Social Contribution Made by the Marubeni Corporation Bucharest Office
Marubeni Corporation
2010.5.10
At Hyperion University. Mr.Sunami, General Manager, Marubeni Corporation Bucharest Office, handed the newspapers to the students. Donated Japanese newspapers are in the cardboard box marked "Marubeni."
A use for old Japanese newspapers - contributing to the future of economically-expanding Romania.
Romania is a country that considers Japan to be a good friend. In this nation people actively study the Japanese language. About one year ago the Marubeni Corporation Bucharest Office began to donate old Japanese newspapers. These newspapers help to contribute to the study of the Japanese language and culture among the young people that will shoulder the burden of Romania’s future. This contribution also helps to promote international exchange and Marubeni's CSR-related activities.
Donating two newspapers (one general newspaper and one economic newspaper) to three educational institutes
After Romania's democratic revolution in 1989, economic development was sluggish. However, after the nation joined the European Union (EU) in January, 2007, it has emerged as a young robust country, whose real economic growth rate for 2008 was near the best among all 27 EU nations.
Romania is the country whose foundation was laid by the ancient Romans. When Roman soldiers invaded this land in the second century AD, they called it Dacia. However, rather than returning to Rome, they decided to remain and settle in Dacia. The name "Romania" reflects this Roman heritage.
Many Western companies have already started conducting business in Romania. On the contrary, few Japanese companies have launched their own business in this country, and there are no Japanese food shops here. Needless to say, there is no way to obtain used-books, newspapers, and other materials from Japan. However, with Marubeni's firm support, we have received two newspapers (one general newspaper and one economic newspaper) from Europe. We have donated old Japanese newspapers to the University of Bucharest (a national university), Hyperion University (a private university), and Ion Creanga High School (a national high school) to be used as study materials for teaching Japanese language lessons to students.
Our small donation activity has been greatly welcomed. We were pleasantly surprised to receive a token of gratitude from the University of Bucharest for our newspaper donation efforts, which has helped them start a new seminar on modern Japan.
In the present day news found in newspapers is readily available on the Internet. However, when we ask professors and teachers about the advantages of using newspapers, many of them indicated their strong desire for us to continue making the donations. We were surprised by how useful the newspapers we donated turned out to be, and received a lot of nice feedback, such as: "Japanese literary works are written vertically, but articles on the Internet are written horizontally. Newspapers are a nice way to study vertical texts", "Newspaper columns are not available on the Internet", "We can learn the language used in journalism through newspapers", "By having the newspaper open right in front of us, we are able to comprehensively discuss vividly presented information about the Japanese culture and economy", "It is very difficult to obtain Japanese newspapers through libraries or bookstores, so please continue making the donations".
In fiscal year 2009, even Romania, which has enjoyed successive years of high growth, was affected by the global economic and financial crises, and is now experiencing a time of relative economic difficulty. Nevertheless, the country possesses the youthful economic growth power needed to overcome this temporary lag. Although Romania may not be wealthy country when compared to other developed nations, teachers and students in this country are enthusiastic about teaching or learning. Their attitude towards education helps to give us the energy we need as we move towards the business of tomorrow.
(Left) Ion Creanga High School
(Middle) With students at the University of Bucharest
(Right) With students at Hyperion University (Marubeni Corporation Bucharest Office)
Marubeni Group magazine "M-SPIRIT" VOL.51 (May, 2009)
Job title listed is as of 2009.
