Three volunteers from JFE Shoji Trade Corporation/Osaka Branch participated in the "Spo-GOMI World Cup 2023 Hyogo Stage" held at Nishinomiya Beach Park in Hyogo Prefecture on August 6.
　Spo-GOMI is an abbreviation for "sports garbage pickup," a sport originating in Japan that is a competitive form of garbage pickup. Teams compete against each other for points awarded according to the amount and type of trash picked up in a given area within a time limit. The winning team will be invited to the "Japan STAGE" to be held in Tokyo in October, and the winner of the Japan STAGE will be eligible to participate in the "World Cup" to be held in Tokyo in November, in which about 20 countries including Japan will participate.
　On the day of the event, Mr. Kitajima, General Manager of Osaka Branch Office, Mr. Hagiwara, General Manager, and Mr. Yasuda, Deputy General Manager, formed the team "J-Show" to participate. At 10:00 a.m., they started picking up trash at once, and in the heat of over 35°C, the three of them worked together to pick up 1.95 kg of trash in the one-hour time limit. The team that picked up 9.8 kg of litter won the competition, and team "J-Show" came in 14th place out of the 29 teams (85 members) that participated. However, it was a good opportunity for us to realize once again the amount of litter and to raise awareness of the purpose of the event, which is "to prevent further littering in the ocean.