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Together with People and Society
We strive to provide value by “continuing to deliver safe and delicious food to our customers” by sincerely engaging with our stakeholders, including customers, employees, business partners, local communities, shareholders and investors. We are also expanding measures related to DE&I and human resource development to improve employee motivation and comfort.
Improving Experience of Customers and Employees
We want to enrich our customers’ lives and even their futures by making everyday meals more delicious. With this in mind, we are not only focusing on the quality of our products, but also on how to make our customers happy and improving the value of their experience. Furthermore, we are expanding these efforts not only domestically but also around the world by opening stores overseas.
Improving customer experience value
Our group operates four main brands: “Sushiro,” “Kyotaru,” “Conveyor Belt Sushi Misaki,” and “Sushi, Sake, and Snacks Sugitama,” with a total of 1,198 stores in the group (as of September 2025). What all stores have in common is the idea of not only providing delicious products, but also of delivering a rich life and time through food. We are working to improve the experience value of our customers by leveraging the unique characteristics of each brand.
At Sushiro, we have adopted the slogan “Straight to the point, straight to sushi!” and are working to improve our service to ensure customer satisfaction by reaffirming our commitment to taste and quality to our customers and by reaffirming this commitment to our employees and staff. We are also gradually introducing the “Digital Sushiro Vision (commonly known as Dejiro)” to provide a new way to enjoy conveyor-belt sushi.
Kyotaru is strengthening its product lineup to suit various occasions. To enable customers to enjoy freshly made sushi at any time, we have developed high-quality frozen sushi and are selling it through the online stores of major supermarkets.
Conveyor belt sushi Misaki opened its flagship store, the Main Branch Misaki, in Ningyocho, Tokyo in September 2024. As a model store that practices high-level service, it is also used as a place for staff training and education, with the aim of improving service.
“Sushi Sake Sakana Sugitama” uses ingredients shared with “Sushiro” to offer an appealing and creative menu that can only be found at a sushi izakaya. In addition to quality, we also value making sure that our customers enjoy their meals and have fun.
Sushiro
Kyotaru
Kaiten-sushi Misaki
Sugidama
DX makes everything from reservations to checkout even smoother
Sushiro stores have implemented a variety of digital technologies, including reservations via an app, automated guidance systems for entry and ticketing, touch panels for ordering, self-checkouts, and automated souvenir lockers for takeout. By utilizing digital transformation, Sushiro is streamlining store operations and improving the customer experience by reducing waiting times, making ordering easier, and providing smoother product delivery.
Recreating the conveyor belt of sushi using digital vision
Dejiro, which was introduced at Sushiro in September 2023, has expanded to 123 stores in Japan and 19 stores overseas (as of the end of September 2025). Dejiro uses a large touch panel to display sushi on a conveyor belt, recreating the joy of discovering new sushi and choosing. In addition to the ordering function, it also provides content such as information on sushi specialties and quizzes, enhancing the experience and earning praise from customers.
Improving employee experience
At Sushiro, we are increasing work efficiency by introducing automated lanes in the kitchen, improving service and creating a comfortable working environment. In addition, in November 2023, we revised the dress code for store staff, allowing them to choose any hair color and hairstyle they like. By allowing employees to work enthusiastically and make the most of their individuality, we aim to improve the experience value of our customers.
Sushiro to open a Futuristic Expo store at the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo
Based on the concept of “Continuing sushi – The future of sushi restaurants in 2050,” Sushiro opened the “Sushiro Future Expo Store” at the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo. As a store where customers can learn about the challenges of marine resource sustainability and the technologies that contribute to solving them through delicious and fun menus and in-store experiences, Sushiro took on the new challenge of serving only farmed fish, and sold sushi made with ingredients raised using cutting-edge technologies such as land-based and fully farmed aquaculture, under the “Fish of Tomorrow” series. Furthermore, the large touch display “Digiro” featured Expo-exclusive games such as the “Sea Urchin Catch Game,” in which customers could catch overpopulated sea urchins and learn about ocean conservation, providing customers with an opportunity to learn while having fun.
Exterior of “Sushiro Future Expo Store”
Commitment to Safety, Quality and Reliability
Food safety and security
In order to provide our customers with a fulfilling experience through food, it is essential to ensure the safety of our products and ensure that they can be consumed with peace of mind. For this reason, we are working to ensure food safety and security as a top priority.
Quality assurance system based on HACCP principles
We analyze where and what risks exist from the time raw materials are procured until products reach customers, plan how to manage and avoid risks at each stage, continuously check and visualize the implementation status, and take action to improve if any problems are found and revise the plan as necessary.We manage our entire supply chain based on the basic concept of HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point).
◎Overall picture of the supply chain
Supplier quality and hygiene management
Our Group purchases products from approximately 130 companies (as of the end of September 2025). When starting a new transaction, we place particular importance on food safety and confirm that the supplier’s processing plant is GFSI-certified, an international standard for food safety management. If the plant does not have this certification, our specialized department will directly visit the processing plant to check the management status in accordance with our Group’s requirements and begin doing business only after confirming that it meets the standards. Even after starting a transaction, we will conduct inspections and site visits to the processing plant on an irregular basis to confirm safety and security.
Quality and hygiene management in stores
Our restaurants not only comply with food safety laws and regulations in each country and region where we operate, but also implement hygiene management based on the HACCP approach, an international hygiene management method. Because our group’s main menu item is sushi and we handle a lot of raw ingredients, hygiene management for employees engaged in cooking is particularly important. At Sushiro, our core business, we have implemented a “third-party handwashing verification” system to ensure all employees follow the correct handwashing procedures at key times, such as when entering the restaurant or after using the restroom. We have formulated a HACCP hygiene management plan to visualize hygiene management initiatives, including handwashing, and we raise awareness of these initiatives through employee training. In addition, all restaurants undergo hygiene inspections twice a year by an external organization to assess whether they are complying with the hygiene management plan. Our specialized department visits restaurants with low ratings and provides guidance on improvements, ensuring that all restaurants maintain a certain level of safety.
Allergen and origin information
In order to accommodate a variety of customers, we provide allergen information for our main menu and promotional items, updating it as needed.We also disclose the origin of ingredients in each product in accordance with the “Guidelines for Country of Origin Labeling in Restaurants” published by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
*Other allergens not originally included in the menu may be unintentionally attached or mixed in during factory production or cooking in the store.
*Desserts, drinks, and toppings (sauces, seasonings, etc.) are not subject to labeling.
*Due to weather conditions or procurement issues, we may source from other countries.
Membership of food safety, security and quality organizations
We are a member of the Safety and Security Committee of the Japan Food Service Association, and actively participate in opinion exchange meetings. In addition, Kyotaru, a group company, has obtained certification of compliance with the food safety standard “JFS-B Standard” operated by the Japan Food Safety Management Association (JFSM).
Responsible Advertising and Marketing
Basic Concept
Our Group’s advertising and marketing activities comply with the Code of Conduct, which stipulates that we ensure the safety, security, and quality of our products and services, and that we conduct responsible marketing communications in compliance with laws and regulations.We have also established our own guidelines regarding labeling and expression to ensure their appropriateness.The Code of Conduct is published on our official website.
Management system
Campaigns and advertising materials are drafted and created at a “trinity” meeting attended by the top executives of advertising, products, and each operating company, as well as legal personnel, where compliance aspects of labeling and expression are discussed and debated. The nature of these campaigns and advertising materials is also reported to the management meetings of each operating company and resolved by the board of directors. All created advertising materials are reviewed by multiple related departments, including legal affairs and customer support (customer service department).
Education and Awareness-raising
In cooperation with the legal department, the advertising department regularly attends study sessions on advertising and marketing compliance (based on our company’s near-miss incident cases) once every six months, and attended one session in FY2015. The advertising department also attends study sessions on the Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations hosted by the National Federation of Fair Trade Councils and supported by the Consumer Affairs Agency, and strives to prevent violations of campaigns and advertising materials by creating an environment where employees can voluntarily study on an internal portal site and check advertising materials as needed.
Initiatives for Human Rights and Labor Throughout Supply Chain
Human Rights Policy and Basic Procurement Policy
Important issues facing the Group include not only the sustainability of marine resources and agricultural products, but also issues related to people. In light of our responsibility to respect human rights in our business activities, we formulated and revised our Human Rights Policy in 2024. This policy references the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact and is based on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Going forward, we will further promote the active participation of our human resources and DE&I initiatives, while also working to respect the human rights of a wide range of stakeholders (employees, customers, local communities, suppliers, and business partners). Furthermore, our Basic Procurement Policy includes a section on “Respect for Human Rights and Labor,” which we require not only from ourselves but also from our suppliers.
Additionally, we have published English translations of our Human Rights Policy and Procurement Policy on our website in an effort to raise awareness among more employees and business partners.
Human Rights Due Diligence
To fulfill our responsibility to respect human rights, we have established a human rights due diligence (human rights DD) system based on the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and strive to prevent human rights violations. We focus on six areas of human rights issues related to our business activities: child labor, forced labor, prohibition of discrimination and respect for diversity, freedom of association and respect for the right to collective bargaining, working hours and wages, and occupational safety and health, and are working to address these issues. To identify and assess human rights risks in our supply chain, in FY2025 we sent a questionnaire to approximately 470 major first-tier suppliers, receiving responses from approximately 80%. If the survey identified a high risk, each responsible department will decide how to respond based on the transaction situation, etc. Additionally, as a pilot project for human rights DD, we conducted an on-site audit of a second-tier supplier in Indonesia. The audit was conducted by an external specialist auditing firm, accompanied by the first-tier supplier. Approximately 60 people, from management to practitioners, were interviewed, and relevant documents and records were reviewed. We will utilize the knowledge and results of this audit to consider promoting human rights DD throughout the company.
Human Rights and Labor Initiatives
The Group has established a code of conduct with the aim of becoming a company that is widely trusted by all stakeholders. To ensure this, we provide compliance training to all employees, including on human rights and labor issues. Furthermore, to ensure that employees adhere to appropriate working hours, we monitor overtime hours monthly with the aim of preventing excessively long working hours. We have implemented a facial recognition system at some locations, including our head office, to improve the accuracy of monitoring. We also verify employees’ ages with identification documents at the time of hiring, and strive to prevent child labor. We have also established a confidential whistle-blowing system to receive reports of human rights and labor issues, as well as harassment, including power harassment.
Promoting DE&I
FOOD & LIFE COMPANIES aims to realize its corporate philosophy, VISION: “Change the way people feel delicious every day. Spread joy to the world.” One of the driving forces behind this is the promotion of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I). We promote DE&I by setting “Diversity is based on individuality. To infinitely increase the Group’s strength, let’s respect each other’s individuality and demonstrate our diverse talents.” as one of our PRINCIPLES (code of conduct).
Contribution to Society and Community
Basic Concept
To realize our VISION of “Change the taste of everyday life. Spread joy to the world,” our group has set “Improving the experience value of customers and employees by promoting digital transformation” as one of our material issues, and is carrying out social contribution activities based on this, aiming to “contribute to the communities where we have stores” and “provide happiness through food and food education for children.” Specifically, we are focusing on supporting the education of the next generation, such as “Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)” and “rice farming experiences” for schoolchildren, as well as child-rearing support, and contributing to the realization of an inclusive society through supporting sports for people with disabilities.
Supporting disaster-stricken areas: Providing sushi in Wajima City, Ishikawa Prefecture
In February 2024, a total of approximately 5,000 meals of Kyotaru’s inari sushi and rolled sushi were delivered directly from the Kyotaru factory to Wajima City, Ishikawa Prefecture, which was affected by the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake. Six employees provided the meals at two locations, and city officials provided them at one location. In March of the same year, as the second round of support for the affected areas, six employees provided 2,000 meals of Kyotaru’s “Yuri” assortment of “Chakinzushi,” as well as 500 packs of frozen “Chakinzushi,” on the grounds of Wajima City Hall, and city officials provided them to various local evacuation centers.
Contribution to the local community: Supporting local governments with business ties through corporate hometown tax donations
Sushiro makes donations to local governments through the corporate version of hometown tax. In recent years, marine fishery resources have been declining, and as part of the promotion of sustainable management, research into aquaculture and artificial seedling development is being conducted in various regions. Following on from last year, in FY25 we made donations to Amakusa City in Kumamoto Prefecture, Asahi Town in Toyama Prefecture, and Owase City in Mie Prefecture. Asahi Town in Toyama Prefecture sent us a letter of appreciation for our donation in FY24.
Contribution to the local community: Sponsoring Suita Festa 2025, hosted by Suita City, where our head office is located
As part of our efforts to build ties with the local community, we sponsored Suita Festa 2025, distributing fans and also set up a waste oil collection booth in collaboration with Suita City and JGC Holdings Corporation. At the booth, we held interactive games and other activities to raise awareness of household waste oil collection with the aim of utilizing it in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), which was enjoyed by many families.
Food Education: “Sushiro Experience Tour” food education event connecting producers and customers
Sushiro holds free experiential events for loyal customers. In FY25, a total of four events were held in Shiga, Hyogo, and Mie prefectures, including the “Sushiro Rice Experience Tour,” where customers could experience rice through agricultural experiences, and the “Experience the Sea with Sushiro Tour,” where customers could learn about fish while touring a fish farm. A total of 200 customers participated in FY25, learning while having fun through the experiences. FY25 also marks the 10th anniversary of this activity, with a total of over 1,000 customers participating in various events. We will continue to promote food education activities with local communities, fostering a sense of gratitude toward producers while realizing the importance of food.
Food education: Conducting on-site classes to consider the future of fisheries resources with elementary, middle, and high school students
Starting in FY2015, we have been conducting outreach classes on the themes of career education and environmental issues at elementary, junior high, and high schools across the country. Through lectures and group work, students learned about the environment surrounding the ocean, fostered awareness of issues, and considered solutions.
In FY25, we visited a total of seven schools, with a total of 815 students participating, providing them with an opportunity to think about sustainable fishing, the marine industry, and the marine environment.
Developing the next generation of talent: A grant-type scholarship program to support part-time employees
With the aim of providing a more comfortable working environment for employees, we launched the “FOOD & LIFE COMPANIES Scholarship Program” in October 2021. To ensure that part-time university students who meet certain conditions do not have to give up on going to university or moving up to the next grade for financial reasons, we provide a grant-type scholarship of 20,000 yen per month that does not require repayment. In FY25, we provided support to 43 people.
Childcare Support: Sushiro Manpuku Project
To realize its corporate philosophy of spreading the joy of delicious food, Sushiro distributes digital tickets that can be used at Sushiro restaurants free of charge through an NPO with the hope of “helping children learn more about delicious sushi.” In FY2025, the tickets were distributed to 430 households, including single parents with children, who enjoyed a meal.
Support for people with disabilities: Sponsoring a baseball tournament for people with disabilities
Aiming to realize an inclusive society, we continue to sponsor the NPO Japan Baseball Federation for the Disabled twice a year with the aim of supporting people with disabilities. We will continue to support athletes who thrive through sports while facing their own disabilities.
Educational support activities
With themes such as SDGs, we work with primary industry operators, local communities and companies to create learning opportunities for children and cooperate with school classes.