Community

Basic Policy

We are engaged in corporate activities across the globe. Continuing to do business requires that we forge relationships of trust with local communities and realize sustainable growth together by contributing to the development of each region in which we operate as well as by pursuing development at manufacturing sites where our steelworks are located. To this end, the JFE Group is committed to working with communities as stated in the JFE Standards of Business Conduct and is promoting activities that contribute to local communities.


The operation of our steelworks involves massive production facilities and significantly impact the region’s employment and economy as well as environmental air and water quality. Our steel business seeks to revitalize local communities as an important means for deepening understanding of the JFE Group among local residents and mutually promoting regional development.

JFE Group Standards of Business Conduct

  1. Work with communities

    Actively contribute to host communities as a good corporate citizen by emphasizing harmony and cooperation.

Initiatives

Local Activities

In addition to consistently taking action to ensure safety and reduce the environmental impact of our corporate operations, we also conduct initiatives that serve the public with a focus on protecting the environment, nurturing the next generation, promoting sports and culture, and revitalizing regional communities.


Furthermore, we provide paid leave programs that can be used to promote volunteer work to encourage the active participation of employees.

Opening Manufacturing Sites to the Public

Every year, the JFE Group opens its manufacturing facilities, inviting residents in local host communities to participate in demonstrations, tours, and other events.

On-site Events in FY2023
JFE West Japan Festival in Fukuyama
Location Event Date Attendance
JFE Steel East Japan Works, Keihin Keihin Community Festival 35,000
East Japan Works, Chiba JFE Chiba Festival 30,000
West Japan Works, Fukuyama JFE West Japan Festival in Fukuyama 60,000
West Japan Works, Kurashiki JFE West Japan Festival in Kurashiki 20,000
Chita Works Handa Community Industrial Festival 20,000
Sendai Works JFE Steel Sendai Festival 1,000
JFE Engineering Tsu Works Autumn Festival 4,000

In addition, on-site recreational facilities are made available for community sports such as soccer, baseball, volleyball and basketball as well as other events sponsored by Group companies. Coaching sessions are offered by company baseball and track teams, which compete in Japan’s top-level corporate leagues. Such activities promote sports and health as well as stronger relationships with host communities.

ST Tour of Steelworks

Every year, JFE Steel invites approximately 100,000 guests, mostly elementary and junior high school students from host communities to tour steel production sites at each steelwork, in conjunction with festivals and other events.

ST Education at Elementary Schools

Kawasaki Middle School in Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture

JFE Steel conducts plant tours for students at nearby elementary and junior high schools. In addition, company employees visit schools to give lectures on iron and steelmaking processes, the features of steelworks, environmental initiatives, and other topics to deepen understanding of the steel industry and career opportunities. In FY2023, these lectures have been given to 400 students in 16 classes, bringing the total to approximately 325 classes since these began in FY2012.

EN Establishment of a System for Promoting Social Co-existence Activities

In FY2022, JFE Engineering established the Social Co-existence Committee, chaired by the president, to bolster social initiatives and enhance its contribution to realizing a sustainable society in accordance with the JFE Group Standards of Business Conduct. Under the policies set by JFE Engineering, the scope of committee activities encompasses initiatives implemented through its businesses as well as those for resolving social issues not covered by business activities, while the four themes of the environment, disaster prevention, local communities, and nurturing the next generation are designated as the key areas. Collaborating with local communities is essential for the company, which operates businesses in various locations. Nurturing the next generation is in line with JFE Engineering’s stated purpose of strongly supporting people’s daily lives and passing community strengths on to future generations. Under the system, leaders have been assigned in each organization to promote activities across the company. Also, the company laid out guidelines for its system in order to create an environment conducive to its activities. In addition, it designed an original logo and selected a catchphrase from entries submitted by employees to spread awareness and promote employee participation.


JFE Engineering emphasizes employee participation in its activities. In FY2024, the company exhibited programs for children on topics such as the future and STEAM education at the YOXO FESTIVAL 2024, organized by the Yokohama Future Organization (YOXO). Approximately 30 staff members recruited from across the company were in charge of running these programs.


We have also been focusing on education and public relations related to these initiatives. In FY2024, for example, we held a lecture for management on these activities and set up a special website page to publicize them outside the company. Looking ahead, we will continue to engage in social co-existence activities to contribute to a sustainable society.

For more information, please refer to the following.

EN Forest Management in the JFE Forest

JFE Engineering has concluded a forest maintenance agreement with the town of Yuni in Hokkaido, under the Hokkaido Government’s Corporate Forest Development in Hokkaido program, and has been managing approximately 7 hectares of town-owned forest there. The purpose of this initiative is to conserve forests and revitalize the community through the proper maintenance and management of local forests. We named the forest where we carry out this initiative the JFE Forest, and as the first step in FY2024, we cut down 50-year-old trees that no longer effectively absorbed CO2 and also planted clean larch seedlings, a tree species with high CO2 absorption efficiency. In addition, an expert presented a lecture to employees who participated in the tree-planting activities, providing them with an opportunity to deepen their understanding of forests.


We intend to continue our tree-planting activities through open recruitment of employees and undergrowth cutting through and beyond fiscal 2024.

EN Environmental Protection Activities in the Kumozu River Basin in Mie Prefecture

JFE Engineering is the founding member of a committee set up in 2008 for protecting the environment in the Kumozu River basin in Mie Prefecture, including Tsu City, where the company’s Tsu Works is located. Together with the local forestry and fisheries cooperatives, which are also members, and with support from Tsu City, the committee conducts river cleanups and tree planting activities in the river basin, as well as beach cleanups at the mouth of the river and public environmental education, in which employees and their families participate.

EN Facility Tours and School Lectures

Food recycling plant tour

JFE Engineering accepts visitors, mainly children from neighboring communities, and gives them tours of the works, construction sites, and incineration plants it manages under contract. The company also dispatches its employees to schools to provide lectures on the environment and other topics.


For example, a lecture on the environment and recycling was given to around 80 second-year students at the Junior High School Attached to Yokohama Science Frontier High School near JFE Engineering’s Yokohama Head Office, followed by a visit to the Yokohama Head Office. Students learn through both classroom lectures and on-site experience by touring a food recycling plant operated by a Group company and the Global Remote Center, which remotely monitors over 80 incineration plants and other facilities in Japan and overseas. This initiative has been implemented for six consecutive years since its launch in 2018.

Support for External Organizations

Contributing to the realization of a sustainable society is a key management concern for the JFE Group, which actively seeks to address issues in collaboration with external groups and NGOs in pursuing solutions for the 17 SDGs.

UN World Food Programme

The JFE Group seeks to resolve the global hunger issue by supporting the cause and activities of the Japan Association for the World Food Programme*.

  • *An NPO-accredited supporter of the UN World Food Programme (WFP), which works to eliminate hunger and poverty.

Supporting Training for Foreign Medical Professionals

The JFE Group supports the Japanese Council for Medical Training, spearheaded by the Toranomon Hospital in Tokyo. The council offers a training program in which doctors from developing countries, primarily in Southeast Asia, are invited to study in Japan. The program aims to make an international contribution by training participants in Japan’s advanced medical practices so trainees can apply their results to raise the medical standards of their home countries and to foster stronger relationships between those nations and Japan. The program also contributes to resolving health issues in local communities by enhancing the medical standards of those countries.


For more information, please refer to the following.

Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research

Since its establishment in 1908, the Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research has upheld its basic philosophy of aiming to improve the well-being of people everywhere by achieving better cancer control. The JFE Group supports this foundation, which has played a leading role in research and treatment as well as human resource development in Japan.

Fund to Support Children’s Future

The JFE Group endorses the Japanese government’s national campaign for creating a society in which every child can grow with dreams and hopes. The Group supports the Fund to Support Children’s Future, which provides assistance to NPOs and other groups engaged in activities to eliminate poverty throughout Japan.

Support for Youth Development

Japanese Language Speech Contest

The JFE Group supports the All-China Japanese Speech Contest for university students in China as a way to promote stronger international exchange. The contest has been held since 2006 to further Japan-China relations through language and communication, and JFE has provided support from its launch. The 17th contest was held in FY2023, and the finals were held in Japan for the first time in five years since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Through this activity, the JFE Group contributes to the development of Japanese language education in China and the promotion of friendly exchanges between the two countries.

Career Education for Students

Business training for schoolteachers

JFE Steel and JFE Engineering provide plant tours for female junior high school, high school and university students to encourage them to pursue careers in science and technology.


Since 2006, JFE Steel has participated in the Keizai Koho Center’s “Business Training for Japanese School Teachers.” Teachers from primary, junior high and high schools learn about business operations, human resource development, safety and environment-protection-related initiatives, among other topics, with the intention of sharing that knowledge with their students and leveraging it for better school management. In addition, some facilities invite local junior high students and host work-experience sessions.


As part of career education for high school and junior high school students, Kawasho Foods Corporation, a member of the JFE Shoji group, cooperates with the School Support Center, a specified Nonprofit Corporation, to invite students for training. The participants learn how society is supported by specific kinds of work as well as the products and services related to such work.

FY2023 Internships

The JFE Group annually hosts many trainees and interns from overseas to help them gain practical experience at plants as well as design and construction sites. They also participate in group work.

Number of Interns Accepted by Each Operating Company (FY2023)
JFE Steel JFE Engineering JFE Shoji
659
(desk work: 378, technical: 281)		 688
(desk work: 239, technical: 449)		 360

ST High School Science and Engineering Contest

JFE Steel Award presented to a student from Ibaraki Prefectural Namiki Secondary School

The Japan Science & Engineering Challenge is a national science-paper contest for high school and technical college students. Under the sponsorship of the Asahi Shimbun Company and TV Asahi Corporation, the contest has been supported by JFE Steel since 2006 to nurture future scientists and engineers.

SH Supporting Elementary Schools in Ghana and Nigeria

The JFE Shoji Group has been conducting annual donation campaigns in Ghana and Nigeria since 2011. The donations take into account requests from the local Ministry of Education and schools, and FE Shoji mainly selects products to contribute to the economic activities of the two countries. This year for the 13th donation campaign, the JFE Shoji Group donated 12,500 cans of GEISHA brand canned mackerel with tomato sauce, 435 sets of desks and chairs, and 17,000 notebooks to 15 schools in the two countries. School officials and local government agencies expressed many words of gratitude for the donations.


The JFE Shoji Group will continue to provide support for food and education into the future, as a project that symbolizes the Group’s commitment.

Students at an elementary school in Ghana
Students at an elementary school in Nigeria

SH Providing Off-Campus Training Opportunities for Special-Needs Schools

The JFE Shoji Group has been providing off-campus training opportunities for students at schools for special needs since FY2017. Training mainly consists of accepting interns to experience working in such jobs as cleaning, maintaining the tea dispenser, and sorting forms. In addition, students are regularly invited to a Group company to practice selling bread.


As a company that values open relationships with society, JFE Shoji will continue to support self-reliance and social participation so that people with disabilities can lead vibrant lives in their own way.

JFE 21st Century Foundation

The JFE 21st Century Foundation was founded in 1990 through a donation from the JFE Group (the former Kawasaki Steel) to operate as a public-service corporation that contributes to society. It engages in various public services, such as supporting research at universities and cultural development.

  • Issued technical research grants (steel-related technology, global environment, technology for preventing global warming)
  • Issued grants for Asian historical research
  • Published and donated textbooks for universities and publications related to steel
  • Sponsored cultural activities in communities hosting steel facilities
  • Held Overseas Literary Contest and donated literary works

For more on the JFE 21st Century Foundation, refer to the following information.

Support for Technology Research

The foundation has been highly acclaimed by many universities for its support of technology research since FY1991.


In FY2023, it fielded 137 grant requests and provided a total of 56 million yen in the form of grants valued at 2 million yen each for 13 projects involving iron and steel technologies and 15 projects related to environmental technologies, including those designed to prevent global warming.

Support for Asian History Studies

The foundation began awarding grants in support of Asian history studies at Japanese universities in FY2005. In FY2023, 73 applications were received and 12 grants worth 1.5 million yen each were awarded, bringing the total to 18 million yen.

Support Activities in Communities Hosting Steel Facilities

The foundation financially sponsors community cultural activities including music, art, traditional events, community revitalization, community activities and the conservation of cultural property.


In FY2023, it sponsored nine events in regions across Japan where the Group operates its steel business, including Chiba, Kawasaki and Fukuyama cities.

Supporting the Japan Overseas Educational Services Writing Contest and Anthology Donation

The Japan Overseas Educational Services organizes contests in the areas of essays, poems, tanka and haiku for Japanese students attending elementary and middle schools overseas. The JFE Group has been cosponsoring the contest by offering JFE 21st Century Foundation prizes since FY1991. The foundation also donated 2,200 copies of Chikyu ni Manabu (Learn from the Earth), a collection of the winning entries, again in FY2023, to approximately 700 organizations, including elementary and middle schools and public libraries located in the regions where the Group operates its steel business.

List of Social-Contribution Activities

Local Communities and Society

  • Joined Nishinomiya tourism event
  • Held Manufacturing Class for children
  • Donation for Fukuyama Castle 400th Anniversary Project
  • Sponsored children’s eco activities under World Food Programme
  • Supported local festivals
  • Organized public viewing of “Dragonfly Street” and Station Square
  • Joined Where Do Dragonflies Fly Forum
  • Supported Tsurumi Line stamp rally
  • Volunteered for Kasumigaura Marathon
  • Volunteered for disaster reconstruction
  • Organized in-house fairs for supporting post-disaster reconstruction in Fukushima (providing meals at a cafeteria using local ingredients)
  • Participated in tree-planting to invigorate a rainforest in the Philippines
  • Organized environmental events at a contracted incineration plant
  • Signed an agreement with the local government on opening up the contracted incineration plant as an evacuation site in the event of a disaster and providing emergency supplies
  • Comprehensive collaboration agreement between Chiba City and East Japan Works
  • Co-sponsorship of Kawasaki City’s 100th anniversary in 2024

Nurturing the Next Generation

  • Accepted teachers for private-sector training
  • Supported Females in choosing Science or Engineering careers
  • Certified as company supporting child rearing (Kanagawa Prefecture and Nagoya City)
  • Accepted foreign technical interns (welding training)
  • Supported elementary schools in Ghana and Nigeria
  • Supported off-campus training by special-needs schools
  • Supported robotics competitions for high schools in Mie Prefecture
  • Provided welding training for technical high school teachers
  • Support for Hilltop Children’s Cafeteria in Komaoka

Environmental Protection

Sports and Cultural Promotion

Contribution to Local Communities through the Engineering Business

We contribute to realizing a circular economy in local communities by providing utility services, such as electricity, gas, and water, as well as combining our businesses in plastics and food recycling, renewable energy power generation, and waste-to-energy power generation.