NYK Teams Up with Sumo Wrestler Kotooshu to Ship Wheelchairs to Bulgaria
April 26, 2007
Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK; Head office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President: Koji Miyahara) will provide free transport for 112 wheelchairs contributed to children in the Republic of Bulgaria, the homeland of Kotooshu,* a professional sumo wrestler who has appeared in numerous NYK advertisements and promotions over the past year. This activity will occur with the cooperation of the Volunteers Group to Send Wheelchairs to Overseas Children,** an NPO based in Japan.
Kotooshu and the NPO aim to assist as many children with disabilities as possible in Bulgaria, where wheelchairs are in short supply. On April 24 at a loading site in Tokyo, Kotooshu and staff members from the NPO, among others, filled containers with wheelchairs collected throughout Japan. The 203-centimeter, 152-kilogram Kotooshu easily lifted the packed wheelchairs, commenting, "I'm happy that the children will be able to use these wheelchairs to freely roam and enjoy the outdoors."
In the middle of May, the filled containers will be loaded onto a containership at NYK's Tokyo container terminal and will arrive in June at the port of Varna in Bulgaria. Kotooshu will then travel to Bulgaria, where he will take part in a presentation ceremony on July 25 together with the Bulgarian minister of health and the Bulgarian ambassador to Japan.
The NYK Group will continue to use its logistics and transport services, facilities, and networks across oceans, land, and air to demonstrate the group's commitment to social contribution activities.
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| * | Kotooshu Born Kaloyan Stefanov Mahlyanov, Kotooshu came to Japan from Bulgaria in 2002, and subsequently followed the sumo tradition of assuming a wrestling name, or shikona. As a member of the Sadogatake Stable, he has quickly risen to the rank of ozeki, the second highest in sumo. Kotooshu's ambition to pursue his goals in a new field in a foreign country parallels NYK's mission to become a logistics integrator and to provide transport services around the world. NYK has been proud to have Kotooshu as a company spokesperson since April 2006. |
| ** | The Volunteers Group to Send Wheelchairs to Overseas Children Established in 2004, this NPO collects, cleans, and repairs used wheelchairs and provides them to children with disabilities overseas in order to give the children the opportunity to move freely and live healthier lives. So far, this NPO has provided approximately 400 wheelchairs to children in four countries. |