Ｄｏ Ｓｏｍｅｔｈｉｎｇ Ｇｏｏｄ ｆｏｒ Ｃｈｉｌｄｒｅｎ ｏｆ Ｄａｌｉａｎ

Mr. Junnosuke Ishimoto is president of the Sunhome Egami in Sasebo， Nagasaki and honorary citizen of Dalian. In his company building， there are photos of him taken with Dalian municipal leaders during his visits to the city hanging on the wall near the front door. On the walls of the reception room are exercise works of Chinese calligraphy by the pupils of Dalian. In the president’s room there are unique handicrafts from Dalian and works by famous Dalian calligraphers， which clearly show the dissoluble bonds between him and the Chinese city.

Mr. Junnosuke Ishimoto was born in Dalian and spent his early 12 years there. 15 years ago he returned there for the first time after 42 years. During this visit he made a decision which he is still proud of: to support the city’s education by donating 1 million yen every year. It seemed to be a prompt decision， but it embodies the true friendly feelings he has cherished for more than four decades.

In June of 1989， Mr. Ishimoto and his business partners made a business trip to Hong Kong. Before setting out， he thought of making a detour to Dalian. As he hadn’t been to the city for more than 40 years and knew little about the situation in China， he carried additional cash with him in case of special needs. Arriving in Dalian， he revisited the streets he had been familiar with and the school he had attended. Though everything had changed with the passing of time， those golden memories of his childhood in Dalian became increasingly clear in his mind while visiting various places， especially the scene of his departure from the city: his young Chinese friends saw him off and gave him their carefully kept steamed bread when they were suffering from poverty and starvation. When thinking of this， a special feeling welled up in his mind. Now he had to leave Dalian again， his wish to do something for this city， a wish that he had cherished in his mind for many years grew stronger. After counting the cash left in his pocket， he made up his mind: there’s no need to bring the cash back home， better leave them in Dalian and do something good for the children here. Without hesitation， he contacted the Foreign Affairs Office of the Dalian Municipal Government and told them his plan. Thus， Mr. Ishimoto left 1 million yen and announced his decision to make the same donation for Dalian’s education every year hereafter.

In the past 15 years since then， true to what he had said， Mr. Ishimoto came to Dalian every year with the donation as well as his friendship. The total amount of his donation made in these 15 years is not a small sum even in Japan， but his determination is firm: he will never be stingy in giving help to the children of Dalian and will never ask for anything in return. He said， he will ask his sons and grandsons to continue to do what he has done， for in his view， a well-educated child is the hope of a family， hence the whole country will have hope.

Mr. Ishimoto told the author about his recent work at his office. He said， his company mainly sells building material such as cement. The trading volume of cement of his company accounts for one third of the total of Nagasaki. Meanwhile he operates an old-aged home， the eldest person there is 104 years old. He often visits the old people on the weekend or holidays. Thanks to his close relations with Dalian， his company receives a lot of government officials and entrepreneurs from Dalian. Especially when he was awarded the title of honorary citizen of Dalian by the municipal government in 1993， his friendship with the city became closer. Whenever a Japanese entrepreneur consults him on visiting or making investment in China， he will recommend Dalian without hesitation. Mr. Ishimoto told the author when he catches cold， he recovers as soon as he comes to Dalian. “This is rather mysterious”， said he happily.