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On November 11 (Sunday), as part of its “YOKOHAMA Forever Forest” project, Yokohama Rubber held a tree-planting ceremony at its Hiratsuka Factory. Conditions were muddy from rain the previous day, and the footing was bad. Yet 3,500 people participated as expected, including Mr. Taro Kono, a member of the House of Representatives, Ms. Ritsuko Okura, mayor of Hiratsuka City, Mr. Tadashi Tateuchi, a noted automotive journalist and chairman of the Japan Electric Vehicle Club, Mr. Ukyo Katayama, a racing driver, Yokohama Rubber Chairman Yasuo Tominaga and President Tadanobu Nagumo, 2,000 employees and their families, and 1,500 local residents. In all, 27,000 seedlings were planted. |
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Working With Residents to Create Forests Speaking at the opening ceremony, President Tadanobu Nagumo of the company explained the objective: “Seedlings we will plant today will grow into forests that will not only help fight global warming, but protect the local community in times of emergency. I am grateful that we and all of you are able to work together on something as important and beneficial as this.” Following additional greetings by guests, Dr. Akira Miyawaki of Yokohama National University, who was supervising the planting, gave a detailed explanation of how to plant the seedlings, demonstrating with Yokohama Rubber Chairman Yasuo Tominaga, President Nagumo and the other guests on stage, all of whom had seedlings in their hands. Then everyone gave a loud cheer and the planting began. |
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| Mixed and Densely Planting
of 54 Varieties Participants were divided into groups to plant seedlings at several areas within the premises of the Hiratsuka Factory. The company’s aim is to create “native forests” able to withstand typhoons and other disasters. In this respect, based on the concept of "potential natural vegetation" championed by Dr. Miyawaki, 54 varieties were planted, deemed most suitable for the original soil and specific climate, including tabu (persea), shii (castanopsis) and kashi (cyclobalanopsis). Densely planted by mixture, the seedlings will have to compete with each other and the result should be a strong, vital forest. After the planting, the seedlings were covered with straw, which will protect them from the winter cold and also serve as compost. Finally, a board was put up in each area with the signatures of those who had planted. |
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Planting Map  A total of 27,000 trees in Areas A to Q |
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| Additional Events In the afternoon, after the planting had been completed, food stands erected along the main walkway served yakisoba (fried noodles), tonjiru (pork miso soup), and watagashi (“cotton candy”), popular with children. In the main dining room, there was a Japanese taiko drum performance by students and graduates of the Kanagawa Prefectural Hiratsuka School for the Deaf, and a dialogue between Mr. Tateuchi, an advocate of electric vehicles, and Mr. Katayama, who is participating in the Paris-Dakar Rally with a bio-diesel car for the second year in row. About a thousand people in the dining room listened to their discussion on the importance of protecting the global environment. |
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