benefits to municipalities and organizations working on the recovery from the Great East Japan Earthquake.
The total amount from 2013 to 2021 is now 29,582,000 yen.
Social Contributions through Shareholder Hospitality Programs
* From 2009 shareholder special gifts
Providing Educational Opportunities for Children from Disaster-Stricken Areas
Through the authorized nonprofit organization “Katariba,” the Sapporo Group supported growth of the younger generation with “Collabo-School,” which offers a place for learning, educational support and mental care for children from disaster-stricken areas.
- Great East Japan Earthquake: Continued support from 2011 to 2019 for Onagawa Town, Miyagi Prefecture “Onagawa Kougakukan” and Otsuchi Town, Iwate Prefecture “Otsuchi Ringakusha”
- Kumamoto earthquake: Continued support from 2016 to 2018 for Mashiki Town, Kumamoto Prefecture “Mashiki Musojuku”
- Donation of tablets to be used in the "Hometown Studies" class at the integrated elementary and junior high school in Otsuchi Town, Iwate Prefecture in 2019
Visit to the Headquarters of Junior High School Students in Otsuchi Town, Iwate Prefecture
Third grade students from Kirikiri Gakuen Junior High School in Otsuchi Town, Iwate Prefecture, visited the headquarters on the first day of their school trip and sold Wakame seaweed, the product of their work in the "Hometown Studies" class.
This is the fifth visit to the Company's headquarters, which has been going on since 2017 through the use of shareholder benefits.
* Since 2016, Sapporo Holdings has been using its shareholder benefit program to support the original curriculum, "Hometown Studies" at the integrated elementary and junior high school in Otsuchi Town.
Support for the Establishment of the Earthquake Disaster Resource Room at Shizugawa High School in Miyagi Prefecture
We provided support to Shizugawa High School in Miyagi Prefecture for the establishment of an Earthquake Disaster Resource Room to convey the experiences and lessons of the disaster to visitors from Japan and abroad, and to use the room as a resource room for disseminating information about the town.
In November 2023, Shizukawa High School presented a letter of appreciation to the Sapporo Group for its various forms of support.
Donation to Onagawa Town Elementary School for Purchase of Programming Materials
Onagawa Elementary School in Onagawa Town, Miyagi Prefecture, is working on programming education to achieve its educational goal of "nurturing children who cherish life, love Onagawa Town, and open up the future with ambition." We agreed with their efforts and supported them in the hope that the donation will be useful for the development of human resources who will be responsible for the future of Onagawa Town.
Support for the Great East Japan Earthquake
We believe that the Sapporo Group's support for recovery from the unprecedented earthquake is not a one-time effort, but rather a continuous effort to listen directly to the words of local government officials and local residents, and to constantly consider "what support is truly needed.
Support for restoration of "Children's Mikoshi" for Onagawa Town, Miyagi Prefecture
We made a donation to support the restoration of the "Children's Mikoshi" at the Hakusan Shrine in Onagawa-machi, Miyagi Prefecture.
At the shrine's annual festival in May, for the first time in nine years since 2010, the main mikoshi and the children's mikoshi were able to parade together through the town, bringing back smiles to the children's faces and reviving this event as a place for the local community.
Supporting the SENDAI Pageant of Light, a wintertime tradition in Sendai
This event, which started in 1986, is held by citizen volunteers centering on an executive committee and attracts many visitors every year as a "winter tradition" in Tohoku. All the light bulbs used for the pageant were lost in the tsunami, but in support of the wish to "keep the lights of the pageant lit by everyone's power," the Sapporo Group donated from 2012 to 2021.
Holding of "Fukushima Festa" in Ebisu
Fukushima Festa, organized by Fukushima Prefecture, was held at Yebisu Garden Place in June 2023.
At the venue, specialty products were sold, tourism to Fukushima was promoted, and panels were displayed to introduce reconstruction efforts. The Happy Fukushima Squad, a support group for Fukushima Prefecture, also came to the event and further enlivened the festa with a drawing for prizes of the prefecture's specialty products.
(Holding the 3rd festa)
Implementation of Tohoku Reconstruction Support Tour
Every year from 2013 to 2019, the Sapporo Group conducted a "Tohoku Reconstruction Support Tour" with employee volunteers and their family members and friends.
Restoration of "Standing Ebisu Statue," a symbol of the citizens of Kesennuma
The second-generation Ebisu statue at Shinmeizaki in Kesennuma Bay, a symbol of Kesennuma City's prayers for safe voyages and big fish catches, was lost in the tsunami. Due to the association with Yebisu Beer, one of the main products of Sapporo Breweries, we supported the restoration of the third-generation Ebisu statue in response to requests for assistance in rebuilding. The second-generation statue was discovered during the rebuilding and unveiled on the same day.
Support for reconstruction of fishing industry in Yuriage area, Natori City, Miyagi Prefecture
The Yuriage area of Natori City, Miyagi Prefecture, is one of the areas that was severely damaged by the earthquake. To support its core industry of fishing, we donated one electric forklift each in 2016 and 2018, aquaculture racks in 2020, and pallets and other equipment in 2021 to the Miyagi Prefecture Fisheries Cooperative Association (in Yuriage).
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Letter of Appreciation presented by the Minister of Reconstruction and Revitalization of the Reconstruction Agency
A letter of appreciation was presented by Mr. Hiromichi Watanabe, Minister of Reconstruction and Revitalization of the Reconstruction Agency, in recognition of the company's ongoing reconstruction support activities for the areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake. We will continue to work together with the people of the affected areas toward the future of Tohoku.