Mazda began publishing Mazda Tanshin in 1995, to introduce a wide range of people in the region to Mazda' s social-contribution activities, products and business operations. Today, Mazda Tanshin boasts a circulation of 28,000 copies.

One of Mazda' s greatest responsibilities as an automaker is the promotion of a safe and secure automotive society. On March 20, 2009, Mazda presented the Hiroshima Safe Driving School, in cooperation with the Hiroshima Prefecture Traffic Safety Society.

With 18 participants in attendance, Traffic Safety Society instructors joined Mazda test drivers and engineers to explain proper traffic-safety awareness, driving positions and the latest safety devices. In addition to practice in sudden braking and other safe driving techniques, attendees gained firsthand experience with today' s safety technologies, conducting maneuvers such as driving into cardboard obstacles.

Participants were delighted with the experience. One attendee commented, "It' s not every day you get direct instruction from someone like a Mazda pro test-driver, or try out various safety technologies. It was a fun way to learn about traffic safety."

Mazda is committed to continuing its support for traffic safety awareness activities such as these.

Mazda Kids' Museum, Mazda' s Web site for children, offers the "Kids' quiz on traffic safety," aiming to raise children' s awareness of traffic-safety matters. Through an engaging quiz format, the site teaches children important lessons about traffic safety.

At Mazda, we recognize that safety is one of the basic conditions for supporting a fulfi lling and rewarding lifestyle that includes automobiles. By both seeking to improve the "hardware" of advanced safety technologies as well as providing the "software" of enlightened safety practices, Mazda proudly contributes to a safe modern society.

Opened in May 1994, the Mazda Museum is a permanent exhibition facility open to the public and dedicated to the automotive industry. This Museum offers insights into the history of Mazda, the processes by which automobiles are manufactured, and the history of development of such innovations as Mazda' s hydrogen vehicles and other environmental technologies, as well as updates on the latest technologies. Thanks to its location adjacent to Mazda' s main plant in Hiroshima, the Museum affords observational tours of an actual vehicle assembly line, making it popular with primary and junior-high-school groups. On October 23, 2008, the Mazda Museum welcomed its one-millionth visitor. A ceremony was held to commemorate the landmark event, with the fifth- and sixth-year students of Kitakawa Primary School in Kochi Prefecture, whose number included the auspicious one-millionth visitor.

Mazda offers observation tours of its Main Plant (Hiroshima), Miyoshi Plant (Hiroshima) and Hofu Plant (Yamaguchi), to build strong ties of communication with local residents. Many primary and junior-high schools actively use these tours as part of their social studies programs.

In FY2008, these three plants welcomed a combined total of 76,552 tour visitors.

Social Studies Support & Training Seminars

Every year, Mazda presents an educational series called the Social Studies Support & Training Seminars. The seminars are aimed at teachers of fifth-grade social studies classes who are teaching about Japan' s auto manufacturing industry. These training exercises include plant tours and hands-on experience on the production line.

In the FY2008 seminar series, 37 teachers took part. At Mazda plants and "Technical Olympics" workshops, teachers observed the training of young employees, then tried their hands at assembly-line work. Participants soon learned that even simple tasks, such as bolt- and nut-tightening, require training to do correctly. Participating teachers left the program highly impressed, offering comments such as, "I' ve never done such detailed observation before. This is a valuable social studies resource," "I can' t wait to tell my students about this impressive observation tour," and "I' m going to go make a lesson based on today' s experience!"

The Mazda Specialist Bank was established in 1994 to supply talented people to assist when local communities organize events.

Current and former employees of Mazda and its Group companies with specialist knowledge, abilities and skills, are registered with the Specialist Bank and serve as a resource to meet requests from local communities.

The talents of people registered at the Specialist Bank currently encompass some 150 fields. In FY2008, the Specialist Bank dispatched people to 88 local events and school functions, including magic shows, rakugo (traditional Japanese comic storytelling) performances and seminars on Mazda' s environmental initiatives.

Mazda has hosted the Mazda Ekiden Road Relay Race, open to Mazda employees as well as members of the general public, every year since 1966. Using a route mapped out across the vast grounds of Mazda' s main plant, the race is a perennial favorite of the regional community.

On March 1, 2009, the 44th annual race attracted 150 teams from the general public and 188 Mazda employee teams, notching the event' s highest-ever participation rate with 338 teams and 2,028 participants. With people of all ages taking part, from primary-school to 75, the relay race was an unbeatable opportunity for Mazda to get to know people in the community, and we will continue to hold this event every year.

From May 3 to 5, 2009, Heiwa Odori and adjacent streets in Hiroshima's Naka Ward were festooned with the colors of the 2009 Hiroshima Flower Festival. Over the three-day course of the festival, over 1.6 million people took part. Since its foundation 33 years ago, Mazda has participated in every one of these events, sending a message of peace to the world through flowers. Mazda's Zoom-Zoom Plaza offered a merry assortment of activities, including a hands-on demonstration of manufacturing for parents and children to try together, a kids' quiz kiosk on traffic safety, and a stage where groups chosen by Mazda employees performed plays. Some 20,000 people enjoyed the fun at Zoom-Zoom Plaza during the three-day festival.

One of the many ways Mazda contributes to its native region is through the support of Hiroshima's Municipal Baseball Stadium. Mazda has acquired the naming rights to the stadium, which we affectionately call "Mazda Zoom-Zoom Stadium." Our support activities at the stadium are many and varied. We support the delivery of clean electricity to the stadium, making it an eco-friendly baseball stadium. For every one million visitors to the park, Mazda provides an assistive vehicle to a social-welfare organization. On the Web, Mazda invites sightseers to visit the Hiroshima region, in an effort to foster development in the region. Finally, by supporting professional baseball in this new stadium, Mazda is kindling the vitality of the entire region.

Mazda Day for Sanfrecce Hiroshima

Mazda provides funding for Hiroshima' s professional soccer team, Sanfrecce Hiroshima, and its professional baseball team, the Hiroshima Toyo Carp. In music, Mazda gives financial support for the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra.

Once a year, Mazda co-sponsors a team to attend a Sanfrecce Hiroshima soccer match. We also support Hiroshima Toyo Carp observation tours.

Mazda employees collected money from recycling of used postcards and other paper products, along with charity bingo receipts from the Flower Festival, and used the money to purchase wheelchairs and other assistive products. These products were given to various social-welfare associations in Hiroshima Prefecture and in Hofu, Yamaguchi Prefecture.

The Eastern Hiroshima Mazda Association is a charitable organization funded by Japan Climate Systems Corporation and 27 other leading companies in eastern Hiroshima Prefecture and neighboring regions. One of the Association's regular events is the delivery of Christmas presents to two social-welfare facilities in the eastern Hiroshima region, consisting of cookies, cakes and other goods produced by other social-welfare facilities in the region. After distributing the presents, the volunteers play games and chat with the people housed at the facilities.

Mazda provides funds for various activities. We contribute to the activities of regional communities in areas from academic, educational, cultural and artistic pursuits to international exchanges and sports.

In FY2008, Mazda provided funds totaling approximately \243,900,000 for a wide range of projects including the Mazda Foundation, established to promote science, technology and sound youth development, and to government agencies.

These included building funds for the new Hiroshima Municipal Baseball Stadium, otherwise known as the Mazda Zoom-Zoom Stadium Hiroshima.