Relevant SDGs
The Group is committed to contributing to the communities that host its facilities and to society as a whole.
Timing and sponsorship of sports events overseas
The overseas subsidiaries and distributors of the Seiko Group work to contribute to the vitalization of local communities through sports-related charity events and participation in volunteer activities.
Seiko Time to Shine
During the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019, an event was held to inspire interest in athletics among young people. Boys and girls of ages 15 to 18 participated in races held in the same stadium used by the world’s top athletes, utilizing the very same equipment, while receiving explanations about that equipment. The young participants were thrilled to experience such a realistic event, which even included an entrance performance. Long-jump world record holder Mike Powell also participated, adding to the excitement.
Sports event supporting social rehabilitation of ex-offenders
Seiko has supported the Yellow Ribbon Prison Run held every year inside Changi Prison in Singapore as official sponsor since 2011. The sports event aims to support a social rehabilitation program for ex-offenders and approximately 10,000 regular runners who endorse the cause took part in 2019.
Timing and sponsorship of sports events in Japan
Companies in the Seiko Group are contributing to the development of children and youth through sports by making the most of the characteristics of respective businesses.
Sports Hinomaru Kids
The Sports Hinomaru Kids Association holds a wide variety of competitions and events throughout the year, including judo, basketball, bicycles, and soft tennis, with the aim of deepening the bonds between parents and children. Seiko supports the annual activities of the Sports Hinomaru Kids Association and provides prizes for the competitions, such as Seiko sports timer digital alarm clocks and kids’ watches.
Swimming Day
As part of our social contribution activities, Swimming Day was established for the purpose of providing people with the opportunity to become accustomed to water.
In 2019, the 5th annual Swimming Day was held in Nagoya Prefecture, with a variety of events such as a talk show and swimming instruction clinic for children, featuring former Olympic athletes, as well as diving, water polo, artistic swimming and traditional Japanese swimming demonstrations. At this Seiko-sponsored event, we donated stopwatches to the local swimming federation to contribute to the development of swimming in the region.
Overseas social contribution activities
Overseas subsidiaries and distributors of Group companies are contributing to the vitalization of local communities by participating in locally based charity and volunteer activities.
300 clocks donated to elementary schools in Laos
To overcome poverty and build a foundation for modernization, Laos is putting a tremendous effort into education. To support this effort, the Japan International Cooperation Agency is cooperating in the creation of arithmetic textbooks. Although the textbooks include the topic of reading the time, many schools do not have clocks. For this reason, Seiko has donated 300 wall clocks to be put in classrooms. These clocks have now been placed in schools, where they are already helping with children’s education.
Wear a Christmas jumper for a good cause
Every year in December the UK holds an event called Christmas Jumper Day in which employees or school children wear a Christmas jumper instead of their usual business attire or uniform and raise funds from the people around them. The funds raised are donated to the Save the Children charity, an organization aiming to protect the rights of children and keep them safe. Seiko supports the participation of its employees in the event and sends donations as well.
Joint Development Aimed At Technology Promotion and Directed Research
The Research & Development Division of Seiko Manufacturing (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. serves as a base for overseas research and development, promoting joint development with national research institutes and universities. It also provides educational guidance to local students through R&D activities.
Initiatives through music
The Seiko Group undertakes community support activities through music that deepen bonds with people.
Sound of "Wa" Concert to Support Eastern Japan
Immediately after the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, Seiko began holding annual concerts to support the recovery of the affected areas. Since 2013 the concert has been held in three prefectures in the Tohoku region as well as in Tokyo. We call it the Sound of “Wa” (Harmony) Concert to Support Eastern Japan. Until recently the concertmaster was the late Norio Maeda, a famous musician, and our stages were graced by many other well-known artists who care about helping the disaster-struck areas. These shows have become a means not only to keep Japan’s focus on the Tohoku area, but also to strengthen ties with local music lovers. On March 11, 2021, exactly 10 years after the disaster, we held the concert at the Nippon Budokan.
Seiko Summer Jazz Camp
Seiko supports children and young musicians who aspire to become musicians.
Seiko sponsors the Seiko Summer Jazz Camp, an event in which globally active instructors teach performance techniques, theory, and how to have fun with music to talented young Japanese players who aspire to become professional jazz musicians.
On the last day of the camp, a public concert is held for the students to show off their skills and demonstrate what they have learned. The best among them receive the Seiko Award.
In the past, we have produced a number of young stars who have gone on to professional careers.
Starting in 2020, we are also holding a Web-based camp that makes full use of SNS.
We will continue to expand the content of the event through the infinite power of music.
Providing opportunities and venues for learning
The Seiko Group implements activities to provide opportunities and venues to learn about watches and clocks, as well as for cross-cultural exchange, as a means to contribute to the development of the younger generation.
Seiko Museum Ginza
The Seiko Museum was established in 1981 as part of our 100th anniversary project. Our goal was to gather, preserve, and study documents and mechanisms related to the theme of "time and timepieces".
In August 2020, on the occasion of the 160th anniversary of the birth of our founder, Kintaro Hattori, the museum was relocated to Tokyo’s Ginza district, the birthplace of Seiko, and reopened as the Seiko Museum Ginza. The museum aims to be a place with broad appeal that can entertain adults and children alike, exhibiting not only valuable archive materials relating to the history of Kintaro Hattori and Seiko’s products, but also a wide panorama of the history of timepieces in general, from sundials to wadokei (traditional Japanese clocks).
Museum workshops to bring out children’s potential
Since 2012, the Seiko Museum has held a variety of workshops both within the museum and at other venues. These include watchmaking workshops for elementary school children and school excursion groups and accessory-making workshops for adults and visitors from overseas. Also, in 2019, we started conducting the Make a One-of-a-kind Clock workshop for preschool children. The children get to draw their own picture on the dial of a wall clock, and then use tools to properly assemble the clock themselves. Through this kind of experience, the children are able to greatly exercise their imagination and creativity. Our primary considerations are what we can do to help children appreciate the joy of thinking together, learning together, and building together, and how we can create an environment in which children can grow to their full potential.
Seiko Museum Ginza at home
The Seiko Museum Ginza offers a new kind of online learning experience— the “360° Virtual Experience” allows visitors to enjoy the Seiko Museum Ginza from their homes.Visitors can easily move around the Museum and explore it as if it were a game, regardless of where they are located in the world.
Cultivating a future for children and creating enriched and beautiful "time" together
Seiko Group Corporation is an official sponsor of KidZania Tokyo and KidZania Koshien, a pair of children's towns where kids can learn about the workings of society. Seiko runs an exhibit there called the Street Clock Pavilion. This pavilion is designed to help children learn the meaning and importance of time while developing presentation skills by becoming performers in this time-telling activity. In addition, a special Seiko Exciting Time & Timepieces School will be held for a limited time during the Exciting Week with SEIKO.
Seiko Exciting School
The Seiko Exciting School is a classroom where children engage in exciting experiences and nurture a rich future through human connections. Through personal challenges, discoveries, and insights, children gain new experiences and connect these to their own lives. In the hope that they will help to create a brighter future, Seiko continues to nurture new generations of young people.
Time and Japanese Culture Project
The Seiko Group's Time and Japanese Culture Project is aimed at rediscovering the attraction of Japanese culture in a variety of fields, including traditional craftsmanship, food culture, fine art, and the performing arts. Seiko House Ginza will serve as a platform to host both events and exhibitions that provide an immersive experience of multiple facets of Japanese culture.
Sponsorship of the International Youth Essay Contest
Seiko supports the International Essay Contest for Young People which is organized by UNESCO to foster diversity and creativity among children around the world and help them build a culture of peace and a sustainable global society. This is part of UNESCO's Global Action Programme to contribute to the achievement of the SDGs in the field of education.
The theme for 2022 was “My Values.” Approximately 20,000 people from 157 countries entered the contest, and Seiko presented watches to the winners from around the world.
Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award / Children’s Category
(1st Prize)
Waka Sato (Age 12, Japan)
Title:
「Being Who You Are」
(2nd Prize)
Hiranga Bandara Suraweera (Age 11, Sri Lanka)
Title:
「Kindness with a new twist」
Message from Ms. Hiranga's parents
We would like to send in our most sincere appreciation to the Seiko Group Corporation for sending Hiranga the wrist watch he is wearing in this photo as part of the gift of his winning essay submitted to the Goi Peace Foundation International Essay Competition 2022. It is Hiranga's first ever metronome wrist watch and it means a lot to him that he will definitely be encouraged to perform well in essay competitions in the future as well.
We are most grateful for the gift.
Donation of Wall Clocks and Outdoor Pole-mounted Clocks to an International School in Karuizawa, Japan
We presented outdoor pole clocks for the schoolyard and wall clocks for the gymnasium and classrooms to United World College ISAK Japan, an international boarding school.
