The "Job Yearbook," edited by The Asahi Shimbun Company, is a unique educational resource that clearly introduces the unique work of various leading Japanese companies and organizations. It was distributed to all elementary and junior high schools nationwide, as well as some high schools, in July of this year.
In the "Job Yearbook," we introduce the surprising uses and functions of natural wax, which are little known to children. ("Job Yearbook 2020," pp. 256-257, p. 333)
For example, what comes to mind when you hear the word "wax"? I'm sure many of you think of candles on a cake. The wax produced primarily by plants and insects is called "natural wax."
In addition to hair oil for tying topknots and the Japanese candles seen in period dramas on television, natural wax is used in a variety of inconspicuous applications all around us, such as the raw material for cosmetics like hair wax and lipstick, capsules and tablets for health foods, gummy candies, chewing gum, rice dumplings and rice crackers, and even data recording materials like CDs and copier toner.With
the development of convenience stores and mail order, interest in and concern for things themselves has waned beyond their convenience, and we often fail to notice their true quality and value, such as what they are made of or how to properly care for them.
Take bamboo shoots for example. Nowadays, supermarkets and convenience stores stock a wide selection of ready-to-eat prepackaged shoots, so people often buy them for their convenience. However, until recently, you had to buy skinned, soiled shoots and prepare them yourself. Only then could you appreciate the difference in taste and texture between real bamboo shoots and those sold at convenience stores, which had been pre-processed for easy eating. You also realized how much work went into preparing them for consumption. In
this age of convenience, I sincerely hope that this "Business Yearbook" will inspire children to discover the true essence of the things around us, to take a deeper interest in the foods we eat and use, and to appreciate the preciousness of even the flowers and grasses that bloom by the roadside that we pass by without noticing until now. It is my sincere hope that this "Business Yearbook" will foster in children the sensitivity to nature that we have always had.
And it is my sincere hope that the coming era of natural product manufacturing that is kind to people and the earth, in line with the SDGs, will spread step by step to future children all over the world.