Concrete Sustainability Initiatives

EEnvironment

The reuse market is expanding in market size in Japan. As of 2019, the recycling business market has exceeded 2 trillion yen, and is expected to grow steadily in the future. The camera reuse market is growing as well, with the current market exceeding 60 billion yen. UCS Co., Ltd., a camera and interchangeable lens repair and maintenance company that has been in business for more than 30 years, is also a member of the Group. The company repairs all types of cameras, from classics to the latest models, using reliable technology to help customers extend the lives of their cameras, and its services have grown steadily in response to the expansion of the market, backed by the fact that the sustainable consumption behavior of “reusing good things” has become established. In addition, the number of requested smartphone repairs is increasing, and the value of carefully continuing to use repaired products is steadily expanding. We will continue to further support these trends through our technology and experience.

We have implemented environmentally friendly initiatives throughout the entire group. Specifically, all of our print laboratories remove the chemicals contained in the waste liquid that is generated during photo development and the silver applied to the surface of photographic paper, in order to render them harmless. Through these initiatives, we are committed to preserving the local environment.
In addition, regarding energy use, among the more than 1,000 stores of Camera Kitamura and Studio Mario across Japan, a portion of the electricity used by approximately 700 stores that have their own electricity contracts is gradually being switched to clean electricity with zero CO₂ emissions.

SSocial

The Group provides a variety of photo-related products and services, and through these, we help our customers to feel that their lives are richer and happier. Due to natural disasters such as floods, which have become increasingly large in recent years, the disappearance of many prized family photo albums has been reported. Since 2011, we have started an initiative to reprint photos that were previously purchased on the website operated by our company, and furthermore, to provide them free of charge. In addition, we will continue to actively work on support activities through the realm of photography.
We have more than 1,000 physical stores nationwide, in order provide a wide range of services that span across regions and age groups. At the same time, we are striving to expand our online services, along with advances in technology. The Group is also working to create workplaces, including these physical stores, where everyone can work comfortably, by focusing maximum efforts on creating an environment of diversity and inclusion, both on the shop floor and in management.
We offer growth opportunities to all employees regardless of gender, nationality, or race, and as a result, the ratio of female managers*1 has exceeded 30% throughout the Group. For example, KITAMURA Co., Ltd.’ s Studio Mario is now run almost entirely by female employees, including those in management positions, and the activities of women have had a significant impact on the Group’ s business. Next, we will actively promote the advancement of women in management, so that the proportion of female managers and supervisors*2 exceeds 30%. In addition, since the group’ s business also has many services that involve face-to-face customer service, the driving force of our business lies behind each employee, and the implementation of a rewarding environment for all of our employees is positioned as the growth engine of the Group.

*1 “Managers” in our Group refers to employees who are responsible for organizational management by virtue of their position, and includes store managers and other such personnel.
*2 “Managers and supervisors” in our Group refers to “persons in positions of supervision or management” as defined in Article 41-2 of the Labor Standards Act, and includes executives and employees who are in a position of integration with management with regard to labor management (those who have discretionary working hours and are not subject to overtime pay, excluding late-night overtime).

GGovernance

Our intention is to maintain an appropriate governance system as a base for achieving sustainable growth.
We have established an Audit and Supervisory Committee to ensure transparency in management decision-making as well as the supervision of business execution. Furthermore, our Board of Directors is composed of more than half of outside directors, and we also have a nominating committee in addition to a compensation committee. In this manner, we are working to strengthen our corporate governance by ensuring appropriate information disclosure, highly transparent management decision-making, and the supervision of business execution. We also recognize that compliance is one of the most important items in company management, and as a business operator that handles a large amount of extremely personal information such as photographs and imagery, we are engaged in maximum efforts to strengthen the privacy of such information.
Through such efforts, we will continue to strive to secure a system that gives our stakeholders peace of mind.