Social Contribution Activities

To realize a sustainable society, Toshiba Group actively promotes social contribution activities as well as business activities, thereby contributing to solving various societal issues. We will continue to provide more information and to make opportunities to Toshiba Group employees, so that many of them can get involved in activities voluntarily that contribute to society, while also contributing to their regions and achieving self-growth.

FY2021 Achievements

  • Number of social contribution programs 751 programs

Basic Policy on Social Contribution Activities


Toshiba Group has set the Basic Policy on Social Contribution Activities which embodies Toshiba Group’s Basic Commitment “Committed to People, Committed to the Future.”
The five key areas of activities stated in the Toshiba Group Basic Policy on Social Contribution Activities are all related to social issues that Toshiba Group regards as important. Toshiba Group will contribute to solving societal issues, attainment of the SDGs and creating a sustainable society through business activities as well as social contribution activities by using knowledge and resources acquired through business.
In these endeavors, we keep track of the results and impact on business through regular dialogues with stakeholders including NPOs and NGOs, and reevaluate and decide on our course of action accordingly.

Toshiba Group Basic Policy on Social Contribution Activities


  1. In accordance with the Basic Commitment of the Toshiba Group and Standards of Conduct for Toshiba Group, we make vigorous efforts to contribute to society.
  2. In contribution to society, we focus on the following fields: protection of the natural environment, science and technology education, promotion of sports and culture, social welfare, and international exchange and friendship.
  3. We support employees' voluntary activities.

Positioning of Social Contribution Activities in Toshiba Group

Structure of Social Contribution Activities


In the Toshiba Group, the Sustainability Management Division carries out social contribution activities in cooperation with corporate staff divisions, key Group companies, etc. based on the Basic Policy on Social Contribution Activities.
With regard to donations to disaster relief and to NPOs and NGOs, we assess the legality and appropriateness of such donations before doing so, based on our in-house regulations.

Structure of Toshiba Group’s Social Contribution Activities

Social Contribution Activities by Employees and Support for their Activities

The total number of Toshiba Group employees that participated in the social contribution activities during FY2021 was 114,061.
We have a system in place to support employees in their social contribution activities so that more employees can be part of the society through their contribution activities and help solve social issues. Employees are able to take long-term leave by accumulating annual leave for the purpose of participating in volunteer activities.

Social Contribution Activities: Total Expenditure and its Constituent Parts


Total expenditure and its constituent parts (FY2021)

Humanitarian Aid for Ukraine


In response to the situation in Ukraine, Toshiba group donated a total of 100 million yen to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees(UNHCR) and Japan Platform, a non-profit organization, to provide humanitarian aid to those affected.

Social Contribution Award: Toshiba ASHITA Award


In order to invigorate our social contribution activities, Toshiba Group has been evaluating and giving awards to domestic and overseas activities. Every year we evaluate the previous fiscal year’s activities from 9 perspectives—goals, the extent of employee involvement, originality, continuity, social impact, collaboration with external organizations, and so on—and the President and CEO’s awards those activities that have achieved excellent results.
In FY2021, the following four programs out of the 696 programs that were carried out in FY2020 were awarded.

FY2021 Toshiba ASHITA Award-winning programs

  • Continue to promote social contribution activities with employees rooted in the community(Himeji Toshiba E.P.Corporation)
  • Continuous Donations to Charity(Toshiba TEC UK Imaging Systems Ltd. and Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions (UK) Ltd.)
  • Interaction with children and local communities through company tours and contribution to local revitalization(Toshiba Social Automation Systems Co., Ltd. Akita Business Center)
  • Local traditional culture preservation activities(Shougo Watanabe, Toshiba IT-Services Corporation)

Toshiba Group Volunteer Days


Toshiba Group has held the Toshiba Group Volunteer Days since FY2014 around December 5, the International Volunteer Day set by the United Nations. The aim of this initiative was to make a significant social contribution that cannot be achieved by individuals, through the simultaneous participation of all Toshiba Group employees.
In FY2021, approximately 40,000 employees participated in 181 activities in Japan and approximately 3,200 employees participated in 46 activities overseas. They carried out unique social contribution activities in each region, such as cleanup activities, food drives, and special menus at the company cafeteria to support reconstruction in disaster areas. Many employees also took part in voluntary social contribution activities during this period, such as donating blood and making donations.

Called for collection of preserved food stocked away at home and donated to an NPO, Food Bank FUJINOKUNI (Toshiba Tec Corporation Shizuoka Business Center)

Providing menus at the company cafeteria to support the recovery of areas affected by the earthquake(Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation Semiconductor System Technology Center)

Science Technology Education


Toshiba Science Museum: Where You Can Enjoy Experiencing the Wonder and Excitement of Science

Toshiba Science Museum serves as one of Toshiba’s social contribution activities and is a location for the support of science-technology education.

The museum has the following three missions: To introduce cutting-edge science and technology, and business initiatives; To conserve industrial heritage and to ensure that history is passed down; To promote education in science and technology for children, who will lead the next generation. This is a place where you can experience and learn the wonder and excitement of science and technology through the exhibition on the achievements of our two founders who have contributed to enriching the lives of people and on the history of the electrical industry; the introduction of the state-of-the-art technologies and businesses of the Toshiba Group, which creates a safe and secure society, including the quantum key distribution system and heavy ion therapy equipment; and a variety of demonstrations, experiments, and events. The ideal location of the museum, just in front of JR Kawasaki Station, means this is a place easy to come to visit and tour. We are also promoting online events and video distribution to meet the needs of the era so that we can have more visitors enjoying what this museum has to offer. 

In May 2021, the museum was certified as a “Kawasaki SDGs Partner” under a program through which Kawasaki City registers and certifies companies and organizations committed to achieving SDGs.

Exhibition Hall at 
Toshiba Science Museum

Science and Technology Competition for Children in the U.S. and Canada

Since 1992, Toshiba Group has worked with the National Science Teachers Association to host the ExploraVision Awards (EVA), a science and technology competition for k-1 to k-12 students in the United States and Canada.
EVA is a competition aiming to encourage dreams in which children make predictions about technologies that they believe will become feasible within 20 years based on today’s science and technology. The program celebrated its 29th anniversary in 2021, commemorating its long history as a Japanese company’s science education support program in North America. The number of participants totals approximately 450,000 to date. In 2021, we received applications from about 1,800 groups around the United States and Canada. Although the award ceremony was held online to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we received comments from the prizewinners such as, “It was hard but fun to research, discuss, and work on the project with my friends to solve the problem. I realized that I am interested in science and engineering after participating in ExploraVision, and I would like to study in that direction in the future.”

【2021 Prizewinners】

  • GRADES K1-3 (Kindergarten to 3rd year elementary school students)
    Toothbrush of the Future
    Lockwood Elementary – Bothell, WA
  • GRADES K4-6 (4th to 6th year elementary school students)
    Coagulation Filtration System
    Open Window School – Bellevue, WA
  • GRADES K7-9 (1st to 3rd year junior high school students)
    Mag-Launcher, Magnetic Repulsion Rocket Launcher
    Marlboro Memorial Middle School – Morganville, NJ
  • GRADES K10-12 (1st to 3rd year high school students)
    Shiitake Diapers: Capturing CO Poo One Diaper at a Time
    William Lyon Mackenzie Collegiate Institute – Toronto, Ontario

Over 100 people simultaneously attended the online awards ceremony

Teaching Competition in China

Seeking to contribute to the future development of scientific and technical human resources in China, in 2008 we established the Contest of Math and Science Teaching Program for the Normal University Students in China in cooperation with China’s Ministry of Education. This is a contest for students studying at four-year Chinese teacher training universities which are equivalent to universities of education in Japan and aspiring to become a teacher in science including physics, chemistry, or mathematics, to compete their skills in teaching a class. Winners and their instructors are invited to Japan for the opportunities to have experience of Japanese science, technology and culture, and exchange with teachers and students of Japanese teacher training university.
In FY2020 and FY2021, the contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr. Chen Decheng of South China Normal University (left) received the Toshiba Innovation Award in FY2019.

Environmental Education Program for Children

Since 2017, we have held science education programs for elementary school children in collaboration with the Association of Corporation and Education at elementary schools in areas around Tokyo and areas where we have manufacturing sites, in addition to event venues throughout Japan.

Scholarships

Toshiba Group awards scholarships to students and laboratories in different countries to help support development of a new generation. Furthermore Toshiba factories are receptive to local requests for tours, and some even accept internships of a few weeks.
Toshiba granted 100,000 yen every month to 230 university students in Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima prefectures, which were hit hard by the Great East Japan Earthquake, until graduation.
In Vietnam, we have given a total of around 3 million yen every year since 2005 in subsidies to around 30 students at the Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City campus of Vietnam National University. Toshiba and the university also conduct joint research on software. Some graduates of the university have entered Toshiba Software Development (Vietnam) Co., Ltd. and continue to work there.
Toshiba Information Equipment (Philippines), Inc. established a scholarship system in 2008 to provide education at universities or vocational educational institutes to economically disadvantaged high school students. Toshiba supported 90 students with scholarships until 2018 when the program ended.

Factory Tours and Internship

At the request of local communities, operational sites throughout Japan accept visitors for facility tours, and participants for on-the-job training programs and internship programs.

Cyber-Physical Systems x Design Division, Toshiba:

We offer an internship to students several times a year as an opportunity to acquire experience that will help them seek their potential or think about their future career. In the summer of 2021, we hosted a hands-on type internship program online, where participants were able to gain hands-on experience of actual work while interacting with employees and students from other universities. Those experiences included carrying out a project as a team, communicating with clients, and coordinating with marketing and planning teams.

Online internship (Cyber-Physical Systems x Design Division, Toshiba)

Protection of the Natural Environment


Conservation of Biodiversity

Toshiba Group has set 5 activity themes for the conservation of biodiversity*, and promotes activities with employees participation in and outside the sites.

  •  (1) Building of ecosystem networks, (2) Conservation of rare species, promotion of ex situ conservation, (3) Response to marine plastics issues, (4) Response to climate change (mitigation, adaptation), and (5) Conservation of water.

Contribution to Local Communities


Toshiba Group expands its business around the world, and contributes to the development of local communities through a variety of business activities, primarily in the regions where the business hubs are located. Our contributions include job creation, tax payment, and the promotion of optimal procurement, including local procurement. We also participate in activities, such as welfare and cleaning, to contribute to communities through interactions with the surrounding communities.

Contributing to Health Care in Areas around the Toshiba Factory in the Philippines

Since 2006, Toshiba Information Equipment (Philippines), Inc. has been dispatching a team of doctors, dentists, nurses, and many volunteer employees to impoverished areas nearby to provide medical and dental examination services as well as medical supplies to the residents free of charge. These medical and dental care activities could not be performed in FY2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, we provided COVID-19 prevention kits to frontliners of the local barangays as part of our efforts to bolster supplies.

Medical treatment is provided free of charge.
(February 2020, Toshiba Information
Equipment (Philippines), Inc.)

Contributing to Local Communities through In-House Sales Events

Toshiba Group has been running in-house sales events during lunchtimes since 2004 with the aim of supporting the economic independence and participation in society of persons with disabilities.
At Komukai Complex, we sold products made at a neighboring community activity support center only to those who had ordered in advance in FY2021, too, as face-to-face sales proved difficult due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We also sold specialty products of different regions as part of our efforts to help disaster-affected areas to recover.

Product for sale (Chirimen-Netsuke)

Improving the Environment of Surrounding Communities

Toshiba Group companies strive to improve the environment around their business sites. In FY2021, the Group companies’ employees in and outside Japan cleaned areas around their business sites approximately 160 times. In addition, we are building a positive relationship with local communities through interactions with neighboring communities and also through cooperation with local governments, including engaging in improvement works on green space areas and participating in local events.

International Exchanges with Friendship, and Promotion of Sports and Culture


Program to Develop Next-Generation Leaders of Asia

Since FY2014, the Toshiba International Foundation (TIFO), along with Asia Japan Alumni (ASJA) International, has held Toshiba Youth Club Asia (TYCA), a program to develop next-generation human resources targeting high school students of Japan and ASEAN countries. In FY2021, we could not invite new participants due to the COVID-19 pandemic and therefore asked a total of 100 participants from our past six programs (alumni) to participate in the following three special programs: (1) an online alumni reunion, (2) a special webinar, in which young Japanese reformers were invited to give insights into the leadership to achieve social reform, and (3) TYCA Alumni Summit, in which the alumni presented their future visions online. Most of these alumni are now university students or graduate students, with some of them already full-time members of society, and they are now working earnestly to realize their respective visions. The theme for this year’s event was “Go beyond Imagination,” as we want them to deepen ties with one another so that they can overcome difficulties brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and to open up new paths. Many alumni empathized with the event’s concept and participated. The Alumni Summit (held in March 2022) was attended by a large number of guests, including senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan and the embassies of various countries. At the Summit, five representatives, including from Japan, presented their respective visions. This event served as a place for the participants to pledge that they will create a brighter future together.

Promoting Sports

Toshiba promotes sports not only to help children to grow up healthy but also to inspire and encourage everyone through the impressive performances of top athletes. Amateur sports teams of Toshiba employees play an active role in making a difference in society.

Disaster Relief


As a company that conducts business worldwide, Toshiba Group wishes to contribute to restoring areas affected by natural disasters. To that end, we review what is most appropriate in consideration of local characteristics and damage situations, and donate money, provide our company products, and collaborate with NGOs. In addition, employees also engage in fund raising and volunteer activities.

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