"Future Stories" is a series of interviews with Group employees about their efforts to lead to a future of Space for your Smile.

From the annual securities report for the fiscal year ending March 2023, it is mandatory for prime listed companies to disclose information on sustainability, and information on human capital as a medium- to long-term growth indicator for companies, as well as risks and opportunities that companies have in evaluating companies in consideration of economic and social sustainability, are also attracting attention.

In addition to financial information in the form of numerical results, we are also actively disclosing non-financial information* that is invisible to the public, in order to help our stakeholders better understand our company.

*Non-financial information: Information that cannot be measured numerically other than business results and financial information, and includes data and information related to management strategies and management issues, ESG and CSR initiatives, human capital, intellectual capital, etc.

―――Members Interviewed

From left to right: Mr. Asakura, Mr. Kodama, Mr. Yamamoto, Mr. Abiru

Initiatives related to materiality

―――This time, I would like to ask you about the materiality of 'proactive and responsible corporate public relations activities and dialogue with stakeholders.'

〔Public Relations/Investor Relations Department〕

Mr. Asakura: One of our materiality issues is "dialogue with stakeholders," and we deal with shareholders and investors on a daily basis. As a change over the past year, I have noticed an increase in the number of questions about ESG, especially from the perspective of human capital. For example, in the past, labor costs were considered costs, but we were asked about plans for wage increases and about securing human resources to promote new businesses.

Mr. Kodama: I believe it is important to continue to be judged correctly, as stated in our long-term materiality goal (our vision for 2030) is to "enhance the content of our disclosures and become a company that continues to be judged correctly by our stakeholders.

I think it is important for IR to proactively disclose information and engage in substantial dialogue with investors so that they can understand the company before buying stocks.

I would also like to strengthen the disclosure of non-financial information that does not appear in numbers, such as what kind of people we have, what kind of culture we have, and what we are aiming for. For example, in addition to the messages from the president and CFO, the Integrated Report features a variety of employees to give people a sense of the Group's culture and intentions.

〔Sustainability Promotion Department〕

Mr. Yamamoto: In the Sustainability Promotion Department, we take a broad view of stakeholders such as employees, business partners, and students who are looking for a job, and we communicate with the outside world with that in mind.

The sustainability page on the Group's website, which is scheduled to be renewed at the end of September, is also devised in an easy-to-understand manner and expression that can be conveyed to various stakeholders.

―――You're disclosing information to a variety of stakeholders, are there any particular difficulties you face?

Mr. Yamamoto: Yes, the current data disclosure response has managed to keep up with the requests of the government and the TSE, but in addition to the data, there is a story, which leads to judgments such as "This company is a good company," so I think the challenge is to create a "story" plus numbers.

Mr. Abiru: We started disclosing sustainability in our annual securities reports in the fiscal year ending March 2023, and it was almost the first time in the world that we started from scratch, so it was difficult because we started from nothing, but there was a sense of accomplishment when it was over. In preparation for submission in June, we began collecting information in December of the previous year and reviewed it until the very end.

In addition, the ISSB (International Sustainability Standards Board) disclosure standards will be reviewed and updated in Japan, so I think it is important to create a system that can always respond to external demands.

Awareness of Sustainability and Materiality

―――Do you feel that you are involved in or contributing to sustainability in your work?

〔Public Relations/Investor Relations Department〕

Mr. Kodama: I feel that I am now able to work from a medium- to long-term perspective with an awareness of sustainability in my daily work.

In addition, since I was working as a project leader for creating sustainability (a project by volunteer employees aimed at instilling sustainability within the company, which ended in June 2023), I asked myself, "Where can I contribute to society and the environment? Are there any new businesses that focus on sustainability?" I think it's usually thought about.

Mr. Asakura: It's difficult to feel whether or not we're making a contribution, but what we should do in IR is to disclose both good and bad things, so I think that disclosing new non-financial information as well as new information will lead to fulfilling our social responsibilities as a company.

〔Sustainability Promotion Department〕

Mr. Yamamoto: I feel that I am involved in sustainability, but I feel that I have not yet made a contribution to the external evaluation and external dissemination and disclosure that I am in charge of, because it is not enough to get feedback from the outside and to give back to everyone in the business divisions, such as 'I want to have a relationship with this company in the medium to long term, and I want to support it.'

Mr. Abiru: To be honest, I wasn't even interested in the letter "sa" in sustainability until the day I was assigned to the Sustainability Promotion Department (laughs), but after I was assigned to the department, I saw that sustainability had become a "common language of companies" and "something we take for granted," and I thought, "I can't do this," even though I didn't know anything about it until now.

Now, I think it's great that I was involved in promoting sustainability from the start, and it changed my mindset.

（Interview Date: August 8, 2023）

In addition to its conventional financial information-focused responses, the Group will promote dialogue with various stakeholders by enhancing the disclosure of sustainability-related information, and strive to achieve sustainable growth of the company and increase corporate value over the medium to long term.