When you are elderly or physically challenged, it is not as easy to afford or attend quality live music performances. This is one reason why, since 1996, Mitsubishi Estate has been contributing to social welfare and the arts by organizing and sponsoring concerts for the elderly and disadvantaged, who might not otherwise have the opportunity to enjoy such events.
  In the ninth year of the program, the company will support performances of the New Nishirokugo Boys & Girls Chorus at venues in Sumida and Bunkyo wards in Tokyo, and in Yokohama. Several hundred invitations will be sent out to local homes for the elderly, special education centers and vocational welfare centers, as well as their surrounding neighbors?½qpromoting a congenial spirit of community togetherness.
  The New Nishirokugo Boys & Girls Chorus is dedicated to the promotion of a well-rounded children's education through music, and is one of Japan's representative junior choral groups. The chorus is made up of students up through high school and is working actively to promote the popularity and resurgence of boys and girls choral ensembles.

In the recent Chuetsu Earthquake in Japan's Niigata Prefecture, one of the hardest hit towns was Yamakoshi, where Japanese Nishiki carp breeding got its start. The colorful fish are renowned among carp aficionados worldwide and many are exported, making Nishiki carp breeding Yamakoshi's largest industry. The Chuetsu Earthquake caused tremendous damage to the operations of local carp farmers, and no emergency plans existed to cope with the disaster. The immediate response was to try to save the breeding carp, and to transfer the remaining live carp to carp farms in other regions, either elsewhere in Japan, or overseas, mainly to the U.S. and Europe. However, the long-distance transport posed further risk to the surviving carp, already stressed and weakened by the effects of the disaster.
  Mitsubishi Gas Chemical responded to the situation by donating ALFISH^® live-fish transport kits it developed last year, to the farmers. ALFISH^® protects fish from oxygen starvation by removing carbon dioxide from the air above the water and replenishing it with oxygen.
  Yamakoshi's worried carp farmers are grateful to report that, with the help of ALFISH^®, their rescued carp are now swimming happily in the U.S. and Europe. Mitsubishi Gas Chemical was glad to be able to help the farmers and their magnificent fish.

Had Pete Salavantis, vice president of public affairs for Mitsubishi Electric America, not begun his career as a summer intern in the U.S. Congress while in college, and, had the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation (MEAF) not shared office space in Washington, D.C. with the Public Affairs office, Pete may never have noted that among the thousands of Congressional interns that work on Capitol Hill each year, few have disabilities. But he did; and that is how the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation Congressional Internship Program (CIP) came to be.
  The CIP is an eight-week summer program for talented college students with disabilities who work as interns in the offices of senators and representatives learning about public policy. At the same time, the interns demonstrate to members of Congress and their staffs the abilities of individuals with disabilities.
  Individuals with one kind of disability rarely get to know those who have other disabilities, and friendships quickly formed among the interns. Some have changed their college major to public policy, political science or disability studies. Others moved to the Capital to work in government and public service. As one intern commented, "For the first time in my 21 years, I realized and understood that the world is so much bigger than just me, and that there is so much to explore beyond the borders of South Dakota... One of my favorite quotes is 'We are all part of one race: Humanity.' I now understand what this means and how we are all connected."