With ever increasing certainty, the preservation of the global environment has become a driving force behind all economic activities. The alcoholic beverage industry in particular sustains its business activities through various benefits received from nature. These benefits should not be thought of as freely given by nature, but rather as an investment made by the Earth. If the benefits from the Earth are thought of as investments, then a responsibility to effectively use the investment and to earn a profit is born.

Environmental activities such as energy and resource conservation can be called effective use of this investment from the earth. Furthermore, social contribution activities such as nature preservation efforts can be viewed as a profitable return on the earth's investment. Based on this philosophy, we have pursued our "Green Ink" accounting activities since 1998.

All of our factories have obtained the ISO 14001 certification as of April 2001, and we have established the goal of having all branch sales offices obtain certification during fiscal 2001. Furthermore, our Zero Emissions activities, which target 100% recycling of factory wastes, reached the 98% level during fiscal 2000, and we are aiming for over 99% during fiscal 2001. In addition, we have acknowledged the container and packing recycling problem as an important social responsibility of a manufacturer of alcoholic beverages. Thus, while enacting "upstream" policies for product development, we have been actively seeking the involvement of the consumer in the recycling problem by opening up communication with the public and the government. We are also undertaking global warming prevention policies, setting long-term environmental goals (p 2) and promoting coordinated activities. The results of these activities are reported to society in the easy-to-understand format of our Green Accounting Report, and the fact that our environmental activities are being monitored by you, the public, is a major source of our efforts to promote environmental activities.

The Green Accounting Report was established with the idea that the calculation method and data range would be revised as necessary after three years. This year's report will bring the first Green Accounting term to a close. The suggestions received by you about the last three years of our green accounting activities will be incorporated in the new term beginning next year. We hope that you continue to grace us with your opinions and criticisms.