Nippon Foundation Chairman Sasakawa (right) and Japan SELP Center Chairman Kawamata at the opening event

As a part of its support of aid activities promoting the employment of those with disabilities, the Nippon Foundation launched this project to promote the self-reliance and independence of people with disabilities, through quality improvement and sales promotions for their products. This project marks a step beyond the foundation's traditional aid activities, which have been typified by facility maintenance, for example. The new site is operated jointly with the Japan SELP Center (NPO), which provides support to projects employing people with disabilities. The goal is to apply the expertise of the Japan SELP Center and the Nippon Foundation to establish a new brand.

Commuters visit the Magokoro Zeppin booth (Shinagawa Station, Tokyo)

On December 11, the day the website opened, an opening ceremony was held at JR Shinagawa Station in Tokyo. Selected products such as cookies, rice crackers, soap and woodworking products were on display in the station’s concourse, as Nippon Foundation Chairman Yohei Sasakawa and Japan SELP Center Chairman Munenori Kawamata unveiled the new brand.

Sale items

“Rather than having people buy items just because they were produced at welfare facilities, we want to use this website to promote the fact that these are wonderful products in their own right, to provide encouragement to those concerned,” said Chairman Sasakawa at the opening. Chairman Kawamata commented at his joy on seeing the new site online: “What welfare-related facilities can do alone in terms of selling is limited. I’m delighted to see these facilities participate with pride in the broader market, as a brand in which employees can be confident.”

Carefully selected products from across Japan

Commuters passing through the station stopped at the event venue to look over the samples. Many expressed surprise at the quality of the sample cookies and other items. The excellent products initially available on the site when it opened included 129 items from 44 facilities nationwide, screened by specialist planners and buyers for characteristics such as quality and originality. Future plans call for rigorous screening by a screening committee, including consumer representatives to boost the number of certified products of excellence.

The Japan SELP Center will manage product inventory centrally to help reduce shipping costs and reduce workloads at the work sites. It will also handle processing of Web orders, including product shipment and credit-card payment processing. Expanding sales channels (and thereby increasing the value of the Magokoro Zeppin brand) is intended not just to increase wages, but to enable numerous welfare work sites to establish their own high-quality brands, boosting the motivation to work.