[July 30, 2014]

Rakuten Starts Global Scholarship Program for Students Around the World

Rakuten, Inc. today announced that it has started an educational support scholarship program with the aim of providing support to students around the world who have the desire to study but are unable to due to financial limitations. This is the first scholarship-based educational development program for the company.

As part of its CSR (News - Alert) efforts, Rakuten has been engaged in various activities for educational development in order to support the development of young people. In a new initiative in educational development, Rakuten will collaborate with both Japanese and international NPOs to provide a scholarship program for both high school and university students, with the aim of promoting the development of the next generation of leaders. In the first stage of the program, Rakuten will collaborate with the Global Citizens Initiative (GCI (News - Alert)), an NPO aimed at nurturing global leaders who can tackle the social problems faced today, and in the second stage, Rakuten will collaborate with ETIC., an NPO which has produced a number of entrepreneurs through providing practical internship opportunities to university students.

Rakuten has set up an international scholarship program known as "Rakuten Global Scholars" to provide support for high school students to participate in the Global Citizens Summit for Youth* (GCSY) program organized by the GCI to be held from 2 - 9 August 2014 at the Harvard Faculty Club in Boston. Five high school students from Rwanda, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Iran and France have been selected by Rakuten and GCI, and the costs for these students to participate in the program will be covered by Rakuten. A total of 24 students fromaround the world will participate in the GCSY, taking part in discussions about the urgent problems faced around the world while developing the skills to solve global issues.

Furthermore, the activities of the participants supported by Rakuten both during and after the program will be covered in reports on a dedicated Rakuten Global Scholars site. In addition, Rakuten will propose the use of Viber, a messaging application provided by Viber Media, a subsidiary of Rakuten, to the five participants it is supporting to enable communication and the sharing of opinions both inside and outside the classes in the program. Rakuten hopes that the participants of the program will continue to communicate even after the program ends.

In its domestic activities, in autumn this year Rakuten will work with ETIC. to establish a scholarship project for university students in Japan. Specifically, in October, applications for internships with scholarships to the participating NPOs will begin, and in February 2015, the students will be dispatched to their NPOs.

Details of the Rakuten Global Scholars program and the reports on activities can be found at the following site: http://global.rakuten.com/corp/sustainability/activities/education/globalscholars/

* The Global Citizens Summit for Youth brings a select group of international youth scholars and faculty to the Harvard Faculty Club. During the week-long program, participants investigate the idea of global citizenship and the themes of freedom and fairness in the world today. This rigorous program will continue on after the 8 day summit at Harvard via the GCI virtual platform and community. It is a springboard to a larger world of global learning and inspiration as the GCI youth take action and follow their passion in this ever increasing globalized and digitalized world.

About Rakuten, Inc.

Rakuten, Inc. (4755:Tokyo), is one of the world's leading Internet service companies. We provide a variety of products and services for consumers and businesses, with a focus on e-commerce, finance, and digital content. In both 2012 and 2013, Rakuten was ranked among the world's 'Top 10 Most Innovative Companies' in Forbes magazine's annual list. Rakuten is expanding worldwide and currently operates throughout Asia, Europe, the Americas and Oceania. Founded in 1997, Rakuten is headquartered in Tokyo, with over 11,000 employees and partner staff worldwide.

For more information: http://global.rakuten.com/corp/.

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