- The following is content from the press release -
1. what "HAPPY CHILD PROJECT" aims to achieve
The JR East Group will contribute to relieving the various concerns and burdens of child-rearing by leveraging the strengths of each of its Mobility and Lifestyle Solutions businesses, and take on the challenge of creating a better future for children and child-rearing through co-creation and collaboration within and outside the company.
We will further promote community-based support by utilizing public support systems, and in the future, we will strengthen co-creation and collaboration with other companies operating in child-related industries such as baby and children's goods, educational content, and childcare business more than ever.
2. development of various childcare support facilities to support a good balance between work and child rearing
(1) Development of station-type school children
In response to the growing need for school-age children, we have opened eight private school-age facilities (Shin-Kawasaki, Asagaya, Hachioji, Musashiurawa, Koshigaya Laketown, Akabane, and Kita Asaka) with support functions for working families, including a full learning program, transportation and meal services.
We will continue to promote the opening of these centers, focusing on areas with large numbers of dual-earner households and children on waiting lists.
(2) Development of childcare support facilities with diversity and expertise
In collaboration with "TASUC's Rehabilitation" (operator: TASUC Corporation), which provides developmental support for children with disabilities, we plan to open a classroom in Hachioji in April 2023, followed by another in Tokyo in the spring of 2024 or later.
In addition, STEAM education*1 through "Programbo," a robot programming class for children by JR Chuo Line Community Design Co.
1 STEAM education is a cross-disciplinary education in the five areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics.
(3) Development of a nurturing "Ekinaka Children's Cafeteria
Ekinaka Kodomo Shokudo" (operator: Towa Nasu Resort Co., Ltd.) opened at Nasu Shiobara Station in March 2023 to address issues of educational opportunities in rural areas, including nutrition education, and to promote local community building. In addition to providing locally produced and locally consumed food, the cafeteria aims to be a community center that promotes interaction between different generations and regions by offering online English conversation services that allow people to share the same space even when they are far apart, and by providing opportunities to foster the importance of food and the joy of learning.
We will continue to expand our business with multiple locations around the station. In addition, we aim to support children's growth by broadening our educational support to include not only English conversation, but also art and music.
(4) Promoting the attractiveness of station-based daycare centers. Collaboration with Nippon Life Insurance Company's "NISSAY Penguin Project*2
Nippon Life Insurance and East Japan Railway Company will jointly implement a project to think about and communicate the excellence of nursery schools.
Amid the social issue of "one-operator childcare," the burden of housework and childcare and the loneliness of parents, we will work to spread understanding of nursery schools and childcare work as an important mechanism for "raising children together" and to "foster a culture of relying on others" through the use of childcare services and other means.
2 A project by Nippon Life Insurance Company to create a society without barriers and anxieties about child rearing.
Implementation period
Second half of FY2023
Outline of Implementation
We will solicit episodes from station-based nursery schools about the good things about attending a nursery school, their appreciation for teachers, and the satisfaction of working in childcare. We will return the collected voices to the nursery schools and use the networks of both companies to widely disseminate the excellence of the nursery schools.
3. Initiatives to reduce the burden and anxiety of excursions
(1) Refreshment time during childcare provided through the "childcare that makes you want to leave your child with us" demonstration experiment
JR East Startup Co., Ltd. and grow&partners, Inc., which operates the temporary childcare search and reservation service "Asuiku," will conduct a demonstration experiment for "Happiiku," a service that allows childcare professionals to take care of children in station buildings for a fee, providing mothers and fathers with a relaxing time for shopping and a leisurely lunch while raising children, in order to ensure time for themselves and refreshment for the childcare generation. The experiment will provide mothers and fathers with a relaxing time for shopping or a leisurely lunch.
Implementation period
Wednesday, September 20, 2023 - Sunday, September 24, 2023 10:30 - 17:00 each day
[Location
Atre Ebisu, Main Bldg. 4F Fontaine Plaza
Outline of Implementation
Childcare staff will take care of children (4 months old to preschoolers) in a safe and secure environment, and they will spend their time playing and having fun at HAPPY CHILD PROJECT's original workshops until they are picked up.
Coupons for shopping, lunch, and other activities that can be used within the atre Ebisu building will be sent out from the official atre Ebisu LINE to help the child-rearing generation enjoy their own time.
(2) Promotion of "Babycal" stroller rental service
A society where people can go out with their children more easily! (operator: JRE Baby Car Sharing Limited Liability Partnership) is available at 144 locations nationwide (as of September 1, 2023), and is available in all prefectures in the JR East area.
We are pleased to announce that we have received the "17th Kids Design Award (Awarded category: Design that facilitates the birth and upbringing of children).
By expanding the number of locations from hotels and commercial facilities in train stations to those in the city center, we will promote the creation of an environment in which the child-rearing generation can more easily go out with their children in a variety of situations, including short trips out, trips back home and sightseeing, shopping and hobbies in the city center, and more.
(3) Renewal of the "Baby Rest Room" to enhance its functions
Implementation period
From the second half of FY2023 onward in sequence
Outline of Implementation
The "Baby Rest Room," a facility to support customers traveling with babies, is available in the station, and will be renewed in conjunction with future station improvements to make it easier and safer for customers with children who carry a lot of baggage to go out.
<Renewal details
Existing facilities: nursing chairs, diaper changing beds, etc. (some stations also provide sinks, hand wash basins, diaper garbage cans, etc.)
Additional facilities: Vending machines for childcare products (juice, diapers, etc.), BabyCal, etc. in an integrated manner.
4. Improved time value for parents and children through the new HAPPY CHILD CLUB (HCC), a new service with enhanced childcare support services
This is a membership service that provides information and benefits to help relieve some of the worries and burdens of child-rearing and to enjoy child-rearing. At the same time as recruiting members, HCC also recruits HCC ambassadors who can answer questionnaires to help us develop products and improve services based on the real "voices" of the child-rearing generation, with the aim of realizing a "spiritually fulfilling" child-rearing lifestyle.
Implementation period
FY2024 onward as soon as ready *Details will be announced as soon as determined.
<Reference
An example of JR East Group's childcare support program
Service name and logo
protective rail
Business Outline
Service will begin in October 2017.
When a person to be watched over passes through an automatic ticket gate at a station using a Suica or other transportation system IC card, the family is notified of the station used, the time of passing, and the amount of charge remaining.
550 yen/month per person/contact (tax included)
Service is available to 1. elementary, junior high and high school students (until March 31st of their 18th year)
2. Seniors (65 years and older) 3. Disabled (19 years and older)
Service name and logo
CHARICO
Business Outline
Service will begin in April 2022.
Subscription service that includes a flat-rate rental of electric bicycles for children and a dedicated bicycle parking lot near the station. Insurance and manufacturer maintenance are also automatically included.
From 5,500 yen/month (tax included)
Service name and logo
square knot
Business Outline
Service will begin in March 2023.
The program is designed to "connect to the understanding of school studies" through real work experience in the workplace and classroom learning based on the new Courses of Study, and "work experience learning for elementary school students with their parents and children".
Sold at "JRE MALL
Service name and logo
PeerCross
Business Outline
Trial is underway from July 2023 to December 2023.
Based on usage and other factors, this service is scheduled to be available from January 2024.
A career development support service that enables working mothers with similar values and circumstances to find and match people they want to meet in a timely manner and consult with them on a one-on-one basis.
As of September 2023, there are 30 participating companies with approximately 700 employees.
zThe JR East Group is engaged in the "HAPPY CHILD PROJECT," a childcare support project that utilizes a wide range of Group management resources, with the aim of "creating new value and services with people as the starting point" as stated in the Group Management Vision "Transformation 2027.
zTo date, as an initiative based on one of the backgrounds of the declining birthrate, we have "opened childcare support facilities centering on station-based nursery schools" to help people balance work and child-rearing, and we aim to open a total of 175 locations by 2027. In the future, we will move up the phase to "expansion of more diverse childcare support facilities and services" to reduce the anxiety and burden of outings and promote initiatives to improve the value of time for both parents and children.
zThe JR East Group will continue to address further child-rearing issues, aiming to realize a "spiritually rich" child-rearing lifestyle that all parents and children can enjoy.