Strengthening Cooperation for Child-Rearing Support in Addition to Community Watch: Agreement Signing Ceremony with Kawachi Town on Tuesday, April 7 [Ibaraki, Tochigi]

Palsystem Ibaraki Tochigi (Headquarters: Maika, Mito City; Representative Director: Yasuyo Aoki) and Kawachi Town (Mayor Ryoji Nozawa) will hold a signing ceremony for a cooperation agreement on the promotion of child-rearing support at the Kawachi Town Hall on Tuesday, April 7, from 2:00 PM. Through the collaboration between the administration and the co-operative, they will promote the creation of an environment where citizens can raise children with peace of mind and all children can grow up healthy.

### Set of Bath Salts for Mothers and Baby Wipes Based on the agreement, Kawachi Town will distribute information cards for 'Child-Rearing Support Products (Relaxing Mom BOX)' as a gift from the town to support pregnancy and child-rearing during 'late-pregnancy interviews.' The gift set includes bath salts for mothers, organic tea, and Pal System original baby wipes.

Households wishing to receive the gift can apply via the QR code on the information card. Pal System, which delivers child-rearing support services, will then visit to hand-deliver the gift. They will also provide information on administrative child-rearing support systems and affiliated consultation services, expanding the network of support for child-rearing households.

[Image: Example image of a 'Relaxing Mom BOX' or similar products]

The town and Pal System signed a 'Cooperation Agreement on Support for Community Watch Activities' in 2014. Utilizing the infrastructure of co-op home delivery, which visits the same areas within the community at the same day and time each week, they have been promoting activities to protect community safety by coordinating with the administration and responding to emergency calls when abnormalities are noticed at members' homes or in the community. With the signing of this agreement, they will further promote comprehensive mutual support, including outreach to child-rearing households.

This is the 26th cooperation agreement with municipalities since fiscal year 2024, expanding community-wide child-rearing support across the prefecture.

### Signing Ceremony for the 'Agreement on Cooperation for the Promotion of Child-Rearing Support' with Kawachi Town 【Date】Tuesday, April 7, 2026, from 2:00 PM 【Venue】Kawachi Town Hall, 2nd Floor Main Conference Room (1183 Genseida, Kawachi-machi, Inashiki-gun, Ibaraki Prefecture) 【Attendees】Ryoji Nozawa, Mayor of Kawachi Town Yasuyo Aoki, Representative Director of Palsystem Ibaraki Tochigi Co-operative

### Child-Rearing Support through Community-Rooted Co-op Infrastructure Pal System visits the same area of Kawachi Town once a week for home delivery. Utilizing this close-knit community infrastructure, they provide information on original child-rearing products and other useful items, as well as child-rearing related exchange events held with members and their independently operated child-rearing website <a href="https://kosodate.pal-system.co.jp/">"Kosodate 123"</a>. They support child-rearing households through the power of cooperation from diverse connections.

Palsystem Ibaraki Tochigi will continue to aim for community development where everyone can raise children with peace of mind, collaborating with local governments and various people as a consumer co-operative that actively disseminates child-rearing information.

Palsystem Ibaraki Tochigi Location: 2-1-39 Maika, Mito City, Ibaraki Prefecture; Representative Director: Yasuyo Aoki Investment Capital: 7.09 billion JPY; Number of Members: 141,000; Total Business Volume: 18.34 billion JPY (as of end of March 2025) HP: <a href="https://www.palsystem-ibaraki.coop/">https://www.palsystem-ibaraki.coop/</a>

Pal System Consumers' Co-operative Union Location: Rakuasu Higashi Shinjuku, 2-2-6 Okubo, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Atsuyuki Shibusawa 13 members • Total business volume for unified business system users: 260.42 billion JPY / Total number of members: 1.762 million (as of end of March 2025) Member Co-ops: Pal System Tokyo, Pal System Kanagawa, Pal System Chiba, Pal System Saitama, Pal System Ibaraki Tochigi, Pal System Yamanashi Nagano, Pal System Gunma, Pal System Fukushima, Pal System Shizuoka, Pal System Niigata Tokimeki, Pal System Kyosai Ren, Saitama Workers' Co-operative, i-Co-op Miyagi HP: <a href="https://www.pal-system.co.jp/">https://www.pal-system.co.jp/</a>