3rd "Newsweek Japan SDGs Award 2025" Winners Announced! An Award Honoring Companies Tackling Social Issues and Disseminating Their Activities Globally. Grand Prize goes to Newton Plus Co., Ltd. for "Electricity-Free Automatic Door"

Newsweek Japan SDGs Award 2025

What is the "Newsweek Japan SDGs Award"?

Even small initiatives by Japanese companies, if widely communicated by the media, can generate empathy, lead to new ideas, and bring us closer to solving social issues.

Launched by Newsweek Japan in 2023, this award project recognizes Japanese companies' outstanding initiatives toward SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). It aims not just to commend, but to accelerate the resolution of social issues by broadly communicating sustainable examples of Japanese companies as a media, fostering empathy, and disseminating them to the world.

This third year, 56 partner companies participated. Initiatives were categorized into environmental, social, economic, decarbonization, and regional issues. Award-winning companies were selected through rigorous screening by the editorial department and external judges (Professor Norichika Kanie, Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University).

Additionally, the editorial department selected special award winners from among them, for companies engaged in sustained initiatives aligned with the award's concept.

Since 2024, as part of the "SDGs Award" project, joint research has been conducted with the Keio University SFC Research Institute. This research aims to create new evaluation indicators that allow "small and medium-sized enterprises and large corporations to be evaluated and judged under the same conditions," with students leading the research and determining student award winners using the established evaluation indicators.

On Tuesday, March 31, 2026, Newsweek Japan published a special feature on 'Sustainability,' which also reported on the SDGs Award 2025, including introductions of the award-winning companies.

7 Award-Winning Companies: Their Sustainable Challenges [3rd SDGs Award]

https://www.newsweekjapan.jp/stories/sdgs/2026/03/592405.php

Difficult to achieve by 2030... but will Japanese companies win with "Beyond SDGs" and "Sanpo Yoshi"? [3rd SDGs Award]

https://www.newsweekjapan.jp/stories/sdgs/2026/03/592393.php

Newsweek Japan SDGs Award 2025 Award Ceremony

Introduction of Award-Winning Companies

Environmental Category | OSG Corporation

"12 million changes in behavior" at Osaka-Kansai Expo... From disposables to "My Bottle water refill as a new choice"── "Sutehaji" experiential awareness campaign

https://www.newsweekjapan.jp/stories/sdgs/2026/03/582638.php

【Commentary】

While various countries are challenging plastic reduction, OSG Corporation, which operates water-related businesses, has been focusing on promoting reusable bottles and installing water refill stations since 2019, under the concept of "It's embarrassing to use disposables" (the "Sutehaji" project). In particular, we highly value their stance of changing society by collaborating with diverse industries, encouraging over 500 companies and organizations, including competitors, to participate. This initiative aligns with SDGs Goal 17, "Partnerships for the Goals." Last year, they demonstrated this collaborative power at the Osaka-Kansai Expo, installing 52 water refill stations and reducing CO₂ emissions by approximately 1,000 tons. We look forward to the continued expansion of plastic reduction efforts.

Economic Category | Asahi Biocycle Co., Ltd.

Solving agricultural challenges with by-products from beer production... Asahi Biocycle creates the "future" of agriculture

https://www.newsweekjapan.jp/stories/sdgs/2025/11/574398.php

【Commentary】

Asahi Biocycle, which attempts to apply the biotechnology cultivated by Asahi Group's long-standing research to the agricultural and environmental fields, has developed agricultural materials utilizing "beer yeast cell walls," a by-product of beer production. In particular, the "water-saving direct seeding cultivation" for rice, which is expected to significantly reduce labor and costs, has demonstrated success in securing yields and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 65%. We highly evaluate their efforts to explore new uses for previously discarded by-products, which not only reduces CO₂ during disposal but also helps reduce greenhouse gases at the point of use. We look forward to its global expansion, with introductions already underway in Kenya and Brazil.

Social Category | IT FORCE Co., Ltd.

"Difficulty booking nursing care taxis" is a thing of the past... IT FORCE's "Yobuzo" creates the future of community and care

https://www.newsweekjapan.jp/stories/sdgs/2025/12/582253.php

【Commentary】

As Japan faces issues of "public transport deserts" nationwide due to a declining birthrate, aging population, and population decrease, nursing care taxis play a significant role as a means of transportation for the elderly and disabled. However, complicated booking methods create barriers, preventing many from using them. IT FORCE's nursing care taxi booking app, "Yobuzo," allows bookings with just a few taps and can call a taxi that meets the user's conditions. We commend their ambition to become a platform beyond a simple dispatch app, linking with welfare taxi tickets distributed by local governments. We hope they will contribute to a decarbonized society by promoting the electrification of vehicles in the future.

Regional Issues Category | Seikatsu Club Consumers' Co-operative Union

A new cycle of "people" and "money" created by solar power generation... What is the future of "Local SDGs" envisioned by Seikatsu Club in the Shonai region?

https://www.newsweekjapan.jp/stories/sdgs/2025/11/578282.php

【Commentary】

The UN established the SDGs in 2015. Seikatsu Club Union has been promoting sustainable regional development in the Shonai region of Yamagata Prefecture for 50 years prior to that, and continues to do so. In 2019, they installed a solar power plant with approximately 70,000 solar panels on a vast disused quarry site that had been idle for about 30 years. We commend their creation of a wonderful cycle: utilizing unused land to supply regional electricity, while channeling electricity sales profits from member joint purchases to regional environmental and cultural preservation. This co-operative model should be applicable not only in other regions of Japan but also globally.

Decarbonization Category | Newton Plus Co., Ltd.

Grand Prize | Newton Plus Co., Ltd.

"Automatic door opening and closing by gravity," not electricity... Newton Plus challenges a "sustainable entrance"

https://www.newsweekjapan.jp/stories/sdgs/2025/12/580759.php

【Category Award Commentary】

The electricity-free automatic door "Newton," developed and manufactured by Newton Plus, holds enormous significance in Japan, where natural disasters such as earthquakes, typhoons, and heavy rains are frequent, and the development of social infrastructure to prepare for power outage risks is required. As the product name suggests, the mechanism of moving the door using human weight (=gravity) is simple and emits no CO₂. It is an environmentally and economically excellent technology. Currently, its introduction is progressing in hospitals, local government offices, schools, expressway facilities, and commercial facilities, and we hope for further expansion of its adoption.

【Grand Prize Commentary】

I (Kanie) personally experienced "Newton" installed at the Kumamoto Disaster Prevention Center, and I was impressed that it operated without any difference from an electric automatic door. The idea of an automatic door that "operates solely on human weight without using any electricity" reminds us that innovative technological development is not always necessary, and hints for innovation can be found in familiar places. We selected it as the Grand Prize winner because it is a product needed in this era when electricity demand is intensifying with the spread of AI. We pay tribute to Newton Plus for creating a product that can be applied worldwide from a shift in perspective.

Special Award | Mitsui Fudosan Hotel Management Co., Ltd.

Turning art activities for people with disabilities into "work"?... The "true meaning" of Mitsui Fudosan Hotel Management's exhibition

https://www.newsweekjapan.jp/stories/sdgs/2026/03/579033.php

【Commentary】

The special award established this year by the editorial department for SDGs initiatives that have been continuously and progressively developed over a long period is presented to Mitsui Fudosan Hotel Management. Awareness of art activities by people with disabilities is still low in Japan, and support for them is limited to a few companies and organizations. Amidst this, they have been organizing exhibitions using their own hotels in various locations to create opportunities for many people to encounter such works. We commend their efforts to discover artists living in rural areas and the actual increase in total sales of artworks and financial returns to artists year after year. They are also promoting multilingualization of artwork descriptions and special pages for overseas guests. Utilizing the advantage of operating dozens of hotels nationwide, we hope they will continue to expand their support for art by people with disabilities.

Student Award | Kaneka Corporation

Protecting rich oceans with the power of microorganisms... Kaneka's challenge to develop new materials that decompose even in seawater

https://www.newsweekjapan.jp/stories/sdgs/2025/10/575416.php

【Commentary】

As a perspective unique to students who will lead the future, the selection emphasized future potential. Kaneka's "Green Planet" was highly evaluated for its high potential to contribute to CO₂ emission reduction and solving marine plastic pollution as a 100% biomass-derived biodegradable material. In addition to their proactive stance to accelerate domestic and international expansion, we consider their efforts to address challenges related to resource procurement, while also focusing on the impact of their business activities, to be meaningful from the perspective of sustainable business operations. Their high resolution in strengthening synergies and resolving trade-offs between different issues, and their detailed development roadmap as CSV (Creating Shared Value) also contributed to this evaluation.

Award Ceremony & Networking Event Held on March 16, 2026

To celebrate the achievements of the award-winning companies and deepen inter-company exchange, an award ceremony was held on Monday, March 16, 2026, at TOKYO AMERICAN CLUB (2-1-2 Azabudai, Minato-ku, Tokyo).

In addition to the award ceremony, a talk session was held with the award-winning companies, external judge (Professor Norichika Kanie, Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University), and SDGs Office Manager Morita, where consultations and questions about SDGs and sustainability were exchanged.

Students from the Keio University SFC Research Institute, who selected the student award winners, also participated. They presented their research on corporate sustainability evaluation, and interacted with participating companies at the networking event.

【Contact Information for this matter】

CE Media House Co., Ltd. Newsweek Japan Editorial Department, SDGs Office, Funakoshi

Email：y-funakoshi@cccmh.jp