Top > Corporate Social Responsibility > Unique CSR Activities
All that we do both as a company and as individuals is designed to forge vibrant communities
©Yayoi Kusama “Pumpkin”
Photo: Koji Murakami
Benesse aims to help build vibrant communities through the activities of its four charitable foundations. Its motivation in doing so is the fact that individuals can only truly live well if they are supported by such a vibrant community. Of the activities conducted by Benesse's charitable foundations, most notable are its efforts to revitalize local regions through modern art. These activities in particular have garnered attention as a unique form of CSR activity unparalleled anywhere in the world, and as such they make a tangible contribution to Benesse’s corporate value.
Benesse maintains four charitable foundations, funded by dividends on Benesse shares held by the foundations . As long as Benesse achieves sustainable growth in its operations and maintains stable dividends to shareholders reliably over the long term, it will be able to continue supporting these foundations.
Fukutake Science and Culture Foundation
Subsidizes History and Geography Research, As Well As Contributes to New Areas of Research and Cultural Promotion
Presentation of research into the international value of the Takamatsu clan's collection of guides to fish species
Lecture by Fram Kitagawa
This foundation was established in 1985 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the founding of Fukutake Publishing (currently Benesse). As Benesse's first charitable foundation, it was intended to reflect the ethos of Tetsuhiko Fukutake, the Company's first president, who wanted to contribute to society in some way other than through business activities alone. Initially, the foundation was involved mainly in providing grants for natural science-related research in the fields of history and geography, but recently the foundation has also been providing financial support for local research and community revitalization activities. To date the foundation has provided a total of almost 800 grants, and since its 20th anniversary in 2005, it has been providing financial support for cultural research and activities focused on the Seto Inland Sea region.
Activity Case
- Since its founding in 1985 the foundation has focused primarily on providing grants for research in history and geography. However, from 2005 it started providing financial support for cultural research and activities focused on the Seto Inland Sea region. Over the past four years it has provided 108 grants, helping to raise the standards of grassroots cultural endeavor in the area.
- The foundation's activities during fiscal 2008 included holding its second presentation on activities undertaken, in Takamatsu City in May. The presentation reviewed grassroots research and activities that had taken place, such as the research into the international value of the Takamatsu clan's collection of guides to fish species, the Shurinzu, and the restoration of the communal childbirth and confinement hut on Ibuki Island, known as the Debeya. The foundation also hosted a lecture by Fram Kitagawa, the General Director of the Setouchi International Art Festival, due to be held in 2010, which was attended by some 200 enthusiastic participants.
Fukutake Education and Culture Foundation
Actively Supports Individuals and Groups in Order to Promote the Development of Eeducation and Culture in Okayama Prefecture
Awards presentation ceremony
Fact-finding at TAFE in Australia
The original Fukutake Education Foundation was set up in 1986 to contribute to the advancement of education in Okayama Prefecture, where Benesse has its head office. Later, the Fukutake Culture Foundation came into being, and in 2007 the two were merged to form the Fukutake Education and Culture Foundation. The new, combined foundation aims to forge communities where everybody, including children and old people can live life to the full by helping people from both an educational and a cultural point of view as they learn, put their skills into practice, create something new, and communicate to others.
Activity Case
- As part of its financial assistance activities, the foundation has been providing grants for education, supporting practical research into education and the cultivation of academic and personal skills in schools and communities, as well as unique educational methods and English language training for elementary school teachers.
- The foundation's award activities involve selecting winners for, and presenting, four prizes each year. The four awards are: the Tetsuhiko Fukutake Education Prize, the Sumio Taniguchi Educational Incentive Prize, the Fukutake Culture Prize and the Fukutake Cultural Incentive Prize. All the prizes are very highly regarded in Okayama Prefecture.
- The foundation also conducts surveys and research, sending teams to conduct fact-finding on education in other countries with a view to encouraging a more international perspective among those working in Okayama Prefecture's education system. In 2007 and 2008 the foundation investigated TAFE (a state-maintained vocational education specialist school in Australia) and conducted an exchange program for Japanese and Chinese senior high school students.
Naoshima Fukutake Art Museum Foundation
Conducting Cultural Exchange Both Locally and Globally to Encourage Interest in and Understanding of Modern Art and the Natural Environment
The Chichu Art Museum
The “Naoshima” exhibition at the Venice Biennale
This foundation was established in 2004 to manage the Chichu Art Museum on Naoshima Island. The foundation has created numerous artistic installations as a means of revitalizing communities on Naoshima and the other islands of the Seto Inland Sea, and in June 2009 it presented the “Naoshima” exhibition in Venice, Italy. The foundation's representatives gave a presentation highlighting how Benesse is addressing the issue of depopulation, which affects regions worldwide, by contributing to local communities through architecture and art. They also took the opportunity to promote the Setouchi International Art Festival 2010, to be organized by Kagawa Prefecture.
Activity Case
- This foundation, which was established to manage the Chichu Art Museum on the island of Naoshima, has changed the way it donates in order to extend the scope of its activities. The foundation will now manage a number of art facilities on other islands.
- In June 2009 the foundation and Benesse Corporation together presented the “Naoshima” exhibition and symposium at Italy's Venice Biennale, an international art exhibition with a history spanning more than a century. The foundation took advantage of the opportunity to promote the Setouchi International Art Festival 2010. At the Venice Biennale Benesse also presents its award to support young artists with promising futures, and on this occasion it presented the eighth Benesse Prize to Hans-Peter Feldmann, an artist living in Germany.
Fukutake Foundation for the Promotion of Regional Culture
Supports Activities That Foster a Distinctive Local Culture to Invigorate Regional Communities
This foundation was established in 2007 with the aim of creating communities brimming with vitality and individuality. To this end it collaborates with local public sector bodies to help forge communities and revitalize local industry through activities that encourage creative artistic and cultural expression, particularly among residents of the region.
Activity Case
- Established in December 2007, this funding body collaborates closely with local public entities and other organizations to support efforts to forge communities and revitalize local industry through activities that encourage creative expression, particularly among residents of the region. In fiscal 2008, its first year, the foundation extended grants to 31 organizations throughout Japan.
- In fiscal 2008 the foundation conducted activities using modern art to enliven towns and to allow the many elderly residents in mountainous areas and remote islands to learn about the process of creating an artwork directly from artists. To increase the funds available for these art events, the foundation also promoted the “hometown tax payment” system, whereby urban dwellers can divert a portion of their residential taxes to their hometown in the country.
Examples of Local Art Projects Awarded Grants
| Street Corner Art Gallery 2009 Art＠Tsuchizawa |
| Watarase Art Project 2009 |
| Naruko Hot Springs “Living” Exhibition |
| Creating a new tourist attraction with the Kamikatsu Art Project: Vivid Satoyama exhibition |
| The Bird Theatre fiscal 2009 program |
| ArtLink ArtParty |
| 4th Fukuoka Asian Art Triennale 2009 |
4th Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial 2009 (fiscal 2009 project) The opening ceremony held in July 2009 |
| Beppu Contemporary Art Festival 2009 Mixed Bathing World |
| ARCUS Project 2009: The town's residents take the lead |
| Kyobashi Art Project |
| Plan for use of red brick warehouses in Maizuru - Cultural Creation and Regeneration Project Maizuru RB: Living With Red Bricks and the Sea |
| Kotobuki Creative Action 2009 |
| Project for integrating fusion of the artistic with the culinary in Toshima |
| Takeshi Cultural Center |
| Endangered/Landscape (provisional name) |
| Kamiyama Artist in Residence/Setouchi Artist in Kamiyama |
| Yatsuo Slow Art Show 2009 - community, arts and school |
| Art Via the Jujiro Road to North, South, East and West: Mitsu Boeki |
Together, the four foundations focus on a range of charitable goals, spanning education, academia, culture and regional revitalization. What is truly unique about these foundations is that they, and the activities they sponsor, serve to enhance Benesse's profile. In this way they support Benesse in its quest to win more loyal customers and “fans” than any other corporation worldwide, and to make itself indispensable to local communities and society at large.
In other words, Benesse's business activities and its charitable activities are aligned in the effort to make the Benesse name synonymous with helping people to “live well.” The foundations therefore enhance the Company's corporate value and play a key role within Benesse's CSR activities.
The challenge from now on is to build on efforts by the foundation's representatives and the volunteer activities undertaken by certain Benesse employees to establish a set-up that makes it easier for more Benesse employees to take the initiative and get involved in revitalizing local communities.
