Promoting Environmental Communication

The Kikkoman Group has been striving to share information with its stakeholders through the publication of the Kikkoman Group Corporate Citizenship Report and the Kikkoman Group Environmental Preservation Activities Case Book. It also widely utilizes information, technology, and experience within the Group for environmental preservation activities for the global society, in cooperation and collaboration with national/local administrative organizations, educational institutions, industries, and related organizations.

The Kikkoman Group has been striving to make the best use of the information, technology, and experience that it has acquired through many years of the Group’s corporate activity regarding environmental preservation activities for the local communities, in cooperation and collaboration with national/local administrative organizations, educational institutions, industries, and related organizations.

Since 2006, Kikkoman Corp. has conducted an annual Environmental Management Internship program consisting of about 30 hours of lectures and training classes as a credit, and has accepted students from Chiba University and Tokyo Kasei University.

The students who participated in the program made the following comments:
“By having attended this program, I came to have a greater awareness of the serious condition of the present global environment, and to realize the importance of environmental preservation by companies;” and “This program has made me interested in jobs related to the environment of parks and green areas.”

In November 2013, a joint internship debriefing by students who participated in the Internship programs at various companies was held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, where the Kikkoman program participants also presented their results and engaged in active discussions with other students.

Since 2016, Kikkoman Group has conducted the internship program based on the "University Internship project" promoted by the Education Reform Committee of Japan Association of Corporate Executives, and has accepted students studying mechanical engineering and production engineering at national, public, private universities and national colleges.

Kikkoman Corp. has organized Ecological Learning twice a year (in spring and autumn) since FY2009 at Shimizu Park (Noda city, Chiba prefecture), targeting elementary school students living in the neighborhood of the Noda Head Office.

Students who participated in the program, divided into several groups, learn the importance of nature by observing how various animals, plants, and insects live, and by touching and collecting them during a tour of the park with the staff and nature instructors. After the learning, the students discuss or compile into wall newspapers or leaflets what they have learned.

Kikkoman Corp. has organized a workshop program called Summer Vacation Program for Environmental Learning for elementary school students during their summer vacation (July – August) since 2014.

Summer Vacation Program for Environmental Learning (held in July and August 2015 at the Kikkoman Soy Sauce Museum)

This workshop provides elementary school students with explanations, contrived to make them enjoy learning as much as possible, about the Kikkoman Group’s environmental preservation activities in the soy sauce production process and environmentally friendly efforts in life that even the students can undertake. The Students who participated in the program made the following comments: “I had a good opportunity for learning a lot about soy sauce;” “I learned that there is no waste in soy sauce manufacturing;” and “I will do my best to keep good nature with my friends.”

Kikkoman Corp. has been promoting various environmental preservation activities as a member of the following organizations: Kanto Region, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Relevant Company Environmental Policy Association, Environment Committee of Japan Food Industry Association (JFIA), Environmental Conservation Association of Chiba Prefecture, the Council for PET Bottle Recycling, Glass Bottle 3R Promotion Association, PET Bottle Committee of the Japan Containers and Packaging Recycling Association, and Liaison Council for Liquor PET Bottle Recycling.

In April 2013, Chiba Prefecture launched the “Chiba Corporate Network for Biodiversity” in cooperation with the public and private sectors, in order to support and strengthen efforts toward preserving and sustainably utilizing biodiversity, aiming to achieve the Aichi Targets, which the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is committed to meet by 2020 for saving biodiversity and enhancing its benefits for people. Kikkoman Corp. has actively worked in the network through periodically held information exchange meetings for companies since its participation at the launch.

In 2013, a new section for transmitting the importance of biodiversity called Biodiversity Satellite Station was open in the Kikkoman Soy Sauce Museum.

The Kikkoman Group is actively expanding its environmental preservation activities in society by publicly showing the environment-related facilities of its factories and plants, as well as transmitting and providing the Group’s information, technology, and experience on environmental preservation in response to requests by industry, administrative or educational organizations, and NPOs.

The Kikkoman Group has been keen on building relationships with wide-ranging people in society for environmental preservation by widely publishing its environmental preservation activities for dissemination to society.

Since 2005, Kikkoman has been participating in the Eco-Product Exhibition, which is the largest exhibition for environmentally-friendly products and environment-related technology in Japan, held annually at Tokyo Big Sight.
Under the theme of “Healthy nature creates rich and well food cultures,” the Kikkoman Group introduced the environmental preservation activities promoted in the Group, giving examples of saving energy in the manufacturing process and effectively using byproducts, through the display panels and demonstrations at the booth.

In 2016, Kikkoman has participated in the exhibition at the 12th convention of the Alliance for Healthy Cities, Japan, held at the Kikkoman Arena.

The Kikkoman Soy Sauce Museum permanently exhibits an easy-to-understand display panel at a corner that briefly introduces the company’s environmental preservation efforts in the soy sauce manufacturing process.

The environmental preservation activities by the Kikkoman Group are published on its website as follows: