22,000 registrants
The Yomiuri Shimbun is committed to make positive contributions to society. For example, the Yomiuri Eye Bank, establish in 1964, helps the visually impaired to recover their sight. As a pioneer in the eye bank movement in Japan, the Yomiuri Eye Bank has registered 22,000 expected donors who have helped 5,800 people regain their eyesight by transplant.
The Yomiuri Light and Humanity Association, which manages the Yomiuri Eye Bank, also runs a number of other fundraising and volunteer activities, supported by the kindness and good will The Yomiuri readers.
Fundraisers for Disaster Areas (Amount of funds collected as of December 2008)
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The Niigataken chuetsu-oki Earthquake,
- July 2007
- Fundraisers: 2,642
- Funds raised: ¥94,670,000
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Cyclone Nargis in Myammar,
- May 2008
- Fundraisers: 1,561
- Funds raised: ¥16,210,000
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Great Sichuan Earthquake,
- May 2008
- Fundraisers: 2,270
- Funds raised:¥31,420,000
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The Iwate-Miyagi Nairiku Earthquake,
- June 2008
- Fundraisers: 1,699
- Funds raised: ¥128,770,000
Volunteer work in Borneo island (Nov. 2008)Saving the environment: ISO Certification
The Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings is determined to do its part for the environment. The Yomiuri Shimbun was the first national newspaper whose headquarters obtained ISO certification. As of December 2007, The Yomiuri Group had been certified at three Head Offices and 10 printing plants. Furthermore, 18 of 30 Yomiuri printing plants employ "computer-to-plate" printing, a system that does not require films (which leads to industrial waste). The plants also collect and recycle all of their aluminum press plates.
Recycling newspapers
Newspapers are an obvious example of a material ripe for recycling. Before any other newspaper company, back in 1982, The Yomiuri began collecting recyclable paper at Yomiuri Centers around Japan. According to a survey conducted in April 2008, locations falling under the Tokyo Head Office (including Hokkaido, Chubu, and Hokuriku) collected about 25,000 tons of recyclable paper each month and the volume continues to rise year by year.