Joined the Mother's Day Mairi Partnership

The Mother's Day Mairi Partnership, comprised of 12 volunteers (6 companies and 6 organizations) including Nippon Kodo, a manufacturer and seller of incense, held the "Mother's Day Mairi Partnership 2019 Joint Press Conference" in Tokyo on Tuesday, April 23.
This marks the third year since the partnership was formed to spread a new culture for Mother's Day: "offering a prayer of gratitude to one's deceased mother." The term "Mother's Day Mairi" is now being used more frequently on social media and by the public, indicating that this custom is truly maturing into a well-established practice.

Each of the partnership members announced their efforts, which are now in full swing, leading up to May 12th, the first Mother's Day of the Reiwa era.
This year, the General Incorporated Association Tegami-dera, which promotes activities that connect life and death through writing letters to the deceased, resonated with the spirit of Mother's Day Mairi and became the 13th member at the press conference.
Joji Inoue, representative of Tegami-dera, took the stage to speak about the significance of writing letters. He strongly pledged Tegami-dera's contribution to the Mother's Day Mairi, especially to the letter competition, and declared their commitment to jointly promoting the initiative.
Furthermore, writer and book planner Toshiro Sato also appeared and reported that the "Mother's Day Mairi" Letter Contest book project, which was still in the planning stages at the kickoff meeting in February of this year, has officially found a publisher and is proceeding smoothly towards a late July publication this year.
Sato is the initiator who, from his conviction that the many "letters to deceased mothers" submitted to the letter contest could lead to grief care and renewed strength to live for readers, advocated for the project to deliver these letters to the world in book form.
Next, actor Masao Kusakari, who served as the head of the selection committee for this year's second "Mother's Day Mairi" Letter Contest, took the stage.
Following a talk session where he shared memories of his deceased mother, he announced the gold prize winner of the letter contest and presented the award certificate to the recipient.