Society

Since our establishment in 1872, we have offered products and services to enrich the lives of people everywhere, responding to everchanging social values and the diverse needs of humanity.

The prolonged COVID-19 pandemic that has spread worldwide has had an unprecedented effect on society and has forced many people to question their beliefs and re-examine the way they live. In particular, it has had significant consequences for groups who were already exposed, such as highly vulnerable women.

Going forward, we strive to promote a broader range of social values. By offering various avenues of education, we aim to move away from monoculture, stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination to nurture a society of diversity and inclusion.

We strive to realize a society that empowers everyone — regardless of gender — to live life exactly as they wish. It is our mission to solve social issues that affect women. For more than 100 years, we have not only supported and inspired women around the world through our products and services; we have also worked to increase their visibility and elevate their role in society. In 1934, we challenged conventions and welcomed women into the workplace in Japan, creating the specialized role of Miss Shiseido — the predecessor of today’s Beauty Consultants.

Then, in the 1990s, we introduced efforts to help women keep working regardless of life events, such as raising children. As a result, in 2000, almost 100% of female employees returned to work after childcare leave. We have promoted advanced initiatives in Japan ever since.

Building on our heritage of empowering women in Japan and around the world, we also collaborate with organizations, governments and businesses to promote gender equality for all, so that everyone can live life exactly as they wish.

At Shiseido, we strive to empower everyone through the power of beauty. Throughout our history, we have studied the therapeutic and empowering effects of cosmetics.

In 1956, we introduced Japan’s first makeup product designed to lessen the suffering of wartime burn victims. Since then, we have developed a wide range of cosmetics for discolorations and scars. In recent years, as part of our Shiseido Life Quality Makeup initiative, we have harnessed the power of beauty to support cancer patients and survivors coping with changes in appearance related to their treatment. And in 2013, based on extensive research at care homes, we established a cosmetic therapy program to promote healthy life expectancy.

We aim to support a society where people feel empowered, confident, and free to be themselves. And we strive to share our expertise in beauty care and research into aging society with countries and regions that face similar challenges as Japan.

At Shiseido, respect for human rights is at the core of our DNA. Across our business, we are dedicated to respecting and protecting the rights of our diverse group of stakeholders, including business partners and employees.
We are committed to eradicating human rights issues — including forced labor and child labor — as well as workplace harassment, which is an issue that has become more prevalent due to changes in social structure and the rise of more diverse values. We are aware that failure to take appropriate action against such issues poses great risk to our company and all our stakeholders.
Across the Shiseido Group, we have standards and policies in place to guide our actions when it comes to human rights. Based on the Shiseido Code of Conduct and Ethics, which stipulate the mandatory behavior expected of every individual working for the Shiseido Group, we ensure that our business is always conducted according to high ethical standards.