"Haiku": A Dental Education Website for Parents and Children
Since the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011, Shofu has operated Haiku, an educational website designed for children--the future stewards of oral health--and their families. The site offers a wide range of content, including online dental picture books for parents and children to learn together, a reading guide for parents outlining key points from the stories, and web comics featuring our original character Hanyanko, all of which help convey information on dental treatment and oral health care.
In addition, the site hosts an annual contest inviting submissions of dental-themed haiku and senryu, traditional forms of short Japanese poetry. The contest attracts participants from a broad demographic, ranging from elementary school children to seniors.
Through Haiku, Shofu aims to help children--and the wider public--understand the importance of dental care and foster greater interest and awareness in oral health.
Japanese version only.
Voices from the Team
Miyuki OhnakaChief, Sales Development Section, Sales Department
Azusa SaitoSales Development Section, Sales Department
"Haiku," our dental education website, was created with the hope of helping the general public better understand the importance of dental care and supporting dental clinics in their daily practice. With this mission in mind, we operate the site with a strong sense of purpose, continually striving to enhance and enrich its content.
Oral health plays a vital role in both physical and mental well-being. Through Haiku, we hope that parents and children can learn about oral health in an enjoyable way, enabling families to maintain healthy mouths and lead fulfilling lives.
Recent initiatives include hosting a "Teething and Tooth Replacement Photo Contest."
In addition, as part of our efforts to link Haiku's activities to social contribution, we donate oral care items to the Ashinaga Scholarship Foundation--equivalent to 10 yen for each haiku or senryu submitted to our annual poetry contest.
Haiku Official Ambassadors
To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the dental education website Haiku and to help more people learn about dentistry, we invited dental clinics across Japan to participate as official Haiku ambassadors. As of March 31, 2024, a total of 86 clinics have taken on this role.
The official ambassadors support our efforts to promote dental knowledge to the public by displaying picture books, guidebooks, and other educational materials in their clinics, and by participating in initiatives that help share dental information with visitors.
Picture Book Reading Activities
Since the fiscal year ended March 31, 2012, Shofu has carried out picture book reading activities at nursery schools near its headquarters in conjunction with "Good Teeth Day" on November 8. During these activities, we read aloud the online picture books featured on Haiku, our parent-child dental education website, and our dental hygienists provide instruction on proper tooth-brushing techniques.
Through these efforts, we aim to convey to children the importance of dental care and good oral hygiene habits.
