Project KIBOW Incorporated as Foundation | Events and NEWS | General Incorporated Foundation KIBOW

Project KIBOW, a project to support relief and reconstruction efforts that was launched on March 14, 2011 following the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, was recently incorporated as the KIBOW Foundation (“the Foundation”), which has now started its activities. The Foundation was registered on February 22, 2012, and Yoshito Hori, Chairman and CEO of GLOBIS and founder of Project KIBOW, was appointed as its director. The purpose of establishing the Foundation was to ensure the continuity of activities of the Project KIBOW by strengthening the organization base and extending the scope of support for disaster-relief efforts internationally. The Foundation seeks to become a public interest corporation in the future.

Project KIBOW, the predecessor of the Foundation, was formed by a group of young entrepreneurs and leaders in Japan to support relief and reconstruction efforts in areas that were seriously affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake, aiming to help them achieve the earliest possible recovery from the earthquake. KIBOW is a coined word that combines the Japanese word “kibou,” which means “hope,” with the word “Rainbow,” representing the wish to make the activity a bridge of hope between Japan and people around the world. Project KIBOW has been engaged in activities in many areas based on the following concepts:
1) bring hope to the affected areas,
2) serve as a bridge between Japan and the world, and
3) collect monetary donations.

As one activity to bring hope to the affected areas, the project has been repeatedly holding meetings to link a number of support groups with those working on reconstruction in the field in locations such as Mito, Iwaki, Fukushima, Sendai, Ishinomaki, Morioka, Tono, and Hachinohe.

Also, to serve as a bridge between Japan and the world, the project has been continuously sending out “Emails from Japan” to communicate progress in reconstruction and developments in the economy and tourism in Japan to more than 3,000 leaders in countries around the world.

In addition, as an activity to collect monetary donations, it has raised 99 million yen (including 20 million yen in matching gifts from the Graduate School of Management, GLOBIS University) over six months since the launch of the activity, and has provided the funds to entrepreneurial organizations in various locations and entities that provide education support for local residents in the affected areas.

The new Foundation will take over these three concepts and continue its efforts to assist with the reconstruction from the Great East Japan Earthquake. It will also play a role as a bridge between Japan and the world by actively supporting disaster-relief efforts in many parts of the world.

Any support in distributing information about KIBOW’s activities is greatly appreciated.

■ Profile of General Incorporated Foundation KIBOW

Name: General Incorporated Foundation KIBOW
Address: Sumitomo Fudosan Kojimachi Bldg., 5-1 Niban-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo (inside GLOBIS)

Representative Director:
Yoshito Hori (Chairman and CEO of GLOBIS)

Trustees:
Takao Ozawa (Director of NPO Civic Force)
Daigo Sato (Chairman of NPO dot-jp, Managing director, COO of JustGiving Japan Foundation)

Councilors:
Hideaki Inoue (CEO of Park Corporation)
Takaaki Umezawa (Partner and Managing Director, a member of the Global Board of Directors, Japan, A.T. Kearney, Inc.)
Maiko Tajima (Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, Programme Design Service, the United Nations World Food Programme)
Yu Yumoto (Representative Director of JustGiving Japan Foundation)

Auditor:
Kenji Miyako (Representative Director, Altas Co., Ltd., Director, Miyako Accounting Firm)

E-mail: kibowjp@globis.co.jp

■ Major activities of Project KIBOW

(1) Activities in affected areas

2011
March 25 KIBOW Mito (Ibaraki Prefecture)
April 12 KIBOW Iwaki (Fukushima Prefecture)
May 11 KIBOW Sendai (Miyagi Prefecture)
June 22 KIBOW Morioka (Iwate Prefecture)
June – August KIBOW Leaders Education Program (free)
(Mito, Iwaki, Sendai and Morioka)
July 22 KIBOW Hachinohe (Aomori Prefecture)
August 3 KIBOW Fukushima (Fukushima Prefecture)
September 28 Second KIBOW Fukushima (Fukushima Prefecture)
October 26 Second KIBOW Mito (Ibaraki Prefecture)
December 7 Second KIBOW Iwaki (Fukushima Prefecture)

2012
January 12 KIBOW Ishinomaki (Miyagi Prefecture)
February 9 KIBOW Tono (Iwate Prefecture)
March 11 KIBOW for repose of victims in Kiri Kiri (Iwate Prefecture)
March 20 KIBOW-GRA Yamamoto (Miyagi Prefecture)

(2) Activities to raise awareness of reconstruction and collect donations

2011
March 14 KIBOW project launched (Tokyo)
March 18 KIBOW Osaka
March 29 KIBOW Karuizawa
April 8 KIBOW Students Event (Tokyo)
April 14 KIBOW Economist Charity Conference (Tokyo)
April 17 KIBOW Nagoya
May 16 KIBOW Art Project (Tokyo)
June 10 KIBOW Mental Health Seminar (Tokyo)
June 16 KIBOW Leader (Tokyo)
July 7 Global Indian Friends with KIBOW (Tokyo)
September 9 KIBOW NPO (Tokyo)