We consider "contribution to the sustainable development of local communities" to be an important material issue, and are developing various activities to support the sustainable community development.
Benefit scholarship program
Introduced in 2018, the purpose of this scholarship program is to provide financial aid to students that have the motivation and ability but face difficulty in attending school due to financial reasons, thus helping them move to higher education or the next grade and focus on their studies. Provides up to five students with two years of non-repayable tuition for be students that are candidates for enrollment into a four-year university (second-year or higher undergraduate students) or graduate school.
We have received the following comments from students who have utilized the scholarship payment system: "Thanks to this system, my financial burden was reduced," and "I was able to concentrate on my studies without being consumed by part-time jobs."
We will continue to support the young people who will lead the future. Applications for fiscal 2024 will begin in February 2024.
For the details on the scholarship, please click here.
Carlit Explosives and Hodogaya Plant
Carlit Explosives
Company founder Soichiro Asano entered various businesses and started the cement business in 1883, in anticipation of the business' future potential. The move marked the beginning of Asano Cement Ltd. (established in 1912; predecessor of the current Taiheiyo Cement Corporation).
In the production of cement, a large amount of explosives was needed to quarry limestone, a raw material for cement. At that time, dynamite was used as an industrial explosive, and all of the main raw materials, such as glycerin, were imported. With the outbreak of World War I, it became impossible to import both dynamite itself and the raw materials needed to make it.
It was then that Asano turned his attention to "Carlit Explosives," products based on technology invented in Sweden. The Carlit Group was born in 1918 following the acquisition of patents for the manufacture of Carlit Explosives in Japan.
These epoch-making explosives have the same power and safety as dynamite, and above all, are mainly produced from salt and electricity, raw materials that can be procured in Japan (ammonium perchlorate). They supported Japan's industrial development in work such as mining, quarrying, and civil engineering, until they were replaced by safer and higher-performance explosives, namely ammonium nitrate fuel oil and emulsion explosives.
Ammonium nitrate fuel oil and emulsion explosives are manufactured by Japan Carlit Co., Ltd. and sold by Japex Co., Ltd., a company accounted for using the equity method of the Group.
Hodogaya Plant
The Hodogaya Plant (Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture), which boasted a total floor space of about 26 hectares (the size of about five Tokyo Domes), was established in 1919 to manufacture Carlit Explosives. The plant also contributed to the revitalization of the region, including the provision of long-term employment, as a manufacturing base for products such as signal flares for railways and automotive emergency flares, which the Company started selling later. However, the Company needed to relocate the plant due to progress with housing development in the surrounding area, resulting in the establishment of Japan Carlit Co., Ltd.'s Akagi Plant (Shibukawa City, Gunma Prefecture) in 1995. It was also at this time that we stopped producing Carlit Explosives, the origin of our business.
Part of the former plant site is now used as a private nursing home, while the rest is preserved as green space through joint development with Yokohama City and donations, thereby supporting and cooperating with the city's Yokohama Green Up Plan.
Among this space, Tachibana no Oka Park, which spans about 12 hectares, is used as a recreation area for local residents and also serves as regulating reservoir to mitigate flooding.
Although only a small amount of land currently remains, we will continue to conduct green space conservation activities in areas to which we are indebted by making effective use of the land, and will endeavor to help create a prosperous city.
Forest preservation activities "Japan Carlit Forest"
Gunma Prefecture aims to improve the diverse functions of forests, such as the prevention of global warming, through the Prefectural Forest Maintenance Partner Project.
We have been participating in this project since fiscal 2022 to protect the natural environment, which serves as a water source for the local Gunma area and other metropolitan areas, by properly maintaining and preserving forests, thereby contributing to safe living in the region.
Community Contribution Activities
In order to realize our contribution to the sustainable development of local communities, we are involved in activities such as clean-up campaigns and sponsorship of neighborhood festivals. We will continue to promote communication with the residents where our locations are situated.
