Nepal Sarangkot Self-Reliance
Support Project
For the Children and the Community of the Future.

CONTENTS

2

P. 04

Supporting Mothersʼ Self-RelianceWill Create Childrenʼs Smiles

P. 06

The Current Situation ofSarangkot Village, Nepal

P. 08

Starting the Nepal Sarangkot
Self-Reliance Support Project

P. 10

Enabling Women to Earn Incomeby Themselves

P. 12

Sarangkot For Days Restaurant,
Supporting Economic Independence

P. 14

Enabling Children to Go to School

P. 16“Wanting to Do Something to Help Somebody.”
A Small Circle Eventually Led to a Large Activity

P. 18

Hope for the FutureOﬀering Ways for People to Live”

Reviewing the Record of
5 Years of Support
Reviewing the record of 5 years of support●Transferring to the local NGO

2014●Transferring to the local NGO

Dec.● Transferred to the local NGO

Apr.● Started the sewing machine course／
Started the 4th basic course
Started the 3rd practical course● Renewed the candy boxes

Jan.● Held the 2nd handicraft fair2013

Oct.● Sold Nepalese bags and small items in Japan
Aug.● Started the sewing machine course／
Started the 3rd basic course
Started the 2nd practical course

Jun.● Established theJun.● Opened the work room for the SFWH

on the second ﬂoor of the Restaurant

Sarangkot For Days
Women s Handicraft (SFWH)

Apr.● Held the grand opening Apr.● Donated the classroom

2012

event of the Restaurant

Dec.● Started the sewing

for 8th grade students and a library

Dec.● Held the pre-opening Dec.● Established a local NGO,

machine course／
Started the
1st practical course

event celebrating the
The Association for Nepal For Days Self-Reliance Supportcompletion of the
Sarangkot For Days Restaurant

Mar.● Started the sewing machine course／
Started the 2nd basic course

Feb.● Expanded and developed the school grounds

2011
Nov.● Started selling candies

at the Tribhuvan International Airport

Oct.● Completion of the candy

Jun.● Started the sewing machine course／
Started the 1st basic course

May.● Started constructing the Restaurant2010
Nov.● Started the 1st literacy class

Mar.● Completion of the
2009

Mar.● Held the 1st
handicraft fairSarangkot For Days
Work Training Center(Reconstruction of Community Hall)

2008

Mar.● Established the Green Worker Project

Nov.● Established an NPO, The Association for Nepal Synapse
Self-Reliance Support in JapanWork Training

Restaurant & Shop

OthersCandy Project3

Supporting Mothersʼ Self-RelianceWill Create Childrenʼs Smiles

Children in Sarangkot Village, Nepal.

An unprecedented example of a
project supporting self-reliance in Nepal
For Days, which has realized substantial growth by

than merely being a volunteer satisﬁed with only provid-

selling its nucleic acid drink, has also been focusing on

ing monetary support, the company has been practicing

social-contribution activities in order to continue to be a

the concepts ofcompany oﬀering people ways to live."form of self-reliance.

The company established a non-proﬁt organization(NPO),

4

Creating Shared Value (CSV)" in the

The trigger came when Ms. Wada, President of For

The Association for Nepal Synapse Self-Reli-Days, was moved by volunteer activities held in Cambo-

ance Support in Japan" in November 2008, in order to

dia while visiting Angkor Wat. When she learned about

impart sustainable and lasting values to society andthe current situation of Nepal after she returned to Ja-

fulﬁll our responsibility as a growing company." Rather

pan, for example, children who could not go to schoolbecause of poverty, parents who had no jobs and could

less this kind of project is carefully followed-up throughnot work, people who could not beneﬁt due to the caste

to the time when it can secure high-quality teachers andsystem, and illiterate people, she started to consider cre-

increase the percentage of children of school age at-ating an opportunity to give some sort of support.

tending school. There are few cases where supporting

Ms. Wada then promptly ﬂew to Sarangkot Village inprograms are extended on a long-term basis, and people

Nepal in January, 2008 and visited a primary school built

could never be relieved by mere donations in actuality.

by donations from Japanese people. However, what she

Ms. Wada came to realize that the most crucial factor

observed there was a scene of stagnated operations cou-

was to maintain and continue those projects and ensure

pled with an insuﬃcient number of teachers, resulting inthat those who are in hard straits would not be elimi-

a vicious circle.

nated from these projects." This is how she came to start

It has been said that schools themselves can be built by
spending one to two million yen. But much more diﬃcult

a project aiming at supporting people until they can ﬁnancially support themselves."

part is its operation thereafter. It is not true support un-

5The Current Situation ofSarangkot Village, Nepal■ Distribution of the population by caste andethnic group
Newar & others

Brahmin

Dalits

Abou
Ab
About
outt 1,400
1,400
men in their
men
their
prim
pr
ime
e of llife
ife
prime
are away
away from
fro
from
m
home, work
workining
gworkingabroad..
abroad■Adult literacy rate
Illiterate
28.1%

Illiterate
11.1%

Population ofSarangkot Village

6,643
FemaleMale

Janajati

Literate
88.9%

Chhetri

Literate
71.9%

Children who cannot go to school due
to poverty, caste, and ethnic issues

6

After the company investigated the situation in Sarang-

duct planned electricity cuts of over twelve hours per

kot Village, it became apparent that it would not be at all

day in 2010. This severely inﬂuenced the citizensʼ liveli-

easy to ﬁll gaps created by diﬀerences in income or liv-

hood, to say nothing of factories and oﬃces. Even theing standards due to the intricate caste and ethnic rela-political situation is unstable; anti-government protest

tions that existed in the village. Moreover, as there wererallies and demonstrations over constitutional conven-

only a small number of jobs to be found in the region

tions have been occurring frequently, and people go on

although villagers wanted to work, educated members ofgeneral strikes, hamstringing or closing all traﬃc systems,

the younger generations had to live in cities for their ca-

factories, and educational institutions, and even causing

reers, and many fathers had to work away from home−casualties in some cases.

such as India−leaving women, children, and people ofIn such a situation, women left in the village havethe older generation at home. Furthermore, it was also

scant opportunity to receive suﬃcient education and lit-

noted that the basis of agriculture, the key industry intle means to make money. There are parents who even

Nepal, was also vulnerable, and that Nepal was one ofhave diﬃculty paying tuition, and the enrollment ratethe “Least Developed Countries (LDC)” with the secondof school-aged children is also low. There are current-

lowest level of Gross National Income (GNI) in Asia af-ly ﬁve primary schools, two junior high and two senior

ter Afganistan. Sarangkot Village, in which many peoplehigh schools, one university, and one child care center

stopped over when visiting “Pokhara,” the second largest

in Sarangkot Village. There are, however, gaps between

city, was no exception.

parents who are and are not interested in education due

While the only energy source the economy in Nepal

to poverty, caste, and ethnic issues, and there are some

had to rely on was hydroelectric power generation, as

children who cannot even go to primary or junior highelectric shortages worsened, the country had to con-school today.

■Major occupation of the population above the age of 15 years
Brahmin
Chhetri
Janajati
DalitsNewar & others

Agriculture / Animal husbandry

Work in foreign countries

Business / Service

House work

Non-agricultural la bor

Student

Unemployment / Others■ School attendance rate by caste and ethnic groups (primar y schools)
Male
FemaleBrahminMale
FemaleChhetri

There are diﬀerent levels
and types of caste sys-

Janajati

tems and ethnic groups inSarangkot Village restricting

Dalitspeopleʼsdwellings,

farm-land, and occupation.

Newar & others

SAGUN Survey Report

0

20

40

60

80

100（%）(August 2009)

A poverty-stricken area with scanty roads,
drinking water, and medical institutions
Although there was revenue from tourism, only a very

depend only on rain-water in a dry region. As those farm-

small number of local residents were able to make a living

ers who had started growing coﬀee were making proﬁts,

by being involved in tourism. It was a poverty-stricken

others, inﬂuenced by them, have also started to grow cof-area with insuﬃcient basic infrastructure and not enoughfee and their numbers have increased in recent years. It

roads to link villages, drinking water, and medical insti-

has been suggested that if villagers could introduce new

tutions. Most of the villagers were engaged in tradition-

and advanced agricultural technologies, they would thenal agriculture, but they could only harvest agricultural

become able to generate cash by selling their agricultural

products such as maize or millet (cereals such as maize,

products in Pokhara, but there is still a long way to go.

foxtail millet, and barnyard millet) because they had to7

Starting the Nepal Sarangkot
Self-Reliance Support Project

Construction of the Sarangkot For Days Work Training Center started in November, 2008.

Establishing a cyclical economic society in which
villagers can lead stable lives permanently

8

Compounding this desperate situation, the Sarangkot

would truly link to the real development of the local re-villagers had lost sight of their goal as their community

gion if a cyclical and sustainable economic society werehall, which was still under construction in the center of

established in which villagers could earn their own living

the village, was entirely destroyed by a landslide that hit

and sustain their lives; fathers would then no longer need

the area after torrential rainfall in 2007. The company

to work abroad.

promised to make its utmost eﬀorts to reconstruct the

The Association decided to start the “Nepal Sarangkot

community hall, which was in complete collapse. It es-

Self-Reliance Support Project" aiming at creating a sus-

tablished an NPO, “The Association for Nepal Synapse

tainable community where villagers could earn income

Self-Reliance Support in Japan” in November 2008, andthrough their own eﬀorts. It ﬁrst contacted the Nepalesedecided to earnestly focus on its activities. However,NGO “Strengthened Actions for Governance in Utiliza-

making donations merely to build a hall is not the sametion of Natural Resources (SAGUN)" to request researchas providing support in a real sense. Monetary aid pro-and other cooperation in order to grasp the real situation

vided for a certain period of time does not constituteof the village. Programs within this project were planned

genuine support when the self-reliance of the residents,

through discussion with local citizensʼorganizations, athe community, and the village is considered. Rather, it

mothersʼ group in the village, and other residents.

Held the opening ceremony withthe attendance of Ms. Astha Laxmi
Shakya, Nepalese Minister of Industry (in those days) in March, 2009.

Ruins of the community hall which
was collapsed due to a landslidein September, 2007.

Generating cash by maintaining and continuing
the program
The new community hall was named the “Sarangkot

The support program was deliberately set for ﬁve

For Days Work Training Center.” It was used not only for

years, aiming at providing the necessary support to vil-meetings, but also for training courses to obtain various

lagers so that they could acquire the means to lead sta-skills; for example, vocational training mainly for females.

ble lives permanently, also taking into consideration the

It was also decided to construct the “Sarangkot For Days

development of tourism, by establishing a cyclical andRestaurant,” in order to “link vocational skills with op-

sustainable economic society in Sarangkot Village.

portunities to generate cash income,” which is one of thebiggest challenges related to this kind of support.
The most important point was to ensure that the program would be maintained and continued, and that those
who actually had needs were able to participate in thisprogram. It was a signiﬁcant challenge to introduce a
program in a community where there were people of diverse ethnic groups and social strata, and to aim at enhancing the living standard of the people in need.

9Enabling Women to Earn Incomeby Themselves
Oﬀering literacy classes for illiterate women
Awareness among Sarangkot Villagers was high ‒ thepromptly decided to open a second round of literacy

Sarangkot For Days Work Training Center was com-classes after receiving a formal request to continue thepleted in March, 2009 with the participation of the lo-class from Mothersʼ Group, a mutual support group in

cal residents and donations, both of which accounted forthe village. The classes were divided into introductory

20% of the construction costs. As students needed skills

and senior classes according to the studentsʼ level ofto read the textbooks provided and understand their con-acquisition. Senior classes also covered basic arithmetic

tent in order to proceed with vocational training, the ﬁrst

and newspaper reading. The students could then commu-

literacy class was held at the Training Center before thenicate with their husbands and children working abroad

actual training started. Sewing machine courses started

through letters, maintaining family ties even when they

as vocational training from June 2010.

lived apart from each other.

As the literacy class became extremely popular, it was

Women taking a sewing machine class.

10

Attending a literacy class before starting the sewing machine course.

Obtaining stable income by acquiring skills inusing sewing machines
Mothers who had children and lived in Sarangkot Vil-ing to a pattern, learning how to use a sewing machine,lage were ﬁrst chosen to attend the ﬁrst round of basic

and making bags and small items using six sewing ma-

sewing machine courses, and they acquired basic skills

chines. Twenty-four mothers completed the basic course

in using sewing machines. The classes were divided into

in approximately six months. The second basic course

two. The curriculum consisted of cutting cloth accord-

started from March, 2011, and ﬁfteen students completed
the course. Of these, seven students who were willing tostudy further participated in a practical course to formally make bags and small items. After they obtained
their skills, they continued to accumulate income andpractical experiences by utilizing the Sarangkot For Days
Restaurant as a sales outlet, so that they could continue
to obtain stable income using skills gained through thetraining. The ﬁfth basic course is currently being held,and both the areas from which people attend and thenumber of students have increased. It has been reported
that women who completed these courses have sincebought their own sewing machines, and are sharing themamong family members and obtaining income by receiving orders to make and mend clothes. Some have also
been using the skills they obtained through training to

Twelve females selected to attend the practical course.

ﬁnd jobs and even to become ﬁnancially independent.

11

Sarangkot For Days Restaurant,
Supporting Economic Independence

Restaurant staﬀ members were those who completed the sewing machine courses.

Attracting tourists and selling handicrafts
made by local women
The Sarangkot hill is a globally-renowned sunrise view-aging tourists to stay and spend money in the village. Its

ing spot. Although a fairly large number of tourists visit

objective was to create a place from which to revitalize

the hill on a daily basis to enjoy the view of the rising

the village as a whole, one which provides tourists a spot

sun, they had tended to go back right after, as there werefrom which to enjoy beautiful scenery while dining andno tourist facilities in the surrounding area. The Sarang-

to buy handicrafts made by local women at the shop lo-

kot For Days Restaurant (hereafter, the Restaurant) wascated next to the Restaurant.

constructed to facilitate the development of tourism, and

The Restaurant was built in one corner of the school

to provide support to women who had completed voca-

area based on requests from Manijyoti Lower Secondary

tional training, generating an economic eﬀect by encour-

School which had an insuﬃcient number of teachers. The
school became able to recruit two additional teachersthat they needed by using the rent paid by the Restaurant based on a contract that the Association had concluded with the school to rent part of its land and build
the Restaurant. Moreover, theGreen Worker Project

was established, centering on children, as a part of moral
education. The children promoted Sarangkot to tourists
by cleaning up their own village. It is expected that thiskind of activity will nurture their sense of participation
in social activities as members of the community, andallows children to grow to be leaders of the village inAn exterior view of the Sarangkot For Days Restaurant.

12

the future.

The terrace where meals can be taken while viewing the Himalaya Mountains.

Managers and waitresses are women
who took sewing machine courses
The Restaurant, opened in April 2012, has been very

waitresses are women who took sewing machine courses.

successful. The picturesque view of the beautiful rising

The shop established besides the Restaurant sells handi-

sun and the Himalaya Mountains from the open terrace

crafts that local women who participated in sewing ma-

and large windows captivate visitors. The Restaurant ischine courses have made. Their biggest concern at thisa clean facility that could become a model for future de-moment is to ensure that this Restaurant continues to bevelopment, incorporating a water purifying plant, com-on the right track, as whether they could successfully re-

posting toilets, solar heat and power generators, andalize the economic independence based on earned cash

so forth, respecting nature in development, and taking

income is determined by the degree of success achieved

into consideration environmental factors. Managers andby this Restaurant.

Developing and selling a new Nepalesespecialty
On the occasion of the Nepal Tourism Year 2011,“Himalaya Candy" was developed in collaboration
with the Nepal Tourism Board, in order to develop a
local specialty which could be purchased as souvenirs
by tourists who visited Nepal. This product was firstlaunched at the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, the Capital of Nepal, and it has also been soldat the Restaurant in Sarangkot. Moreover, by procuring
raw materials and manufacturing products in Nepal, it
has contributed to generating employment and developing industries, and it has become popular particularly
among the tourists. Its proﬁts have been utilized extenHimalaya Candy in which ﬁve small boxes designed withpictures of diﬀerent scenic spots are kept inside a big box

sively to support disadvantaged children in Nepal, notlimiting to children living in Sarangkot Village.

designed with a picture of Mount Everest

13

Enabling Children to Go to School
When the mothers become active,
the whole region is revitalized
The fourth round of basic sewing machine courses and

73 students who completed the basic sewing machine courses

the third round of practical courses which started in June

Using today 88％

2010 were completed in September 2013, with a total of

88％

E
A
12% 11%93 female graduates (73 students from the basic courseand 20 from the practical course). The ﬁfth round of basic courses is now in progress.
As shown in the pie chart on the right, most of thefemale graduates have been using sewing machines, andmore than 30% of the graduates have been able to earn
income with the skills they have acquired. This point has

A

12％

With income

independent or（ ﬁnancially）working at a shop

B
21%

D
27%

Not using today 12％

B With income (SFWH)
C Preparing for ﬁnancial independence

C
29%

D

Purchased a sewing machine, andutilizing it at home

E Others

been highly evaluated by the administrative oﬃcials ofSarangkot Village. There are high expectations for re-using sewing machines; but also concepts vis-à-vis prod-

gional revitalization centering on women who completed

uct manufacturing. Sarangkot For Days Womenʼs Handi-

the practical course.

craft (SFWH) was established in June 2012, in order toStudents in practical courses, which started in Decem-

allow all the practical course graduates to become ﬁnan-ber, 2011, were selected by the instructor and the Pro-

cially independent and to earn cash. Graduates can savegram Coordinator, taking into consideration their degree

their capital and reinvest it; in addition to the skills thatof eagerness and level of accomplishment in the basic

they acquire in courses, such as design, quality, and sales

course. Students in the practical course will not only

channels. The SFWH has converted the oﬃce on thelearn technical matters, namely, how to make products

second ﬂoor of the Restaurant to a work room, and has

Visit to a sewing machine class by supporting members of the Association.

14

The third round of practical course

Ms. Kanya Thapa Magar

expanded its activities using the shop on the ﬁrst ﬂoor as
one of its sales outlets.
The Restaurant and the adjacent shop have become
indispensable for the development of the village. Moreover, mothers in Sarangkot Village can generate cash in-

We greatly appreciate all the members forcome by attending the sewing machine courses in theproviding us with these courses and various

curriculum. They have begun to realize a sustainablekinds of support. The courses that we took

economic environment in which mothers can aﬀord towere extremely meaningful. We are convinced

send their children to school and have some measure ofthat these courses will help us tremendously inﬁnancial stability.

the future.

Establishing an NGO centering on Sarangkot villagers
Even when the support program ends in ﬁve years, itwill not mark the end of the project. In December 2011,
the residents established an NGO, “The Association for
Nepal For Days Self-Reliance Support," to succeed the
support projects. Necessary preparations have started sothat residents will be able to take over these projects andtake the initiative to promote them.
Mr. Dhruba Shrestha,
Chairperson of the local NGO

Mr. Sonam Sangpo,
Program Coordinator

The Association for Nepal Synapse Self-Reliance Support in Japan will transfer and appropriately hand over allof the vocational training, restaurant, and candy projects
to the NGO free of charge. The role of the former Association in the future is expected to be to verify and give
advice regarding the soundness of the local NGO and its
business operations, and to continue to watch over the
The oﬃce of the local NGO,

The Association for Nepal

For Days Self-Reliance Support.

independence and development of Sarangkot Village inthe future, mainly through monitoring.

15

“Wanting to Do Something to Help Some
A Small Circle Eventually Led to a Large

Providing heartfelt support,
together with members
This Nepal self-reliance support program is constantly
looking for supporting members. 53 supporting members
and others have visited the site in 2009 as part of their■Comments by the members

activities. The number of members has exceeded 100 asof September of that year.
73 members participated in the fourth on-site visit heldin January, 2013. It has been reported that they were

Ms. Harumi Sawai
Although I had some concerns before departure, they faded away day by day. It was not as

pleased to feel how peopleʼs lives have changed and tosevere as I had thought in the beginning, and I

learn of their growth and development, after talking withgreatly appreciate all the members for their con-the Sarangkot villagers. The number of members has be-

sideration because the members always watched over us carefully and were very considerate. I was able to understand whatcome 1,967 in total in April, and the supporting circle iskind of support For Days has provided when I actually camegradually and steadily expanding in size.

here and saw the site. The expressions of the local people werevery cheerful, and I understood how much they welcomed us. I
was able to learn about the “hearts” which we often forget, suchas mothersʼ strong desire to accomplish something or childrenʼshappy faces and perseverance. I assume they went through a lotof hardships before they were able to realize their strong desire
to be able to “move other peopleʼs hearts.” Although it would nottake them long to become independent, what I could do now is
to extend this current situation to many people. I consider that
this small circle will lead to a large activity, and formulate a pagein our history and a page in our hearts. It was a signiﬁcant week,
and I was able to learn a lot from this activity.

■Letters of appreciation sent to the Association from local children

16body.”
Activity

Ms. Yurika Matsuura

Ms. Kumiko Nakamura

It was a marvelous country in which ﬂowers

When I visited Sarangkot Village before, hon-of all four seasons bloom at the same time andestly speaking, I wondered what local women

can be seen in various places … … I was totally

could actually do… … However, I was very sur-thrilled and impressed by the diﬀerent shades ofprised and also aﬀected to see how much theycolors of the mountains, which changed from the sunrise. Their

have changed in only six months. Moreover, I was also extremely

magniﬁcent views and awesomeness made me think that thisimpressed when one middle-aged woman who studied letters in

was a place where the mysterious power of gods dwelled. Whilea literacy class told me that she could now read and understandI was continuously amazed by the severity of the environment

the contents of the letters sent by her son who lived far away."surrounding Sarangkot Village, I was deeply impressed by the

The faces of women living in the village looked diﬀerent from thebright and enthusiastic looks of children and the happy smiles

previous visit, and they showed conﬁdence and looked lively. I

beaming from the faces of women at the Training Center. The

was able to understand how people could change and how theirweek has passed quickly, but it became a trip in which I foundlives could also change when they have dreams and objectives

many important points to consider as I continue to lead my life

to fulﬁll.

from here onwards.

■The Association s activities were taken up in local newspapers and The
Sankei Shimbun (a daily industrial and economic newspaper in Japan).

The Sankei Shimbun article on
the 25th of January, 2013.

Nepalese newspaper
articlesnewspa17

Hope for the FutureOﬀering Ways for People to Live”
Five years have passed as of November last year
since you started your support activities in Nepal. How
is the situation today?
The faces of local mothers look diﬀerent comparedwith ﬁve years ago. I feel that they have now come tofoster an endeavoring spirit, feeling that they really want
to become self-supportive. We were considering providing some kind of scholarships for children" in the beginning. However, when we saw a group of mothers going into the forest to collect branches, we changed ourplans. We started to understand the feelings of mothers
who were striving hard to foster their children by do-

happy to sleep and wake up on the next day if they haveing whatever they could in order to earn a paltry sum

dreams, and their lives will become more aﬄuent.

of cash to raise them. We thought then that we should
be supporting those mothers rather than their children.
Men, who are children's fathers, went to cities to work,

For Days must be a major presence for the local
people by now. Isnʼt it?

but many of them have been missing since. We therefore

Fortunately, the reputation of this support activity isstarted thinking that we needed to establish an environ-high in Nepal, and they have been saying that “it is notment where mothers can feel secure to raise their chil-just Sarangkot Village which has changed but the whole

dren, and that was why we decided to support women.

region.”

We worked out our stance so that it would not merely

His Excellency Dr. Ganesh Yonzan Tamang, former

be one-way support as a contributor, but rather carefully

Ambassador of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ne-

devised support also aiming at fostering their mental self-

pal to Japan, also said, “I ﬁrmly believe that this is anreliance, by promoting villagers themselves to voluntarily

endeavor which will become a model for other develop-

participate in those activities. It was not merely 100%ers in Nepal."

support rendered by us, but rather was supposed to be
developed by their own initiative, with us acting as sup-You began to transfer the projects in 2011 to theporters, so to speak, and therefore everybody is earnestly

local NGO, which has also begun to conduct support

striving.

activities.
Although our support program has been concluded af-

You have also been developing activities to enhance childrenʼs awareness.

ter ﬁve years, this does not mean that the projects haveaccomplished their goals. The operations of the Restau-

We have started the Green Worker" Project, center-rant, vocational training, and candy project were trans-

ing on volunteer children in order to foster awareness offerred to the local NGO. Our role in the future presum-social participation. They maintain the village's nature

ably will be to ensure that the local NGO retains fairness

and beautiful scenery by putting garbage and litter inand reliability. Troubles may even occur when they gen-buckets. They are very proud of participating in theseerate proﬁts. A person who tries to monopolize proﬁts

activities, as they can now participate as social workers,

may emerge. We will continue to check whether it is op-

contributing to their community. They did not know that

erated responsibly.

they needed to return items that they borrowed before,18

and they used to throw litter anywhere around, but theyOn the 5th of December last year, the company

seemed quite unconcerned. But now, there are peoplecelebrated its 15th anniversary since it started selling

who warn children who are about to throw away a can-“Natural DNA Collagen," a nucleic acid drink using

dy wrapper. It seems that their thinking has started to“nucleic acid," a genetic nutrient, as its main ingredi-change gradually. We want children to live with dreams,

ent, and 5 years have passed since it started its support

pride, and conﬁdence. We believe that they can feel

activities. Both of these dates seem to be important

decisive points − can you speak of your aspirations
regarding the support and For Days in the future?
We consider that the Creating Shared Value (CSV)
concept is important. We want For Days to continue tobe a company which can oﬀer people ways to live. As
for support activities, we hope to take the time to foster
people and do projects with them in the future; it would
be our main goal if we could do so. The same can bedone to the company. The nucleic acid drink has also
grown by linking with people. Moreover, it would be
crucial to be active if we were to create an environmentthat is comfortable for people to live in. Young people
who support the aged need to be energetic and healthy
in an aging society. We will also develop new supplements in the future, and we consider that our mission is
to extend peopleʼs healthy lives further.

A Leading Company of
Nucleic Acid NutrientsFor Days started focusing on a nutrient referred toas nucleic acidfrom early on in 1999 and developing

Keiko Wada
President of For Days Co., Ltd.

products based on the idea of allowing it to be absorbed

Born in Hiroshima in 1956. After graduating from Meiji Uni-

from inside our bodies. Natural DNA Collagen, a wa-

versity in the School of Political Science and Economics in 1979,

ter-soluble nucleic acid drink that is its current ﬂagshipshe worked at an ordinary company, then changed her job
and joined a cosmetics company. She has worked as a branch

product, has been renewed six times up to 2011, making

manager, experienced training and education department, andit a more powerful and well-balanced nutritional supple-

become Executive Director of a subsidiary, working there for 13

mentary food.
There are many types of supplements containing nu-

years. She then worked as a sales general manager at a foreign
capital company for two years.
She established For Days in 1997, and the company has con-cleic acid sold on the market today, and an ingredienttinuously accomplished increased earnings for 14 consecutive

referred to as the nucleic acid has started to be recog-

business years up to 2013. She is currently the leader of a com-

nized. The company will continue to pursue how nucleic

pany with annual sales of over 35 billion yen.
She graduated from the Graduate School of Business Admin-acid is related to health and how it can evolve further toistration of Meiji University and obtained a Master of Businesscreate new standards as a leading company of nucleic

Administration (MBA) in 2014. She has also published twoacid nutrients.

books with DIAMOND Inc.

The business style of For Days is to introduce its impressive benefits to oneʼs friends and acquaintances,after actually experiencing it and recognizing how superior the product is. The number of current members isapproximately 290,000 (and the total sales for the ﬁscal
year ending on the 31st of March, 2013, marked 35.8

Transition of sales and number of members

35.8billion yen
290,000 members (10,000 people)(billion yen)

Sales
Number of members

billion yen).
※ Genetic information is encoded in the DNA which exists in cell

nuclei, and RNA utilizes this information to synthesize various
types of protein. As the DNA and RNA are acidic substances innuclei, they are referred to as nucleic acids.

(Fiscal year ending on the 31st of March)19

１-13-21 Nihonbashi Kayabacho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan 103-0025
TEL：+81-3-5614-7527

FAX：+81-3-5643-1176