Event “Orange Ring Dressing-up” to be Held

*Note: The following ministries and agencies will participate in this event: the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI); the National Police Agency; the Financial Services Agency; the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications; the Ministry of Justice (which will light up its former main building (or “Red Brick Building”)); the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology; the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism; and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW).

1. Outline of the “Orange Ring Dressing-up” event

Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI) and the World Health Organization (WHO) jointly nominated September 21 as World’s Alzheimer’s Day, and since then, they have been raising public awareness of Alzheimer’s disease around this day. Moreover, ADI nominated September as World’s Alzheimer’s Month and has been deploying a variety of related efforts.

As part of such efforts, the related ministries and agencies will make a large orange ring, the symbol for “Supporters of Dementia Patients,” appear on such buildings as the Central Government Building in which the ministries and agencies, including MHLW and METI, are located, thereby aiming to enhancing public interest in dementia together with other efforts for raising public awareness of and calling public attention to the disease.

2. Outline of the event

Period of the event:

From September 15 (Tue.) to 18 (Fri.), 2020 (17:00 to 20:00)

Method for holding the event:

Related ministries and agencies will affix sheets in orange to the target windows of the respective offices and make an orange-ring shape appear using the lights of the offices. METI will make use of its windows facing the building of the Ministry of Finance. In addition, a variety of lighting-up and other events for the same purpose will be held across Japan, such as at facilities of municipalities, tourist destinations and companies. For accessing the details of these events across Japan, visit the website or use the QR code below.

Reference: Information on lighting-up and other events across Japan

MHLW website: World’s Alzheimer’s Day and World’s Alzheimer’s Month (FY2020) (in Japanese)

Picture of the orange ring shown by METI in FY2019

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3. METI’s measures for addressing dementia

METI has been promoting measures for addressing dementia with a view to achieving the two objectives simultaneously, namely (1) prevention (control of advancement) and (2) building a society where patients are able to coexist with the disease while continuing their daily lives and keeping their own ways.

(1) Prevention (control of advancement)

• METI plans to conduct this effort for four years from FY2019.
• It has been advancing the verification of effects of a program for preventing dementia targeting about 1,000 persons in multiple fields, mainly in the National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology.

(2) Building a society where patients are able to coexist with the disease while continuing their daily lives and keeping their own ways

• METI plans to conduct this effort for three years from FY2020.
• It has adopted 11 projects submitted by the businesses conducting the verification of effects focusing on challenges in patients’ daily lives as a subject, which target those who are suffering from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia.

Note: For an overview of these projects, see the Appendix.

Related material

• Overview of METI’s measures for addressing dementia (in Japanese) (PDF:569KB)

Division in Charge

Healthcare Industries Division, Commerce and Service Industry Policy Group