DKSH Japan K.K.

Corporate responsibility• Brennwald diaries translation project•Disaster restoration support/volunteer activity• DKSH Fantree scholarshipDKSH Japan contributes to Japanesesociety in a variety of ways, ranging fromcontributing to the historical studiesof Japan to supporting the restorationactivities following the Great East JapanEarthquake. Our mission is to give back tosociety as part of the local community.The Brennwald diariestranslation projectCaspar Brennwald was a co-founder ofDKSH Japan. The Brennwald diaries consistof 548 pages in five volumes, and coverthe day-to-day events of a 16 year periodof his stay in Japan - from October 10,1862, to February 2, 1878. The originalmanuscript and related materials are heldby the families of the company foundersin Switzerland and in the Swiss Federal Archives.Close collaboration withthe Yokohama Archives of HistoryWorking with the cooperation of theYokohama Archives of History (located inNaka-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Pref.),Five volumes of the Brennwald diariesthe Yokohama Archives of History DKSHJapan have been engaged in a project totranslate the Brennwald diaries in theirentirety into Japanese. As the birthplaceof the company, Yokohama has alwaysbeen special to DKSH, and by doing thiswe hope to return something to the city.With its completion, the Japanesetranslation of Brennwald diaries will notonly be a record of DKSH’s history, butalso reveal significant historical facts aboutearly modern Japan, including detailsregarding Yokohama’s time of first contactto the western world.The project was launched on January,2008. The translation project teamincludes eleven historians.Japanese history highlighted in diariesCaspar Brennwald arrived in Japan at theyoung age of 24, as Secretary of Commercewith the first official Swiss industryand trade delegation. Yokohama had justopened its port to foreign trade and wasbecoming a hub of commerce. The diariescover the construction of modern factoriesfor the silk industry and the setting up ofa gas company for the gas light system.The diary also offers insights into thecosmopolitan nature of correspondenceSwiss delegates is negotiating with the shogunatestowards conclusion for the treaty of commerceat the time, which was conducted mainlyin German but also in French, English,Italian, and Dutch. Historical records ofYokohama in early Meiji are rare as mostof the related documents written byforeigners were destroyed by war or fire.The Brennwald diaries are precious pieceof the historic record, describing firsthandthe change of society witnessed inthe Edo and Meiji era.Disaster restoration support andvolunteer activityDKSH believes that supporting communityrecovery from natural disaster and communityvolunteerism are important waysto be a responsible company. When theearthquake and tsunami occurred inDecember 2004, DKSH helped rebuild anelementary school which was seriouslydamaged by the tsunami. We also donatededucational materials and equipmentsuch as electric fans and sport gear toaffected elementary schools in Thailand.In Myanmar, DKSH Group has been sponsoringhumanitarian projects to supportthe area devastated by Cyclone Nargis inMay 2008. DKSH employees from Japanand around the world voluntary donatedtoward this project. In Japan, after theEast Japan Great Earthquake of MarchDonation activity for Myanmar conducted in Japan2011, employees volunteered their time tohelp the restoration of their community.Some of the employees cleaned debris,while others helped rebuild the damagedfishery facility in Tohoku area. DKSH Japansupported this work by granting compassionateleave to employees who wantedto volunteer.DKSH Fantree ScholarshipDKSH Japan K.K. has established theDKSH Fantree Scholarship Foundation tohelp students who lost their parents continuetheir academic pursuits. The fundwas established through generous donationscontributed by DKSH employees in35 countries, with matching donationsfrom the DKSH Group and from DiethelmKeller Holdings.With support from the prefecturalgovernmental office and high schoolprincipals committee, DKSH Japan startedthe scholarship in the summer of 2011.This scholarship covers monthly paymentsfor sponsored students’ high school anduniversity attendance, for a maximumperiod of seven years. In addition to themonetary support, we maintain a closerelationship and dialogue with our sponsoredstudents.Cleaning debris (kesennuma-city)24 25