In May 2008, MHCB's Düsseldorf Branch invited eighth graders from the local Japanese school to experience the workplace environment. Three students took part and in addition to receiving an explanation of banking operations, toured the dealing room, listened in to a TV conference call with the Paris branch, and tried counting banknotes. One of the students commented: "I thought counting banknotes was the bank's main job, but this workplace experience taught me that bank staff are engaged in all sorts of work."
In Jul 2008, MHCB's Singapore Branch gave lessons to sixth graders from the local Japanese school. Some 90 pupils attended three classes and listened to explanations of the bank's role and functions based on the textbook "Working with Money." In Feb 2009, the branch took part in a lecture meeting on careers held at a local Japanese junior high school. Our classes were very popular, and we will continue this initiative next year and thereafter.
In Feb 2009, staff from MHCB's Singapore Branch attended a career guidance lecture at a local Japanese middle school. The purpose of this activity was to inform students that they must eventually choose an occupation and to educate them about some possible pursuits. At the career guidance lecture, we explained the functions and roles of banks using our original textbook, "Working with Money", and answered questions that we had received beforehand.
PT. Bank Mizuho Indonesia, a local subsidiary, held a lecture for students of Atmajaya Yogyakarta University in Aug 2008. The lecture was part of a social education program run by Bank Sentral Republik Indonesia, and Mizuho employees explained the need to discern good and bad customers, credit assessment, foreign exchange and other matters.
In Nov 2008, MHCB(China)'s Dalian Branch took part in Asia University's "Asia Dream College" educational program for developing human resources who will be active in China. During the lecture held at Dalian University of Foreign Languages, the branch manager spoke to 27 Japanese and Chinese students about the kind of work done at branches in Japan, and trends in the Chinese economy.
The Mizuho Securities Shanghai branch held a course of lectures at FUDAN University in Shanghai over two days on the themes of "International Finance and the Structural Change of Capital Markets" and "Progress of Globalization and Corporate Activities." More than 150 students listened to these lectures. We have been doing this activity each year since 2005.
In Dec 2008, MHCB(China)'s Wuxi Branch held a course on "Corporate Economic Activity and Finance" for 70 fourth-year students belonging to the Japanese Department of the School of Foreign Studies at Jiangnan University. One participant said that "this was a good opportunity to fraternize with Japanese people and Japanese companies," while another said "it gave me a good understanding of the mechanisms of finance."
In Feb 2009, MHCB(China) Wuxi branch held an extracurricular lecture for 15 young students of the Wuxi Japanese Language Supplementary School. Taking "Talking about Money" as its theme, the lecture elicited a great many questions from the young students, partly because it is not a subject that they often get to study.
