Leveraging technology which is core to our tire production, Bridgestone has developed high-quality, highly-functioning seismic isolation bearings. These bearings help prevent buildings from collapsing and sustaining significant damage from earthquakes. This technology has allowed Bridgestone to contribute to the safety and reliability in people’s everyday lives, as well as greater economic certainty in local communities.

Bridgestone Americas, Inc. owns and operates a weather center in one of its tire manufacturing facilities in the state of Tennessee, USA. The center includes weather spotter cameras, a local weather scanner, and current weather radar, giving the ability to predict weather patterns. This facility can alert surrounding areas when inclement weather is imminent or occurring in the area.

P.T. Bridgestone Tire Indonesia operates a vocational training facility, the Loka Latihan Keterampilan Bridgestone (LLKBS), built on the premises of Bekasi plant in Indonesia. The facility offers a fair opportunity of learning as the facility fees and living costs are free for two years. Those, who have graduated from the facility, now work for companies in Indonesia including a local Bridgestone office.

In India, many people living in rural areas are deprived of basic educational infrastructure due to economic reasons. Bridgestone provided school facilities and educational materials to children with limited educational opportunities living near the Chakan plant at our affiliate company in India, Bridgestone India Private Limited (BSID). By supporting educational opportunities for children, we help foster educational opportunities that can break the chain of poverty.

Impacted village residents in India: 4,500 people

Established in 2003, Bridgestone Corporate University (BCU) provides education and training opportunities to employees, suppliers, local citizens and other stakeholders. Center was opened in 2015 to foster training and education. Since opening, 508 people have graduated from BCU and more than 8,000 stakeholders have received training.

Trained people since 2003: more than 8,000 people

We operate the Builders’ Academy educational training program for unemployed people at a production plant in the city of Béthune located in northern France. Local plant employees become coaches, teaching students manufacturing techniques. Students who complete the program are awarded a certificate from the French government. Through these activities, we engage in the development of human resources with specialized knowledge and skills while securing human resources for the Company. We also partner with government agencies and local NGOs to contribute to lowering unemployment rates, which is becoming a serious social issue.

Number of young people trained: 60 students

In Spain, Bridgestone Hispania S.A. provides a machine engineering training for young people with intellectual disabilities. The 400-hour program has been designed to correlate with the intellectual level of each participant.

This project began in 2011, led mainly by the Ochanomizu Academic Association NPO with the aim of providing long-term support to children who lost their parents or guardians in the Great East Japan Earthquake. Volunteers, mostly students, meet regularly with children who lost their parents or guardians, spending quality time together and building important relationships in these children’s lives. In addition to financing, Bridgestone offers its recreational facilities as a place for project activities (summer and winter camps).

Number of activities conducted up to date: 24 times

Each year, the Bridgestone Corporation, along with Bridgestone Cycle Co., Ltd. and Bridgestone Sports Co., Ltd., holds the Bridgestone Children’s Eco-Art Contest. This contest, which began with the desire to preserve our precious natural environment for the children of the future, emphasizes an appreciation for nature as seen through children’s drawings.

Going forward, the Bridgestone Group will continue to support the education of the next generation through these and other activities.

Through activities including the research and development of sports prosthesis rubber soles that facilitate safe running on a variety of road surfaces and rubber gloves for wheelchair competitions that efficiently drive the wheels of the wheelchair, Bridgestone also enables people with disabilities to actively participate as athletes. The Bridgestone Group also supports para-athletes by providing them with employment opportunities.

In January 2018, a program was launched at Bridgestone Europe, Middle East and Africa (BSEMEA) as means of promoting employee health and social contribution activities by linking the distance employees walked to donations to activities supporting the prevention of cancer. In 2018, this program will be customized and conducted in Bridgestone China & Asia Pacific (BSCAP) and Bridgestone Group in Japan supporting donations in local communities based on regional needs.

Since its establishment in 1992 in Japan, the Bridgestone Sports Arena has aimed to support the healthy minds and bodies of local residents and the healthy growth of local children, as well as helping design comfortable lifestyles for local communities. In recent years, it has also conducted wellness programs for the elderly and engaged in adult onset disease prevention.

In collaboration with Professor Kenji Kawashima of the Institute of Biomaterials and Bioengineering at the Tokyo Medical and Dental University, the Group launched the development of a walking training device that contributes to the promotion of health among senior citizens. This rubber artificial muscle, which is attached to the user’s body and assists with walking movement, helps support weight and provides load, is an application of rubber and reinforced fiber technologies accumulated from the development of tires and hoses up to now.

Dengue virus is a serious health problem in Costa Rica and other tropical locations. Worn stockpiled tires can encourage mosquito breeding which can increase health problems in the population. Bridgestone de Costa Rica (BSCR) has worked with the Ministry of Health of Costa Rica on monthly tire collection campaigns for proper waste treatment through co-processing.