Social report
Together with Local Communities - Aiming at Contributing to Our Community
Activities Contributing to Society
People are very concerned about the future of human beings, facing global warming and ecological destruction. People feel that each individual must do something for the future of the Earth, and public awareness is increasing. DOWA believes that it can truly contribute to society only by looking at the outside world proactively, initiating an environmental activity in local communities by organizing individual environmental efforts into a stronger power and fostering it to a larger scale environmental activity.
The following introduces our main efforts in 2007.
Activities Contributing to Local Communities
| Company Name | Activities Contributing to Local Communities | Period/Frequency | |
|---|---|---|---|
| MIM Metals & Mining Co., Ltd. | Akita Rare Metal | Cleaning-up Matsubara area at the sun set | September 2007 |
| Akita Zinc Co., Ltd. | Cleaning-up activity (in front of the plant and public roads, etc.) | November 2007 | |
| Full blossom movement | April 2007 | ||
| Tree planting ceremony | October 2007 | ||
| Exciting scientific project | December 2007, February 2007 | ||
| Akita Zinc Solutions Co., Ltd. | Periodic cleaning | November 2007 | |
| Kosaka Smelting and Refining Co., Ltd. | Welcoming visitors | Case by case | |
| Local cleaning activity | One or twice a month | ||
| Afforestation activity | June 2007, October 2007 | ||
| DOWA Cup ski festival | One a year | ||
| ES Eco-System | ECO-SYSTEM Hanaoka | Northern Akita branch’s fighting illegal dumping campaign | July 2007 |
| ECO-SYSTEM Sanyo | Removal of illegally dumped wastes (Cleaning operations) | November 2007 | |
| Work-study program for local junior high school students | June 2007 | ||
| ECO-SYSTEM AKITA | Full blossom movement | April 2007 | |
| Tree planting ceremony | October 2007 | ||
| Exciting scientific project | December 2007, February 2007 | ||
| ECO-SYSTEM Chiba |
Sodegaura-City Environmental Coordinating Council | One a month | |
| Cleaning ocean road |
Four times a year | ||
| Eco Recycle | Welcoming plant visitors |
Weekdays | |
| Cleaning-up around plants | October 2007 | ||
| Dowa Tsu-un Co., Ltd. | Cleaning along public road and weeding of the greenbelt | One a year | |
| Cooperation with local events | Three times a year | ||
| ECO- SYSTEM Japan Co., Ltd. | Cleaning-up operations | Five times a year | |
| Full blossom movement | May 2007 | ||
| GEOTECHNOS Co., Ltd | Environmental exhibit | One a year | |
| Ecosystem Recycling Higashi Nihon | Tree planting ceremony by Bizen Sewer Cherry Club | March 2008 | |
| Cleaning the Bizen Sewer | December 2007 | ||
| Ecosystem Recycling Nishi Nihon | Local cleaning activity | December 2007 | |
| Act-B Recycling Co., Ltd | Cleaning activity | July 2007, March 2008 | |
| Welcoming visitors | All year | ||
| Visiting music club concert | All year | ||
| ECO-SYSTEM Okayama | Southern Okayama green road cleaning work | December 2007 | |
| Green Fill Kosaka | Welcoming visitors | Upon request | |
| ECO-SYSTEM KOSAKA | Life forest (afforestation) | One a year | |
| 3S Activity | Twice a year | ||
| EL Electronics | DOWA Electronics Okayama | Asahikawa Adapt Program’s wide range cleaning work sponsored by the NOP | Irregular/ three or four times a year |
| Southern Okayama green road cleaning work | December 2007 | ||
| Lake Kojima Blossom Corridor project | Irregular | ||
| Dowa Semiconductor Co., Ltd. | Akita Bay Environmental Conservation Council | April 2007 | |
| DOWA IP Creation Co., Ltd. | Eco voluntary activity | Twice a year | |
| DOWA F-TEC Co., Ltd. | Contribution to local communities (cleaning local area) | Twice a year | |
| MT Metaltech Co., Ltd. | DOWA Metal Co., Ltd. | Artificial pruning of Japanese cedars | March 2008 |
| DOWA Power Device Co., Ltd. | Small kindness movement | Twice a year | |
| Dowa Hightech Co., Ltd. | Plant visit by local OBs | August 2007 | |
| Local beautification promotion activity | Twice a year | ||
| New Nippon Brass Co., Ltd. | Cleaning of the Bizen Sewer River | December 2007 | |
| Hoei Shoji Co., Ltd. | Cleaning of the Tone river banks | April 2007 | |
| Cleaning road around plants | Three times a year | ||
| DOWA METANIX Co., Ltd. | Local summer festival | August 2007 | |
| Company visit by local elementary school students | October 2007 | ||
| Local cleaning-up operations | Twice a year | ||
| TH Thermotech Co., Ltd. | DOWA Thermoengineering Co., Ltd. | Lake Hamana cleaning operations (Hamamatsu Plant) | One a year |
| Local cleaning activity (each plant) | Case by case | ||
| CEMM Co., Ltd. | Local cleaning activity | One a month | |
| HD Holdings Akita | DOWA Techno Engineering Co., Ltd. | Participation in summer festival | Seven times a year |
| Cooperation with young people | October 2007 |
The DOWA group is engaged in various activities of planting flowers and trees together with local people in the land it owns or local public sites in Kosaka and Okayama where DOWA’s main business operations are located. We are going to introduce our main efforts in 2007.
Lake Kojima Blossom Corridor project in Okayama City - Let’s have 3,000 Kawazu cherry trees blossom together!
What is Lake Kojima Blossom Corridor project? Baron Denzaburo Fujita, founder of the DOWA group, reclaimed the Kojima Bay to make a vast farm land and a artificial water lake (Lake Kojima) for irrigation in the southern part of Okayama City. This area has been developed to become one of the major residential, commercial and industrial areas in Okayama City now. It is the second largest base of the DOWA group, with 10 of its companies operating there. Last April, the DOWA group started a project to plant 3,000 Kawazu cherry trees along the DOWA group’s land and the public roads around Lake Kojima and adjacent areas. Kawazu cherry trees is famous that blossoms can be enjoyed longer and earlier than other cherry trees, as it blooms around mid-February and lasts about a month. We also planted mustards and cosmea plants around the cherry trees so that the visitors can enjoy flowers all year round to create a new landmark of natural environment and blossom corridor in the Okayama district. |
■Foundation of the Lake Kojima Blossom Corridor Supporters Club
Now 2,300 members participate in this activity and support planting and maintaining Kawazu cherry trees and flowers not only in and out of the local district, extending many areas of Okayama Prefecture.
■We planted total 1,700 young trees last year on the first year of this project.
This year we held four tree planting ceremonies. Total of 1,500 supporters participated in these ceremonies. Every tree has a name plate of a person who planted that tree. We are planning to complete planting 3,000 young trees within three years.
■We publish the circular report "Lake Kojima Blossom Corridor" six times a year and hold the Lake Kojima Blossom Corridor Charity Golf Tournament.
This project is contributing to the promotion of interactions and communications in local communities.
Local people, with strong aspirations of handing over sound and healthy environments to their children and grandchildren, and letting them know the importance of living things, gathered in this project to create a blossom corridor together with DOWA.
Afforestation to Create DOWA’s Home Forests”, Kosaka-machi, Akita Prefecture - Tree planting ceremonies held in the land owned by DOWA together with local people
We endeavor to recover vegetation that was lost as a result of our past mining and smelting businesses in Kosaka, DOWA’s home town. Through tree planting ceremonies and forest classes we can help foster an eco attitude in local communities. Last year we held a large-scale tree planting ceremony at the former mine site, attended by 400 people, including local elementary school students and people from local communities together with DOWA employees.
We invited Professor Akira Miyawaki (Honorary Professor at Yokohama National University), a well-known botanist in Japan, to make natural forests that are specific to this area, planting 6,000 naturally grown hardwoods including beech, crispula, maple and rowan wood, etc.
These young trees planted by local elementary school students will be expected to grow to forests with trees about 8 m high in ten years, surviving harsh environment of this area. We will continue afforestation to create DOWA’s forests as part of our environmental activity aimed at the wonderful future of local children.
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| (Chairman Yosikawa planting a young tree with children in Kosaka) | (Professor Akira Miyawaki and Mr. Hiroshi Kawaguchi, Town Mayor of Kosaka) |