14 November 2025

2025 Sumitomo Electric Sports Events

Our company’s annual sports events, the Sumitomo Electric Athletics Festa and SEI Challenge Cup, were held on October 26th at the Sumitomo Sogo Ground near Itami Works. For the past few years, weather had given us cause for concern, and this year was no different as rain was forecasted the day before the event. But, thankfully, on the day itself the weather held out and we were able to complete all the scheduled activities. The events were attended by roughly 2,160 people, including employees and local residents, and were a great success.

One of the activities was a track & field workshop for children, who eagerly followed the instructions given to them by members of our company’s athletics team. This was delightful to watch. Some of the children also ran in a 50-meter race, laughing and competing with our athletes while giving people in the stands something to cheer.

Another activity, the Japan Record Challenge, also saw some exciting races among athletes from corporate teams and university teams. The runners’ vigorous efforts were met with enthusiastic cheering from the crowd. In one of the races, the women’s 4 x 800 meter relay, a team broke the university record that had stood for 23 years.

Children’s workshop with Hata and Umehara
Children’s workshop with Hata and Umehara
From left: Mikase, Koike, and Suzuki
From left: Mikase, Koike, and Suzuki
Maruyama runs the 50m race
Maruyama runs the 50m race
Kyoto University of Education’s 4 x 800m relay team, the new record holders
Kyoto University of Education’s 4 x 800m relay team, the new record holders

In the SEI Challenge Cup, employees formed teams with their colleagues, fellow club members, and contemporaries. The teams competed in three activities. One of these was Molkky, a throwing game where players knock down pins to score points, and another was Ajta, an advanced version of a Japanese ball-tossing game. I was impressed by how our employees had fun even as they struggled with these unfamiliar games. The third activity was a relay marathon, where I witnessed the unique power of sports as the runners encouraged each other to finish the race, even as they approached the limits of their endurance.

SEI Challenge Cup opening ceremony
SEI Challenge Cup opening ceremony
SEI Challenge Cup opening ceremony

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone who helped organize the day’s events, including our employees and people outside of the company such as the members of the Kansai Corporate Track & Field Federation. I’d also like to thank everyone who came out to the events for making it such as wonderful day.

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