I would like to take this opportunity to express my deepest sympathies to the victims of the earthquake in northeastern Japan, and to all of those who have suffered.

At the beginning and end of April 2011, I visited our suppliers, our Tohoku Branch in Sendai and other parties in northeastern Japan. The damage to suppliers' facilities and other devastation that I witnessed first-hand was far worse than I had imagined. Some companies belonging to the MC Group also suffered major damage, but have been working hard to restore operations. This sort of national crisis brought home to me the necessity of contributing to society through our businesses based on the spirit of Corporate Responsibility to Society*, one of the Three Corporate Principles that form our corporate philosophy.

In terms of interim support in the wake of the natural disaster, the MC Group lent its full support to relief and recovery efforts. We helped provide essential supplies and fuel for their delivery to affected areas. We also made Mitsubishi Motors Corporation i-MiEV electric vehicles available free of charge. Detailed information on our response can be found on "Great East Japan Earthquake – Toward Recovery".

Recovery and rebuilding efforts after this massive disaster will almost certainly stretch out for years. Given this situation, we established a recovery fund with a contribution of ¥10.0 billion over 4 years. The Mitsubishi Corporation East Japan Earthquake Recovery Fund will offer support from many angles over the crucial next several years to the stricken areas. These funds will be used to provide essential supplies and services to affected areas, provide emergency scholarships to affected students, support the activities of NPOs, and for other purposes. Our employees have also been conducting volunteer activities since April through internal programs set up to facilitate their efforts. Moving forward, we will use the fund to support stricken areas according to their needs.