We encourage industry-academia partnerships with schools in specialty fields. For example, an established agricultural high school and a mall specialty store collaborated to develop an original outfit reflecting the theme of local production for local consumption. A junior college child education department collaborated to produce a picture book about the Hakusan Tedorigawa Geopark, a UNESCO-listed site. The students said that this was a valuable experience that differed from their regular coursework. The energy of the students who worked very hard from the beginning was almost overwhelming. As the concept of the mall states, we encourage people in the community to take on challenges, providing opportunities for others to shine. We will continue to work closely with our community, serving as a shopping mall that brings smiles to faces and inspiration to all.

The idea for the event came about after we realized the numerous attractive natural resources in the area surrounding the mall. These resources included wetlands registered under the Ramsar Convention and the world's largest rice field artwork. Our hope was to revitalize the area in cooperation with the government and local organizations, not only in Hanyu City, but also in the surrounding cities of Kazo, Gyoda, and Konosu. The exhibits, hands-on activities, and product demonstrations were all very successful. We were also impressed by the way families enjoyed learning about the local environment while interacting with our staff. We received feedback from cooperating organizations stating that they would like to continue with the event in the future, and we feel that we served as an effective communications hub to highlight the appeal of the region.

We collaborated 10 outside organizations in an event to raise awareness of the issues of an aging society, working closely with the government through in-house teams that researched and proposed ideas of what the mall could do. Approximately 2,000 people participated in events, including a dance competition in the mall plaza. Numerous participants enjoyed the event, practicing dance every day. We were happy to receive an award from AEON MALL China in recognition of our outstanding team, which contributed to solving local issues. The mall even recorded higher sales during the event. We will continue to offer a variety of lifestyle options to the elderly.

We are gradually expanding the scale of the program through environments in which customers can check their health status on the spur-of-the-moment while out shopping. Most of the customers who participated in the program were simply passing by at the time. Every person responding to the questionnaire at AEON MALL Fukuoka and AEON MALL Kyoto Katsuragawa were satisfied with the event and glad to have participated. Based on the feedback, we believe we are meeting a latent need through these events. Our ability to provide opportunities for customers to think about their health in a more casual manner lies in the strength of AEON MALL as a facility closely connected to daily lives. We hope to continue this initiative as a community health center, expanding the program throughout Japan.