Shiseido Implements Diversity Initiatives to Support LGBTQ+ Community and Allies During Pride Month

Shiseido will be holding its ”Diversity Week for LGBTQ+ 2025” event in June, during ”Pride Month,” when events advocating for LGBTQ+ rights will be taking place around the world.

Shiseido is committed to realizing its corporate mission ”BEAUTY INNOVATIONS FOR A BETTER WORLD” where employees recognize and respect individual differences, regardless of gender, age, nationality, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disabilities. The company has positioned Diversity, Equity ＆ Inclusion (DE＆I) as a key pillar of its business strategy to foster an organizational culture that continuously generates innovation through these synergies. Shiseido engages in various initiatives both internal and external throughout the year to deepen its understanding of diversity, aiming to realize a society where everyone can live their own lives as their authentic self. Moving forward, it will continue to support the LGBTQ+ community and focus on empowering diverse talent as a company that stands by both the LGBTQ+ community and its allies.1

Diversity Week for LGBTQ+ 2025

Social Initiatives:
・Participating in “Tokyo Pride 2025,”2 the largest pride event in Japan
Shiseido will be exhibiting this time for the seventh time, and besides offering personal beauty color consultations using its Personal B Color Diagnosis🄬3 to booth visitors, it’s employees will also be participating in the parade. The company also plans to participate in other pride events such as the one in the United States (New York), Germany (Cologne), and Japan (Nagoya, Osaka, Gunma).
・Developing makeup information
Shiseido's Beauty Creation Center has developed unique makeup techniques tailored to the concerns of transgender women and non-binary individuals together with them as part of providing all people the ability to better express their ”authentic selves.” (Makeup information will be published on the Shiseido corporate website around late June.) Furthermore, on June 20, a “Makeup Workshop to Express Your True Colors” led by specialists from Shiseido Japan will be held.
・Endorsing “Business Support for LGBT Equality”4
Shiseido, as of 2025, endorses the ”Business Support for LGBT Equality” of the international signature campaign, ”EqualityActJapan,”5 aimed at establishing laws to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, ensuring that everyone is treated equally in the workplace and society.
・Participating in ”Pride Action 30”6
Shiseido will be co-sponsoring, for the second consecutive year, the ”Pride Action 30” campaign that is scheduled to be held in June. The company will be participating in this initiative during Pride Month, encouraging 30 actions that are meant to show understanding and support for LGBTQ+ individuals.

Internal Initiatives:
・Conducting in-house ”Diversity Week for LGBTQ+” events
Shiseido conducts in-house ”Diversity Week for LGBTQ+” events organized by the employee resource group ”ColorFulls,” comprised of LGBTQ+ individuals and allies, to enable Shiseido Group employees to acquire accurate knowledge about LGBTQ+ issues and foster an ally community. The events provide opportunities for employees to reflect on the current situation surrounding LGBTQ+ individuals through personal stories and talks with external experts.

Pride Event Booth Designs: ”Beauty” (Designed by Shiseido Creative)

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Tokyo Pride 2025 Booth Design Image (Designed by Shiseido Creative)

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Shiseido's main LGBTQ+ Initiatives

Social Initiatives:
・Undergoing LGBTQ+ response training
To enhance the company’s ability to propose tailored solutions for diverse customers and ensure that LGBTQ+ customers can consult the company safely at any store, Personal Beauty Partners (PBPs) that work in the stores undergo LGBTQ+ response training that was started in 2019.
・Declaring support for “Business for Marriage Equality”7
In 2020, the company expressed its support for the campaign, ”Business for Marriage Equality,” advocating for marriage equality (legalization of same-sex marriage).
・Endorsing ”Pride1000”8
In 2024, Shiseido's Chief DE＆I Officer Ayako Hirofuji and Chief People Officer Shinji Wada endorsed the ally network ”Pride1000” for corporate leaders.
・Receiving awards
Additionally, in 2024, Shiseido received the highest gold certification from the organization, “work with PRIDE,”9 which evaluates corporate support for LGBTQ+. Selected from among those awarded the ”Gold,” it also received the Rainbow Certification, a certificate which recognizes companies that promote cross-sector collaboration to create workplaces and societies where LGBTQ+ individuals can work as themselves.
・Creating “MIDNIGHT RAINBOWS”10
In the 2024 Pride Month, Shiseido took a note of the color bars that get displayed during television broadcast suspensions and created a creative video titled ”MIDNIGHT RAINBOWS,” which conveyed a message of support for the LGBTQ+ community, symbolized by the rainbow flag representing diversity. This creative work was recognized for its high creativity and social inquiry, winning various awards including ”The One Show 2025”11 and ”D＆AD Awards 2025.”12

Internal Initiatives:
・Stipulating the prohibition of discrimination in the workplace
To enable employees to perform their duties just as they are, Shiseido clearly stated in its ”Shiseido Code of Conduct and Ethics”13 that it prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in its workplace.
・Revising employment regulations to include same-sex partners
In 2017, revisions were made to the employment regulations in Japan to ensure that employees' same-sex partners could enjoy the same treatment as opposite-sex spouses. This included incorporating same-sex partners as spouses for the use of benefits such as special leave and systems such as nursing-care and childcare.
・Providing more opportunities for reflection
In 2024, Shiseido established an employee resource group that focuses on LGBTQ+ issues called the ”ColorFulls.” Through conducting internal events, the company has been strengthening its efforts towards providing more opportunities for employees to reflect on the current situation surrounding LGBTQ+ individuals.
・Launching inclusive marketing learning sessions
In the same year, Shiseido launched inclusive marketing learning sessions that incorporate DE＆I perspectives into its brand activities. The company has been engaging in discussions about the value its brands can provide based on dialogue sessions with both internal and external LGBTQ+ individuals including those with disabilities, then applying these insights to its business activities.

Participating in the Tokyo Rainbow Pride 2024

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Participating in Germany’s ColognePride 2024

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Notes:
1.“LGBTQ+ community and its allies” refers to supporters and advocates
2. Tokyo Pride 2025 (formerly Tokyo Rainbow Pride) is one of Asia's largest LGBTQ+ events, celebrating its 14th year this year:
https://tokyorainbowpride.com/
3. Shiseido’s original diagnostic method for introducing customers to their personal colors based on their natural skin, hair, and eye color
4. Companies supporting the ”Business Support for LGBT Equality”: https://equalityactjapan.org/
5. EqualityActJapan: https://www.hrw.org/EqualityActJapan
6. Campaign jointly planned by NPO Pride House Tokyo and Panasonic Connect: https://pridehouse.jp/prideaction/
7. Campaign to visualize companies supporting marriage equality. Official site: https://bformarriageequality.net/
8. A network established by the “work with Pride 2023” executive committee to expand the circle of allies (those who understand and support LGBTQ+) among corporate leaders and promote positive messaging: https://workwithpride.jp/pride1000/message/
9. An organization that supports the promotion and establishment of diversity management related to LGBTQ+ in companies and other organizations. https://workwithpride.jp/
10. MIDNIGHT RAINBOWS: https://youtu.be/vfD-FoerIfE
In addition to ”The One Show 2025” and the “D＆AD Awards 2025, awarded the Merit Award at the 104th New York ADC Awards (https://www.oneclub.org/awards/adcawards/-award/56668/midnight-rainbow/), the world's oldest international advertising design award, as well as being selected as a FINALIST at the Asia-Pacific Advertising Festival ”ADFEST 2025”
(https://www.adfest.com/index.php/Home/Awards/winnersshowcase.html?category=13＆awards=5＆page=1)
11. The One Show 2025: One of the three major advertising awards in the world: https://oneshow.org/winners/
12. D＆AD Awards 2025: An international design and advertising award.
13. Shiseido Code of Conduct and Ethics: https://corp.shiseido.com/jp/company/standards/pdf/standard_eng.pdf