Shiseido Receives Rainbow Certification for Second Consecutive Year in the PRIDE Index 2025

Shiseido Company, Limited, Shiseido Japan Co., Ltd., and Shiseido Creative Co., Ltd. (hereafter, “Shiseido,” “Shiseido Japan,” and “Shiseido Creative,” respectively) have been awarded the Rainbow Certification1 in the PRIDE Index,2 established by work with Pride, 3 an organization that evaluates corporate initiatives supporting LGBTQ+ and other sexual and gender minorities in workplaces across Japan. The Rainbow Certification is awarded to companies that promote cross-sector collaboration to create workplaces and communities where LGBTQ+ individuals can work while being themselves. In total, nine companies within the Shiseido Group in Japan4 received the highest Gold rating.

This marks the fourth time5 that Shiseido has received the Gold award and the second consecutive year6 receiving the Rainbow Certification. In addition to ongoing internal and external initiatives, this year’s recognition was due to Shiseido’s enhanced efforts, including the publication of makeup techniques in a guide titled “Expressing Your True Colors”7 for transgender women and non-binary people, as well as makeup workshops held in collaboration with LGBTQ+ organizations. Shiseido Creative, which produced and broadcast the video “MIDNIGHT RAINBOWS”8 during Pride Month to support LGBTQ+ communities, was also recognized for its high level of creativity and social impact. These multifaceted collaborative efforts across the Shiseido Group were acknowledged through this recognition.

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In pursuit of its corporate mission “BEAUTY INNOVATIONS FOR A BETTER WORLD,” Shiseido recognizes and respects individual differences regardless of gender, age, nationality, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or other attributes. The company positions diversity, equity ＆ inclusion (DE＆I) as a key management strategy to create an organizational culture that continuously generates innovation through the synergy of differences.

Moving forward, Shiseido aims to provide maximum support to LGBTQ+ communities and allies both internally and externally as it strives to realize a society where everyone can live authentically.

Key Initiatives

Social Initiatives:
・In 2020, Shiseido expressed support for the Business for Marriage Equality9 campaign, advocating for marriage equality (legalization of same-sex marriage) in Japan.
・During Pride Month in 2024, focusing on the color bars displayed during television broadcast interruptions, Shiseido created the video “MIDNIGHT RAINBOWS”8 with creative work reminiscent of the rainbow flag, a symbol of diversity, conveying a message of support for LGBTQ+ communities. The video has been recognized for its high level of creativity and social impact, winning awards at The One Show 2025, 10 D＆AD Awards 2025,11 and other prestigious competitions.
・In June 2025, the Shiseido Beauty Creation Center independently developed a makeup guide titled “Expressing Your True Colors”7 in collaboration with transgender women and non-binary people addressing their concerns as a means for them to express their authentic selves. The guide was published on Shiseido’s corporate website, accompanied by “Makeup Workshops for Expressing Your True Colors” conducted by Shiseido Japan’s personal beauty partners.

Internal Initiatives:
・The Shiseido Code of Conduct and Ethics12, which outlines the ideal actions of each individual working at the Shiseido Group, explicitly states “respect for diversity and prohibition of discrimination” in the workplace and stipulates that discrimination or harassment based on sexual orientation or gender identity is not tolerated.
・In Japan, the company revised its work regulations in 2017 to expand benefits such as special leave, caregiving systems, and childcare systems to include same-sex partners.
・The employee resource group ColorFulls has taken the lead in organizing internal events that provide employees opportunities to consider the current situation surrounding LGBTQ+ communities, including personal stories from employees who are part of those communities and talk sessions with external experts.

1. An evaluation index that recognizes companies and organizations among those that have received the highest Gold certification for promoting cross-sector collaboration with national and local governments, academic institutions, NPOs/NGOs, and others.
2. Japan’s first evaluation index for LGBTQ+-related workplace initiatives, established by work with Pride in 2016. Companies are evaluated and recognized with gold, silver, or bronze ratings based on total scores across five indicators corresponding to the letters in PRIDE: Policy (action declaration) / Representation (creating community for those involved) / Inspiration (awareness activities) / Development (HR systems and programs) / Engagement/Empowerment (social contribution and outreach activities) URL： https://workwithpride.jp/pride-i/
3. An organization that supports the promotion and establishment of diversity management related to LGBTQ+ in companies and other organizations.　URL: https://workwithpride.jp/
4. Shiseido Company, Limited; Shiseido Japan Co., Ltd.; Japan Retail Innovation Co., Ltd.; EFFECTIM Co., Ltd.; THE GINZA Co., Ltd.; KODOMOLOGY Co.,Ltd.; Shiseido Astech Co., Ltd.; Hanatsubaki Factory Co., Ltd.; Shiseido Creative Co., Ltd.
5. This is the fourth award following 2017, 2022, and 2024. For Shiseido Japan, this is the second Gold award following 2024. For Japan Retail Innovation Co., Ltd., EFFECTIM Co., Ltd., THE GINZA Co., Ltd., KODOMOLOGY Co., Ltd., Shiseido Astech Co., Ltd., Hanatsubaki Factory Co., Ltd., and Shiseido Creative Co., Ltd., this is their first Gold award.
6. For Shiseido and Shiseido Japan, this is the second Rainbow Certification following 2024. For Shiseido Creative, this is the first certification.
7. Makeup techniques independently developed by Shiseido with the cooperation of LGBTQ+ organizations.
URL: https://corp.shiseido.com/en/sustainability/power-of-beauty/pdf/guide.pdf
8 MIDNIGHT RAINBOWS URL: https://youtu.be/vfD-FoerIfE
In addition to The One Show 2025 and D＆AD Awards 2025, the video received a 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 competition, and was selected as a finalist at the Asia-Pacific advertising festival ADFEST 2025.
9. A campaign to make visible companies that support marriage equality. URL: https://bformarriageequality.net/
10. The One Show 2025: One of the world’s three major advertising awards.
11. D＆AD Awards 2025: An international design and advertising award.
12 URL: https://corp.shiseido.com/en/company/standards/