03/26/2014 Sara visited the Aizenbashi Nursery School and Kuraray Osaka Head Office

Sara and Kuraray carried out the Sara Takanashi and Kuraray Japanese school Backpack Gift project for students in Osaka who are about to enter their first year of elementary school and are being raised by single mothers.
Ishii Memorial Aizen-en, a social welfare service corporation, was established by Kuraray founder Magosaburo Ohara. Today it is located in Naniwa Ward, Osaka City, and is the operator of the Aizenbashi Nursery School. The decision to present Japanese school backpacks to the nursery school, and for Sara to visit, was made because of these connections.

The plan was for Sara to tour the various classrooms and facilities during her visit, but coincidentally a birthday party for children born in March was also being held on the same day. For that reason, the nursery school teachers decided to hold a welcome party for Sara as well. Surprises were in store for both the nursery school, whose birthday party was attended by a special guest, and for Sara, who was greeted with a welcome party.
When Sara went to the party venue, she was met with great shouts of joy from the children! They were very excited to be close enough to touch Sara, who they normally saw on television.

The party started with a ceremony in which Sara was presented with a certificate of appreciation by Aizenbashi Nursery School Chairman Yasuaki Wakui, who is also a Kuraray adviser. Sara seemed a bit nervous as many children watched her attentively during this ceremony. She received the certificate of appreciation to a round of great applause. The children had also prepared a hand-made medal, which was placed around Sara’s neck by a student representative who also conveyed a message to her. The student representative recited this message with utmost effort, which made Sara smile kindly in a way that showed her tension had melted away.

The party included competitions between Sara and the children who were celebrating their birthdays in March. For example, during the cat’s cradle competition Sara skillfully manipulated her string to write the Japanese character for “river.” The children also showed off their fantastic abilities, and the match ended in a tie. The participants were astounded to see Sara display a new side they had never seen before.
When the competitions were over, Sara served as a presenter to congratulate the children on their birthdays and place a medal around the neck of each. Finally, the children who would soon enter their first year of elementary school sang a song for Sara. Everyone, including Sara, was delighted by their dedicated performance and was sorry to see the party end. As Sara left the nursery school some children yelled out comments like, “Sara, we love you!” at the end, showing how popular she is.

Afterwards, Sara was invited to the Kuraray Osaka Head Office, where she toured the office space. It somehow seemed like there were more people there than usual…
As we escorted Sara around the office space and introduced the work of each department, she was greeted with an enthusiastic barrage of presents from the employees! All of the employees were charmed by Sara’s smiling face and expressions of gratitude.
Sara, thank you for spending such a wonderful time with us!