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Molten’s DIY balls aim to close global education gap
ESG Talk
TOMOKO KAICHICONTRIBUTING WRITER

Molten Corp., a company in Hiroshima that
manufactures balls used by professional
sports leagues around the world and in the
Olympics, has stepped up efforts to help
achieve the U.N. sustainable development
goals (SDGs). In its most recent project, thecompany began selling My Football Kit, asoccer ball you assemble yourself, in January. The product is aimed at helping solve
the social problem of educational inequality and the issue of waste from discarded
balls. “This is an age when people andmoney are attracted to what they expect
companies can do in the future, rather
than their market shares or the size of theirsales,” Molten President and Chief Executive Officer Kiyo Tamiaki said. “It’s important for (a company) to continue to think of
the value it can create for its society.”
Molten was established in 1958. It has
since grown into a global brand of sportsballs that are chosen by a wide range of
people. In addition to sporting goods, it
operates in four other business areas: autocomponents; medical and welfare equipment, which handles such products as
wheelchairs and mattresses that prevent
bedsores; marine products; and infrastruc-

Kiyo Tamiaki and Minako Suematsu discussing the U.N. sustainable development goals
before the ESG Talk HIROMICHI MATONO

ture, which handles hydrophilic and industrial products, including anti-tremor rubber
bridge bearings. The company, which now
has nearly 4,000 employees globally, has
expanded its business scope by using the
air pressure-controlling technology developed in its founding business of ball manufacture, as well as its polymer chemistryknowledge and technologies developed
through the research and development ofmaterials such as rubber and plastics forauto parts.

The start: Getting balls to kids

The idea for My Football Kit grew from awish of an employee who grew up playing
soccer: to create opportunities for children
to grow through sports. “The philosophyof the SDGs is not to leave anyone behind,”
Tamiaki said. “There are children whom
no one gives a ball to. There are parents
who cannot buy balls for their children.
So we said, all right, then, we’re going to
make balls and send them to these people.” A development team worked on theidea, enlisting assistance from experts ondesign in and outside of the company andfrom education professionals. The company completed the product by bringing
together its technology and know-how as amanufacturer.
In developing the kit, Molten had twoof the 17 SDGs in mind. The first is “quality
education.” Borrowing from Japan’s traditional bamboo balls, the kit is assembled
from a total of 54 parts in three types. Tamiaki said the experience of assembling theball can help children develop a sense forthree-dimensional objects and learn the joyof achieving something.
The second is “responsible consumption and production.” The initial reason
for adopting the assemblable design was
because air pumps to inflate balls are notreadily available in many of the target
developing markets. But because this balldoes not need to be pressurized, it makes
air pumps obsolete. It can also reduce theKiyo Tamiaki joined Molten Corp. in 2006 after a stint at Yazaki North America Inc. He worked ininternational sales, management planning and public relations as director and executive officer
before taking up the current position in 2010. HIROMICHI MATONO

number of balls that are discarded after
being punctured. A damaged My Football
Kit can be repaired by replacing the broken
piece. To help conserve the environment,
40% of the parts are made from recycled
polypropylene. In the future, Molten plans
to develop a product that uses biodegradable plastics.

IMF has a bold climate change
plan, but it faces many hurdles
ESG / SDGs
ANTHONY ROWLEYCONTRIBUTING WRITER

Climate change, IMF Managing Director
Kristalina Georgieva has warned, is emerging as a “greater threat” than the COVID-19
pandemic, and some say it represents an“existential” threat to planet Earth and its
inhabitants. Worse, it could be a process ofslow death rather than sudden annihilation.
The dimensions of this dystopian future
emerged during a recent high-level panel
discussion organized by the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan. But there wasalso a message of hope — there is still timeto avoid calamity with determined andconcerted actions by governments and theprivate sector.
As Florence Jaumotte, a deputy division
chief in the IMF’s Research Department,
noted during the FCCJ event, “The window
for limiting temperature increase to safe
levels (1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius) is closing rapidly.” Currently they are on course to rise 3
degrees by 2050 and 6 degrees by 2100.
This could trigger “catastrophic outcomes” in which climate change reaches atipping point, unleashing “abrupt changes
and devastating damage,” she said. Temperatures have already risen 1 degree frompre-industrial levels, and projected increases
this century could cause severe economic
problems.
Jaumotte described in graphic detail thelikely consequences of an unchecked risein temperatures. Climate change, she noted,
poses a “fundamental risk to economic andfinancial stability,” while the health andsocial implications are, if anything, evenmore scary.
They include an “increase in infectious
diseases due to rising temperatures” — notsomething to be taken lightly in the midstof the COVID-19 pandemic — and “risingmigration pressures” as competition for land
and resources rises, leading to social frictions and maybe even wars.
Aggravating these tensions will be “declining productivity,” especially in agriculture
and fisheries, accompanied by “disruptionof economic activity and supply chains,”
destruction of physical capital such as infrastructure and the need to divert resources
into adaptation and reconstruction.

How to pull back from brinkJaumotte is far from being simply a doomsayer, however. In a detailed presentation
she laid out a scenario under which it is still
possible for the world to pull back from thebrink of calamity — a possible but by nomeans assured outcome that would demand
effort and determination.
The IMF plan combines carrot-and-stickincentives to limit carbon dioxide (CO2)emissions and thus limit the rise in Earth’s
temperatures to “manageable” levels. It
involves carbon pricing and carbon taxing, acarbon emissions trading market and what
Jaumotte called “green supply policies.”“The argument we make is that, combinedwith carbon taxation policies, green supply policies can contribute to a substantial
decline in emissions without a major hit toeconomic activity,” she said. But absent suchpolicies, global output could plunge by 35%
by the end of the century.
“Most of the work,” Jaumotte explained,“is done by the carbon tax” — a levy applied
to fossil fuels based on how much carbon
dioxide they release when burned. Coal,for example, releases more carbon pollution than natural gas to produce the sameamount of energy.
As the problem of climate change andglobal warming is global rather than local,
carbon emitters can reduce their tax liability
by buying carbon credits from others who
have reduced their own carbon “footprint”
by investing in carbon reduction in one
part of the world or another. Green supply
policies, in which governments use fiscal
resources to subsidize investment in low-carbon energy projects — such as low-carbon
infrastructure or carbon-neutral renewablesources like sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves
and geothermal heat — are other key elements of the IMF package.
“Such a comprehensive package actually boosts output and employment in theinitial years, supporting recovery from thepandemic,” Jaumotte said. “And thereafter the costs of the transition are relatively
moderate.”

Global coordination needed

All this raises the question of who will coordinate the many connected actions that thefight against climate change demands. Individual nations, notably the U.S. under President Joe Biden along with the EU, Japan and

One product, many ideas

What is notable about this endeavor isthat “a single product has had an impact
on our existing businesses, and created an
opportunity for employees to think more
about the environmental issues,” according to Tamiaki. “There has been a proposal
to stop using plastic wrapping for our

products in order to reduce the amount ofwaste from single-use plastic materials,” hesaid. Molten now has a plan to contributeto creating jobs in a developing country
by building a plant manufacturing the kit
there.
Molten does not sell My Football Kit in
the general market. Instead, it provides
the kits to groups and companies supporting the cause so that they can send themto children. The company also provides
a service of supporting the activities ofsuch groups and companies and reportingon outcomes of their endeavors, using its
human resources and personal networks
at its overseas offices. Further ahead, itaims to create a “platform for linking supporters with people and countries thatneed support,” according to Tamiaki. “Systems to redistribute wealth will become
more in demand going forward. This isgoing to be the first step,” he said.
In the medical and welfare equipment
business, Molten entered the wheelchairmarket in 2019. The company took noticeof the fact that eyeglasses, which were originally developed simply to correct vision,
have also become established as fashion
accessories. It then focused on pursuing“great design, beauty and comfort of use”
for wheelchairs, giving them highly functional and superior designs. Wheelchairs
are used by people with disabilities andthe elderly. Improving them is in line withthe brand statement of supporting fruitful
lives for people and contributing to creating a society where they can live healthy
and peaceful lives. The first product, named
Wheeliy, won in 2020 an iF Design Award,
which commends superior industrial
designs around the world.

Ahead of the SDG/ESG curve
Both My Football Kit and Wheeliy wereborn out of a one-year internal research
program called “strategic training,” nowin its seventh year. Under the program,seven to eight selected employees andWheeliy, the wheelchair that won an iF DesignAward in 2020 MOLTEN CORP

the management meet monthly for a session where employees give presentations
on new business ideas and participants
discuss them. At Molten, employees havediscussed ideas for contributing to society
through its business operations and put
them into practice since even before SDGs
and ESG investing — the practice of considering environment, social and corporate
governance factors in investment decisions— became buzzwords.
While building its successful trackrecord, Molten has begun to be aware ofenvironmental issues connected to its
products, the use of plastics in My Football
Kit being an example, according to Tamiaki. “There are issues that need to be solved(such as educational inequality and issues
related to waste disposal), and I think theimportant thing above all is to take the firststep if you find something wrong,” he said.
Asked what challenges the company may
take going forward, Tamiaki said, “As weare a company in Hiroshima, which faces
the Seto Inland Sea,
we hope to address
ocean issues andfocus attention on
local issues as well,even as we continue to operatebusiness globally.”
The ESG Talk series are interviews with business leaders who
are active proponents of ESG
investing and practices in Japan.

Think globally while eating
locally, then spread the word
Satoyama~Authentic
Japan
MAIKO MURAOKACONTRIBUTING WRITER

Frank Belitz

Florence Jaumotte

Sonja Gibbs

Moderator Anthony
RowleyChina, have announced national emissions
targets, but these need to be coordinated.
The Group of 20 advanced and emerging economies, plus the IMF, are seeking tocoordinate the efforts of multiple states andbodies, including the 196 parties to the Paris
accord on climate change, noted Sonja Gibbs,
head of sustainable finance at the Institute ofInternational Finance in Washington.
IIF involvement is critical. Climate change
is a key element of the U.N.’s sustainable
development goals, and the private sector
is envisaged as supplying half of the goals’
annual $5 trillion cost between now and2030. Yet the overall funding of the goals is
still “off track,” according to Gibbs.
Apart from trillions of dollars in new public
and private-sector investment in low-carbon
projects, further trillions will be needed towrite off high carbon-emitting “stranded
assets,” according to a Bank of England estimate. It is “not just a matter of turning off
the lights on such huge capital investment,”
Gibbs observed, and it is going to be costly.
Asia could be very hard hit in this regard,
noted Woochong Um, director general of
the Asian Development Bank’s Sustainable
Development and Climate Change Department, during the FCCJ event. Asia is among
the world’s highest carbon-emitting nations,and the cost of dealing with this will be commensurately high.
This section highlights the environment and asustainable society. For more information on ESG and SDG issues,
see www.sustainable.japantimes.
com/esg

Food can be an effective tool for regional
promotion. Every region has its own
unique food — a delicacy that can only beenjoyed in a particular area and season, or away of cooking that has an interesting historical background.
Two key people whose activities have
led to re-evaluation of such traditional local
foods and spreading the word about themwere invited to the 15th Satoyama Cafe on
Feb. 1 to talk about some of their ongoing
efforts and how important it is to have an
objective, outsider’s view in order to findtreasures in a region. Satoyama Cafe is aseries of talk events organized by the Japan
Times Satoyama Consortium. “Satoyama”
refers to rural areas where the balanceof nature and civilization is maintained
through the sustainable use of existing
resources.

The project designer, the chef
One of the speakers was Hima Furuta, aproject designer and the founder of Umari
Inc., a company based in Tokyo’s Minato
Ward. One of his major projects is theMorning University of Marunouchi, a citizens’ college that has attracted more than
20,000 students since its launch in 2009.
Much of his other work involves food andregions, such as operating restaurant buses
and launching restaurants and hotels thatfeature local characteristics.
The other speaker was Keisuke Matsushima, a chef and business manager who

Hima Furuta

Keisuke Matsushima

has run restaurants both in France andJapan. Matsushima, 43 years old, left forFrance when he was 20 to learn Frenchcooking. Instead of coming back to Japan
to open a restaurant after a period of training, the usual path for most Japanese chefs
who apprentice abroad, he stayed in France
and launched his first restaurant there. He
aimed to be accepted by French customers and win a Michelin star — which heachieved at the age of 28, making him theyoungest foreign chef to win a star.
“When I was 20, I was traveling aroundthe world, joining interesting events
like the Paris-Dakar Rally,” Furuta said.
Although the outbreak of the COVID-19
pandemic has affected human mobility,
Furuta stressed that people can be anywhere and still be connected to the world
thanks to modern technologies. “Whatever
the situation is, there are people who are
doing something interesting even at thisvery moment. There is no reason why
you cannot be one of them,” said Furuta,
encouraging today’s youth.
The two energetic talents have been collaborating with each other to organize the
Harajuku Food Summit since five years
ago. This year, the annual event was held
online in January. It offered opportunities
for experts from diverse food-related fields
and from various locations to exchange andcombine their knowledge and ideas.

Udon, wheat noodles that originallywere a dish local to Kagawa Prefecture,
can be dried and preserved. Using udonas the main concept, Furuta launched thelodge Udon House in 2018. It offers not only
accommodation but also experience inmaking udon plus many other programsfor getting to know the Kagawa city of
Mitoyo.
At first, the locals were skeptical and said
there was nothing special about udon. “Butin only half a year since its launch, Udon
House received visitors from 25 different
countries. It was also featured in articles
and programs for many international
media, including The Japan Times, theGuardian, Lonely Planet and CNN,” Furuta
said.
“We were able to find the real value inwhat is ordinary for the locals because wewere outsiders,” Furuta added.
Matsushima, who was chosen as a member of the committee to promote the traditional cooking of Nice for inclusion on the
UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list,
agreed and said that people tend to overlook the true value of what is always rightin front of their eyes. “Same is true about
your hometown. You don’t know what
your hometown is like while you are still
there. Japan became my homeland when
I left Japan,” said Matsushima, stressing theimportance of looking at a region from theoutside to identify and utilize its existing
resources effectively.

Preserving preserved foodHima Furuta’s Udon House UDON HOUSE

PAGE: 9Preserved food is one of the major themesthat the summit has focused on over theyears. Matsushima said preserved food is at
the center of any region’s culinary culture.
“You make preserved food because youlove where you live and you want to continue living there,” he explained.

“Sustainable Japan” features issues related tothe environment and a sustainable society,and highlights ESG and satoyama
activities. For more information,
see www.sustainable.japantimes.
com