OPTEX WEB SITE

Social Activities

The initiatives we undertake as part of our corporate social responsibility are considered part of the mission of our corporate management. Since 2002, we have been fully engaged in providing support activities for our Lake Biwa Outdoor Education Program and other initiatives through the facilities of our subsidiary, O'PAL.
OPTEX is located on the shores of Lake Biwa, which boasts magnificent scenery that changes with the seasons. For the company, this project has the objective of utilizing its environmental site on the shores of Lake Biwa to support educational activities by offering outdoor education, with the cooperation of local schools, to primary, middle school, and high school students.
The varied program activities include canoeing, dragon-boat racing, raft-making, and other sports as well as environmental studies such as observing lake organisms, making reed pipes, studying the lake environment, and fishing.
Specifically, we support school coursework by offering educational facilities for science, social studies, and PE as well as a lodging education program, school trips, and outdoor studies. During the three years this program has been in effect, roughly thirty thousand children have been inspired to learn more, develop stronger bodies, and live in harmony with nature and the environment.
We serve as the secretariat of the Committee to Promote Science among the Children of Shiga, which aims to improve science education in Shiga Prefecture. At the request of the Improved Academic Ability Hub Project (for fiscal 2005-06) introduced by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, we have undertaken a case study on improving teachers' abilities to provide instruction through clear lessons. In the study, we have helped children to cultivate their creativity and thinking skills through hands-on activities by Lake Biwa. The children have remarked on the wonderful times they had working on interesting experiments, all the while learning to enjoy science.
Today, Japan is facing the serious challenges of declining student interest in science and math, deterioration in thinking skills, and a lack of intellectual curiosity. We intend to take on these issues by implementing initiatives to enhance student motivation to learn while seeking to improve their academic abilities.

In order to enrich the regional community and to make it a better place to live, the Company is involved in the periodic clean up of the area surrounding the company premises. This activity not only affords us an invaluable communication opportunity with local residents but an incentive for each of our employees to raise his or her awareness to participate in environmental activities.