YAZAKI: Past, present, future. We are connected.

In line with its Corporate Policy of being “A Corporation in Step with the World” and “A Corporation Needed by Society,” the Yazaki Group has long put a priority on sending employees overseas to cultivate their ability to develop their own career paths.

One part of this approach is a unique Yazaki-developed human resources development program called the “Adventure School.” It is an overseas travel-based training scheme for prospective employees of the Yazaki Group who are new graduates of a technical school, university or higher-level institution. Although the program has been modified numerous times over the years, its basic foundation involves having each participant find a topic he or she can tackle earnestly, independently prepare a plan for tackling it, and then execute the plan. Since the program’s inception in 1993, some 1,200 recruits have tested out unique ideas in more than 36 countries. The plans are truly unrestricted and full of the spirit of adventure, with examples including studying yoga in India, building a library at an orphanage in Africa, earning a Cessna pilot’s license in Canada, and learning how to train dolphins in Hawaii. Absolutely no demands or instructions concerning plan content are issued by the company. The fact that the question, “How does your plan benefit the company?” is never asked is probably why the program attracts attention from human resources development professionals.

Another approach is Yazaki’s “Summer Camp,” a “next-generation” human resources development program that Yazaki pioneered in 1977. Through the program, a variety of camps are held for children of Yazaki Group employees to help them in their social development and gain an international perspective.

The objectives of the Summer Camp Program include:

• Providing highly impressionable children with opportunities to experience new sensations and cultures
• Cultivating pride in being the child of a Yazaki Group employee and gratitude for their parents
• Helping children appreciate the importance of the environment and communication through camp living

Domestic Summer Camps

These camps are for Japanese elementary school children in the fifth and sixth grades. The children learn discipline and teamwork through group activities and experience the value of the environment through camp living. As of August 2015, 6,920 children have participated in camps held in Shizuoka Prefecture and Yusuhara Town, Kochi Prefecture, where Yazaki Forest is located.

Overseas Summer Camps

These camps are for Japanese children in their second or third year of junior high school. They take place in countries where the Yazaki Group has business bases. Through the camps, children learn about the cultures of other countries, how to approach local people with humility, and the importance of the environment. Thus far, the camps have been held in Thailand, Mexico, Australia and China. A total of 4,637 children have taken part since 1985.

Summer Camp in Japan

These camps are held by inviting the fourteen- and fifteen-year old children of overseas employees to Japan. The program offers the children an opportunity to experience Japanese culture, history and customs, and to appreciate differences between Japan and their own countries. Since the program’s inception in 1988, the numbers of participating countries and participants have been growing in line with Yazaki’s expanding globalization. Thus far, 3,505 children from 40 countries have taken part. As many as 300 children participate each year.

These programs are conducted by Yazaki Group employees, many of them young, who volunteer for the work. They join together to execute the programs as scheduled while also caring for children who become homesick, break the rules, suffer health problems, or cannot adjust to Japanese customs. Thus, it appears that they, too, grow considerably through the experience.