6 | The Japan Times | Monday, March 29, 2021

sustainable japan

ESG promotional content
produced by The Japan Times Cube

Founding spirit drives Suntory’s environmental efforts
ESG Talk
TOMOKO KAICHICONTRIBUTING WRITER

Under its corporate mission, “To Create Harmony with People and Nature,” the Suntory
Group has worked to address issues facing
our society, including climate change andenvironmental problems. In 2019, the group
established the “Suntory Group Sustainability Vision,” which showcased, to theJapanese as well as the global community,
the group’s efforts to help conserve water
resources, reduce carbon dioxide emissions,conserve the global environment and protect human rights in supply chains, as wellas contribute to spiritually rich and healthy
lives of people. It calls on countries, companies, nongovernmental and nonprofit
organizations, educational institutions andconsumers to work together toward thegoal of solving issues faced by society on a
global scale.
Takeshi Niinami’s interest in considering environmental, social and governance(ESG) factors in business management grew
after experiencing the 2011 earthquake andtsunami disaster that hit eastern Japan while
he was serving as president of Lawson Inc.
Facing the disaster’s devastation, he said hestrongly felt that “Businesses must stay close

After working for Mitsubishi Corp., Niinami
served as president and chief executive officer of
Lawson Inc. and took up his current position in
2014. HIROMICHI MATONO

to its society and live with it to make it better.” Suntory does business under the spiritof “Giving Back to Society,” passed down
since the company’s founding, and engages
in ESG initiatives. It too believes, Niinami
said, that “we can operate business only as
long as we stay close to our society.”

Recognized for water efforts

In an initiative for increasing water
resources, the company in 2003 launched
the “Natural Water Sanctuary” project
aimed at enhancing the replenishment ofwater in the ground. It was active in Tokyoand 14 other prefectures across Japan asof June 2020. It had a target of cultivatingwater that totaled at least twice as much as
the groundwater used by the company’s
domestic plants. The target was achievedin 2019, a year ahead of the deadline. For
Suntory, which publicly pledges “Mizu toIkiru” (“Living with Water”) as the group’s
promise to stakeholders, water is key to its
corporate activity. Niinami said, “In order for
us to make beverages, we need to not justtake water from nature but also protect andnurture water resources and pass them onto the next generation.” Suntory also undertakes this activity at its overseas operations
and aims to expand it further.
In addition to efforts to enhance the cultivation of water in the ground, Suntory’s
water-related efforts, which are known
internationally, include measures to saveand recycle water at its plants, nature andwater education programs for children,and efforts to conserve and regenerate thenatural environment. In December 2020,
Suntory Beverage & Food Ltd. earned thehighest rating of “A” in a water security survey by CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project) for the fifth consecutive year.
The subsidiary earned the same rating in
CDP’s climate change program, which recognizes excellence in environmental conservation activities.
In measures to address climate change,
Suntory announced an “Environmental

Chief Executive Officer of Suntory Holdings, Ltd. Tak Niinami and Minako Suematsu getting ready for the ESG talk. HIROMICHI MATONO

Vision toward 2050” under which it aims
to reduce the amount of greenhouse gas
emissions to net zero across its whole value
chain. Working with stakeholders, Suntory
undertakes initiatives such as the introduction of energy-saving technologies, theactive use of renewable energy and the useof next-generation infrastructure.

Improving plastic recycling

In 2019, it established the “Suntory Group
Plastic Policy,” which aims to switch all PET
bottles used by Suntory’s global operations
to recycled or plant-based materials by theend of 2030, making all of them sustainable.
According to Niinami, Japan leads the worldin the system for collecting used plastic
and the technology for recycling most of it,
thanks to the private sector’s role in leading the efforts to develop such a system andtechnology. He says that what needs to bedone next is to develop a system to recycle
the waste plastics that have so far been used

Monthly Times Gallery

French Ambassador Philippe Setton poses with Rep. Nobuteru Ishihara, chairman of the Japan-France Parliamentary Friendship League inthe House of Representatives, in front of his family’s hina-dan, a collection of traditional Japanese dolls for the occasion of the Hina Matsuri(Doll Festival). EMBASSY OF FRANCE

to realize the usefulness of plastics in preventing infection and for medical treatment. “People used to think plastics mustbe eliminated because they are ‘evil,’ but
such thinking has undergone a significant
change,” Niinami said. “They now thinkplastics should be recycled.”

Global COVID-19 efforts

Suntory globally engages in various activities to help people affected by the COVID-19
pandemic. These include the production ofsterilizing alcohol in Japan, the United States,
Canada, Europe and Mexico; the provisionof various forms of support to restaurant
and bar workers and their families acrossnumerous markets, including meal support
and the donation of hand-made face masks
to people in the restaurant industry, mainlyin the U.S.; and the “Sakimeshi” project tosupport restaurants in Japan. The company’s employees offered ideas for support
projects, varying in scale, and then realized

The ESG Talk series are interviews to business leaders who
are active proponents of ESG
investing and practices inJapan.

NTT Art Technology shows
regional art anywhere, anytime
On the occasion of the Statehood Day of the Republic of Serbia on Feb.
15, on behalf of President Aleksandar Vucic, Charge d’Affaires adinterim Ivana Golubovic-Duboka presented the Order of the SerbianFlag-Third Rank to Naohide Ueyama, honorary consul-general of the
Republic of Serbia in Osaka. EMBASSY OF SERBIA

Djibouti Ambassador
Ahmed Araita Ali met
former Ambassador
Koji Yonetani, current
director-general of
the African Affairs
Department andassistant minister at
the Foreign Ministry,at the ministry inTokyo on Feb. 4.

On March 5, newly
appointed Armenian
Ambassador Areg
Hovhannisianpresented a copy ofhis credentials to
Takeo Akiba, viceminister for foreign
affairs. EMBASSY OF
ARMENIAEMBASSY OF DJIBOUTI

Lebanese Ambassador Nidal Yehya and his wife, Nancy Nameh, withchildren and teachers from the Chateau School, a multilingual international preschool, in the ambassador’s office, Feb 19 EMBASSY OF LEBANON

The Italian Chamber of Commerce in Japan organized Mimosa Day topromote International Women’s Day (Festa della Donna) on March 8.

The Embassy of Mexico has started an initiative to celebrate International Women’s Day jointly with other embassies in Japan. The theme
was #Diplomats4Women, with members of different missions holding#Diplomats4Women posters.

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Japan held a webinar on March 8
and 9 to support International Women’s Day. The speakers were Team
Canada’s chef de mission for Tokyo 2020, Marnie McBean and Quebec’s
minister for education and for the status of women Isabelle Charest, with
Jackie F. Steele as the moderator. LAURENT TREMPEEMBASSY OF MEXICO

as a heat source.
But there are issues confronting such an
endeavor. One is the huge costs of developing and introducing the necessary technologies, which are expected to progress
going forward. In order to recover the costs,
instead of just passing them on to consumers, Niinami says, beverage companies need
to not just cooperate with rivals but must
unite all available resources in the industry, including its supply chains, to achieve
technological innovation and reduce costs
as well as increase processing capacity. He
adds that cooperation by citizens and the
support by the government are also necessary. There are in addition urgent needs
to reduce the use of virgin plastic and todevelop technologies to reduce the amountof carbon dioxide discharged in the recycling process.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major
impact on the economy and our lives, but it
also has created an opportunity for people

them by working with local communities.
Niinami believes the company’s sustainability activity has had a significant role inmotivating employees on such initiatives.
The sustainability activity “made them feellike working with a company that shares
their wish (to contribute to society), which
helped motivate them.” He added that hecan feel “the founding spirit of ‘Giving Back
to Society’ is very much alive across ourglobal operations.”
Niinami has a sense of crisis about thefact that moves to create ESG rules and standards are being led by Europe. He worries
that the idea of “green technology” could
mean that technologies that have existed formany years may be regarded as having novalue just because they do not comply with
newly created rules. Niinami said the ideaof ESG is being used by countries as part oftheir growth strategy, and he had the following advice to offer Japanese businesses fromthe standpoint of a global company:“You need to continue to showcase yourcompany’s technology and initiatives, andget everybody involved. In doing so, you
should talk about things that you can doby putting in a little more effort, instead ofjust what you can do right away. You canachieve innovation by setting a target a little
further away. That’s what common sensesays in the world. You should go along the‘virtue done openly’ philosophy rather than‘virtue done secretly.’ It’s important for boththe private sector and the government todisseminate information to the world andmake what is attractive about Japanesecompanies and their technologies known.”

ITALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN JAPAN

Satoyama~Authentic
Japan
MAIKO MURAOKACONTRIBUTING WRITER

Culture can be a powerful tool to invigorate a region because everything else — theeconomy, society, education, people’s lives— is connected to culture. “All the measures that have been taken from various
aspects to revitalize a region derive fromone common principle, which is how toutilize the region’s culture,” said Manabu
Kunieda, CEO of NTT ArtTechnology Corp.,
in a recent online interview with The Japan
Times.
Taking advantage of technologies effectively is a must in utilizing culture forregional revitalization and promotion. Thisis especially so in the midst of this COVID-19
pandemic and the new era that will follow.
NTT ArtTechnology uses cutting-edge digitalization and visualization technologies toshowcase various forms of culture and thearts, connect regions with regions, and serve
as a hub for cultural exchanges.
It is a new company, established in
December. The parent company, NTT East
Corp., identified issues that each region
faces while conducting its core business ofproviding communications and related services to all of eastern Japan. “NTT East has
also been contributing in solving regional
problems, for example, providing ICT network solutions to the primary industries” ofagriculture, dairy and fishing, said Kunieda,
referring to information and communications technology.
He said the number of issues related topreserving regional culture and art has been
increasing in recent years. “Issues range
from damage caused by disasters or aging toa shortage of successors. Many regions facedifficulties in preserving both tangible and

3D immersive theater NTT ARTTECHNOLOGY

PAGE: 6

Digital x Hokusai “Hasyo=Development”
Hokusai vs Hiroshige exhibition being held at
ICC NTT ARTTECHNOLOGY

intangible cultural assets and art forms, andhanding them down to future generations,”
he said.

Advanced tech to show old art

NTT ArtTechnology aims to overcome
these challenge by digitalizing and archiving
cultural content and artworks using
advanced technologies including high-resolution scanning and reproduction.
But its work does not end there. Regions
and their cultures and arts will have a betterchance of survival if many people take aninterest in and interact with them, stimulating communication among people as well
as regions. To achieve this, NTT ArtTechnology offers means for showcasing digitalized
contents, both on-site and online.
Its head museum is NTT Inter Communication Center (ICC) in Tokyo’s Shinjuku
Ward, where “Digital × Hokusai,” a series ofexhibitions displaying digitalized replicasof great works of art, including Katsushika
Hokusai’s series “Thirty-six Views of MountFuji,” has been held. The real Hokusai
works are housed at Yamanashi Prefectural
Museum. Being able to appreciate the real
works is of course worthwhile, but digital
replicas can offer a totally different experience. Kunieda explained that it is often
the case that lighting has to be adjusted so
as not to damage works in museums andgalleries. At the ICC museum, “visitors areamazed to see the exhibits so up-close,with even small details and textures realistically reproduced, in a well-lit space,” he said.
Techniques like 3D animation and projection mapping add dynamism and interactivity to an exhibition.
The digital exhibition also enhanced visitors’ interest in seeing the real works, andmany of them actually paid visits to the

Virtual reality projection without the use of
HMD or smartglasses NTT ARTTECHNOLOGY

Yamanashi Prefectural Museum later.
Digitalized contents can also be distributed to satellite museums installed incommunity halls, airport lounges, hospital
waiting rooms, nursing homes or officebuildings using secure and fast networks
that NTT East provides.

Connecting culture to world

A virtual museum offers the convenienceand excitement of being able to enjoy works
of art online anytime and anywhere using
digital devices. “We can also connect to theworld that way,” Kunieda said. “We held two
virtual museum tours in February for audiences in the United States and Europe. The
tours were attended by 200 viewers each.”
NTT ArtTechnology plans to work on thedigitalization of not only two-dimensional
works but also three-dimensional works
like installations and buildings, and performing arts as well. “Creating an archive of digitalcontent of intangible cultural assets such as
the Nebuta Festival in Aomori Prefecture,”featuring huge paper lanterns, “will help
future generations learn about its traditions
and craftsmanship,” Kunieda said.
The technologies of digitalization anddistribution help people experience different cultures and arts, and connect with eachother online and offline. “We believe that theaccumulation of such
experiences will leadto the revitalization ofregions,” Kunieda said.
“Sustainable Japan,” features issues related
to the environment and asustainable society. For more
information, see https://sustainable. japantimes.com/
satoyama