On April 9, HU’s Hospital received 30,000 facemasks, donated by Sienocean Biological Technology Co., Ltd, a pharmaceutical and food manufacturing company based in Hangzhou, China.

Sienocean has been working together with HU’s Probiotic Science for Preventive Medicine Laboratory led by Professor Masanori Sugiyama, manufacturing and selling functional food products using plant-derived lactic acid bacteria.

The company offered to donate facemasks to the university by contacting Professor Sugiyama after learning that the university had a very tight stock amid the novel coronavirus outbreak in Japan.

The 30,000 facemasks arrived at HU’s Hospital in 15 cardboard boxes marked with the label "山水之隣 風雨相済" (Shānshuǐ zhī lín fēngyǔ xiāng jì), sending a message of hope and solidarity to Japan during these difficult times.