Support for the Globe Tokyo theater

We began providing support for the Globe Tokyo theater in 1990. In 1995, “Shakespeare for Children” began as performances for parents and children to enjoy together during summer vacation. In 2000, the “Panasonic Shakespeare for Children Tour” began in collaboration with Group companies and business sites. Performances were held throughout Japan to convey the appeal of Shakespeare’s plays to children.

Support for the Pacific Music Festival (PMF)

This event was an international educational music festival held mainly in Sapporo, founded in 1990 by the late Leonard Bernstein, with the aim of contributing to world peace through the development of young musicians around the world. We supported the event as one of the Grand Partners since 1991, and were a special sponsor of the Osaka performances since 2003. In 1999, we were given the “Mecenat Cultivation of the Arts Award” by the Association for Corporate Support of the Arts in recognition of our support for the PMF.

Sponsored New York Symphonic Ensemble (NYSE) performances

The New York Symphonic Ensemble (NYSE) is a musical ensemble made up of leading members of the world-renowned New York Philharmonic and Metropolitan Opera orchestras. Every summer they embarked on a concert tour in Japan, and our company was the sponsor for some of these performances. At the concert venues, fundraising activities were held for the Heartful Mecenat Fund, which was used to provide support for artistic and cultural activities for persons with disabilities. These activities were carried out with the help of our employee volunteers.

Matsushita Electric Heartful Mecenat Fund established

This fund was established within the Osaka Community Foundation in 1994 with the aim of supporting creative and appreciation efforts, in areas of art and culture such as music, art, and theater, for people with disabilities. Funds were raised by matching charity donations received at performance venues. Osaka Community Foundation provides grants annually to organizations it selected from among applicants that submitted requests.

Start of kit-based “Handmade Dry-Cell Battery Workshops”

In addition to the dry-cell battery factory tours that we have been offering, we also launched a “handmade dry-cell battery workshop” program, where participants can experience making manganese dry-cell batteries by hand using kits that we provide.

Support for KIDS TDL (Tokyo Disneyland) project

This project began in 1994 to allow children with physical and intellectual disabilities, children who have few opportunities to go out due to their illnesses, and adult volunteers to form groups and enjoy attractions while interacting with each other in the park. Matsushita Electric provided support for this activity since its first installment, with employees participating as volunteers.

Began providing support for the Okayama Kibikogen Wheelchair Road Race

This road race was first held in 1988 to allow wheelchair runners and general runners to run the same course as a way of deepening mutual understanding and exchange. We have been a sponsor of the event since 1996, and since 1998, Panasonic Kibi Co., Ltd. has taken the lead in supporting the management of the race. It has developed into a large event that receives support from numerous local volunteers, businesses, and organizations.

“Panasonic Scholarship” (present-day “Panasonic Scholarship Asia”) established to commemorate our 80th anniversary

This scholarship program was established to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Matsushita Electric’s founding and to develop the human resources to lead Asia in the 21st century, as well as to promote mutual understanding and friendship between Japan and Asia. The program supported a total of 370 privately-funded students from Asia enrolled in science and engineering master’s degree programs in Japan, and was dissolved in March 2016. Starting in 2014, we changed the name to “Panasonic Scholarship Asia”, and as a part of our community-based next-generation support, we also extended our support to students studying at local universities and vocational training schools in nine countries and regions.

“Matsushita Asia Scholarship” established to commemorate our 80th anniversary

This scholarship program was established to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Matsushita Electric’s founding and to support Japanese students and researchers studying in Asia who wish to pursue Asian studies in the humanities and social sciences, which contributes to the promotion of exchange between Japan and other Asian countries, the development of Asia, and true international mutual understanding. It is operated by the K.Matsushita Foundation now.

“Volunteer Activity Fund Support Program” established for current and retired employees (until FY2016)

In 1998, we established the “Volunteer & Civic Activities Fund Program” with the aim of improving the volunteer mindset of employees, their families, and retirees, and of encouraging social contribution activities by the volunteer organizations they belong to, by providing partial funding for such activities. The name was changed to the Panasonic Global Citizenship Activities Support Program in 2010.

“Love the Earth (LE)” civic environmental activities launched (present-day “Panasonic ECO RELAY for Sustainable Earth”)

The “Love the Earth (LE)” program was created with the aim of raising environmental awareness and changing lifestyles by encouraging employees and their families to actively engage in environmental activities at home and in their local communities. In 2008, we began implementing the “Panasonic ECO RELAY” program worldwide, in which employees themselves plan and implement community-based environmental activities in their local communities. We further expanded the scale of these global efforts, changing the name in October 2010 to “Panasonic ECO RELAY for Sustainable Earth”, which is based on the idea of connecting people across generations with the aim of contributing as global citizens to the creation of a sustainable global environment and society.

Support for “Feeling Arts” art therapy

Matsushita Electric provided support for “Feeling Arts”, a fusion of painting, light, and music created by artist Yoshihiro Kitamura using his unique sensibilities and techniques, as part of our Mecenat activities. As a form of experiential art in which pictures, light, sound, and the human mind interact, this program has attracted attention from the medical and welfare fields, and has also received acclaim in the field of children’s sensitivity development education. We conducted Kids’ Feeling Arts sessions at children’s hospitals and other institutions starting in 2001, giving children the opportunity to experience and freely express their imagined worlds in the form of pictures. The program expanded in 2004 to include grassroots performances at various medical, welfare, and educational facilities in Japan and abroad.

Support for the “Kids’ Guernica” international children’s peace mural exhibition (until 1999)

This is an international cultural program born in Japan in which children from around the world paint a large mural the same size as Picasso’s “Guernica” on the theme of longing for peace. The initiative spread around the world from Japan via the Internet, and at that time, we provided support for the management of the website.

Sponsored Twin 21 Charity concerts

Starting in 1999, the company held annual handmade concerts managed by employee volunteers, making full use of the large space of the Twin 21 Gallery in Osaka Business Park (OBP).
Charity donations were collected at the venue to fund the Matsushita Electric Heartful Mecenat Fund, which provided support for the artistic activities of persons with disabilities.