Policies and Basic Approach

The IK Values at the Inabata Group include “To grow with people across borders, sharing and respecting diverse values with the aim of co-prosperity (symbiosis).” Our materiality also highlights “respecting human rights in the spirit of love (ai) and respect (kei) and growing together with local communities.”

As a company that conducts business all over the world, we aim to grow and coexist with local communities through our business activities and social contribution activities, while at the same time building trust with local people.

• Management Philosophy
• Sustainability at the Inabata Group：Materiality

Local Employment and Procurement

The Inabata Group believes that local employment and procurement play an important role, especially in building good relations with the countries and regions where we operate and in helping stimulate the local economies and develop local human resources. We aim to contribute to the sustainable development of, and to coexist and co-prosper with, the local community by employing local human resources and procuring goods and services locally.

Social Contribution Activities: Policies and Basic Concepts

As a good corporate citizen, the Inabata Group is aware of the role that companies operating globally must play. We aim to develop and coexist with local communities through social contribution activities and to live in harmony with local and international communities.

Having studied in France, our founder Katsutaro Inabata was committed to cultural exchange and friendship with foreign countries. Continuing in this spirit, the Inabata Group engages in social contribution activities with the focus on international exchange, cultural support, and support for local communities.

• Sustainability Data：social：Social contribution activities

Social Contribution Activities: Japan–France Exchange

Inabata has been committed to cultural exchange between Japan and France ever since Katsutaro Inabata went to France to study synthetic dyes and other advanced technologies in the late 19th century.

In 1926, Paul Claudel, the then French Ambassador to Japan, and Katsutaro Inabata established the Centre culturel franco-japonais in Kyoto to promote cultural exchange between the two countries. In the following year, the Institut franco-japonais du Kansai was built in Kyoto, and became a base for exchange activities with the Centre culturel serving as the governing body. Subsequently, the Inabata Group devoted itself to Japan-France exchanges in the Kansai region. For example, Taro Inabata, the second president, led the foundation of the Société franco-japonaise d’Osaka, and Katsuo Inabata, the fourth president, established the Société de rapprochement intellectuel franco-japonais (currently, Villa Kujoyama), which supports residencies for artists from France visiting Japan. Our current president, Katsutaro Inabata (the sixth president), continues in the same vein and spirit as his predecessors by contributing to mutual understanding and friendship between France and Japan in a wide range of fields through the Société franco-japonaise d’Osaka.

In 2021, president Katsutaro Inabata was awarded the Legion of Honor for his long-standing efforts to promote mutual understanding and friendship between France and Japan. The Legion of Honor has been awarded to his predecessors as well.

Successive Presidents Admitted to the Legion of Honor

Since 1994, we have offered an internship to one student from the University of Lyon each year as part of our friendship and goodwill activities with Lyon, France, where our founder studied. (Suspended after FY2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.)

Social Contribution Activities: Japan–Portugal Exchange

Our exchange with Portugal began in 1920 when our founder was appointed Vice-Consul of Portugal in Kyoto. Subsequently, Taro Inabata, our second president, was appointed Honorary Vice-Consul of Portugal in Osaka. Later, Katsuo Inabata, our fourth president and Honorary Consul in Osaka, became the first president of the Portugal-Japan Society of Osaka.
This tradition of private diplomacy, which started with our founder, remains part of our heritage to this day. Our current president Katsutaro Inabata (our sixth president) is actively promoting friendship and exchange between Japan and Portugal. He serves as Honorary Consul of Portugal in Osaka and as president of the Portugal-Japan Society of Osaka.
The Honorary Consulate of Portugal in Osaka and the Sociedade Luso-Niponica de Osaka (Portugal-Japan Society of Osaka) are located within our Osaka Head Office building. Our employees participate in the Secretariat and cooperate in the operation of the Society. Among the Society's activities, Portuguese language classes and other events are held at our Osaka Head Office building.

• Osaka Japan-Portugal Association (Japanese only)

Social Contribution Activities: Promotion of French Music

The Inabata Prize at the Concours de la musique française

Every year, we award the Inabata Prize to the best performer in the vocal or piano category at the Concours de la musique française organized by the Société musicale franco-japonaise du Kansai. As of FY2024, we have awarded the prize to a total of 50 winners since the start in 1974. (One recipient in FY2024)

Supporting the Académie de musique française de Kyoto

We support the Académie de musique française de Kyoto, a music exchange program between Japan and France that has operated since 1990. The program invites leading musicians from France to give master classes for about two weeks. It is a valuable opportunity for young Japanese musicians to experience the high quality of French music education.
108 musicians participated in the program in FY2024.

Social Contribution Activities: Support for the Independence of People with Disabilities

Official Partner of Paralym Art

We support the independence of people with disabilities as an official partner (Bronze Partner) of Paralym Art, an organization engaged in social contribution projects. Under the banner of creating a world where people with disabilities can make their dreams come true through art, Paralym Art teams up with artists living with disabilities and works with private companies and individuals to support people with disabilities on an ongoing basis without relying on social security spending. We have used Paralym Art for the design of the original QUO cards (gift cards) presented to shareholders.

Social Contribution Activities: Providing Supplies and Donations

Emergency Food Supplies to a Local Network Supporting Children

We donated emergency food supplies to a local network supporting children operated by the Osaka City Social Welfare Council. Under the network, various sectors in the community are working together to support children with food and learning and to create safe places for children to hang out. The donations were sent to organizations creating safe places for children and supporting single-parent families.

Donations to UNICEF

Every year, we donate to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) by purchasing greeting cards to send to our overseas business partners at Christmas. UNICEF supports children in more than 150 countries and regions. A portion of the proceeds from the UNICEF greeting cards we purchase goes towards support for UNICEF activities. We started this initiative in 2015. By 2021, we had purchased a total of 8,480 greeting cards.

Participation in the TABLE FOR TWO (TFT) Program (Donations Based on Employee Participation)

TFT is a social contribution program run by the certified nonprofit organization TABLE FOR TWO International. The program aims to simultaneously improve the health of people in developing and developed countries.
Inabata & Co., Ltd. continues to encourage employees to engage in regular physical activity by organizing walking events every spring and autumn, with around 200 employees participating each time. Since 2023, we have implemented a program that donates one school meal to developing countries through TFT for every 7,000 steps completed by an employee during the walking events. In 2023, we donated the equivalent of 9,442 meals (combined total for spring and autumn events). In the spring 2024 event, we donated 4,521 meals. Our program won an award in the Mind and Body Health Promotion category of the TFT Awards 2024.

• TABLE FOR TWO International
• Health and Productivity Management/Occupational Health and Safety：Key Health and Productivity Management Initiatives

Donating to the Keidanren Nature Conservation Fund

• Environment：Conservation of Water Resources and Biodiversity

Social Contribution Activities: Community Activity

Every Inabata office organizes a variety of community activities together with local people to build good relations with, and promote the healthy development of, the community. Those activities include the following:

• Participate in safety campaigns at intersections near our offices during safety months.
• Donate to the Bettara-ichi festival, which dates to the Edo period (1603–1867) and is held in the vicinity of our Tokyo Head Office.