Gakken Group has been always promoting its business to solve social issues
since its foundation as a private company to support a society where “everyone has fulfilling lives” as shown in the corporate philosophy.
In the future, we will take this further and realize Double Materiality by taking into account the possible environmental and social impacts of business growth and identifying risks and opportunities.
In FYE9/2025, in order to examine the CSV generated by realizing Double Materiality from various perspectives, we will create a value chain mapping at a pilot group company and started identifying risks and opportunities and analyzing factors. Moreover, we are taking on the challenge of SROI evaluation, which shows the social value of our business in monetary terms.
We established the Diversity & Inclusion Division in March 2024, and it is necessary to accelerate our initiatives at a fast pace. The Gakken Group has about 29,000 employees, and approximately 66% are women. In addition, it is highly likely that women make decisions about the use and purchase of most of the merchandise and services we provide. If the ratio of female executives does not increase, it will be difficult for women's perspectives to be included in management decisions. In 2023, we decided to appoint individuals in their thirties and forties to the Board of Directors to include perspectives from diverse generations. In the future, we would like to have several female employees join the Board of Directors to contribute to management decisions. To this end, we have decided to appoint one or two female executives at each Group company at the beginning of FYE9/2025. We have already conducted training programs and social gatherings to build a community of female executives. In the future, we are going to implement initiatives to increase the number of female executives in the medium to long term, including training programs focusing on the management pipeline at each company.
We have also set a target of 85% for male employees to take paternity leave. While promoting this, another initiative we would like to work on is reducing the number of employees who leave their jobs for elderly care. Leaving one’s job for elderly care has become a social issue. How can we solve this? In my opinion, our efforts in the healthcare and nursing business can
serve as a model.
The Group is currently investigating and assessing Scopes 1–3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to reduce them. In Scopes 1 and 2, greenhouse gas emissions in the healthcare and nursing domain accounted for 80% of the total. To address this issue, we are actively working to improve the efficiency of energy use by aiming to adopt ZEB-Ready standards in new facilities.
Born in Kure City, Hiroshima Prefecture in 1959. Following graduation from the National Defense Academy of Japan, and a stint at a trading company, Hiroaki Miyahara joined Gakushu Kenkyusha (now Gakken Holdings Co., Ltd.) in 1986. Over the years, he held diverse roles within the company, including the esteemed positions of General Manager of the Gakken Classroom Business Division, Corporate Officer and Director. This trajectory culminated in his appointment as Director of Gakken Holdings in 2009. Concurrently, he took on the role of President and Representative Director of Gakken Juku Holdings Co., Ltd. (current Gakken Kyoiku Holdings Co.,Ltd.), Gakken Educational Co., Ltd., and Gakken Education Publishing Co., Ltd. (current Gakken Inc.), further solidifying his leadership position. In December 2010, he assumed the pivotal role of Chief Executive Officer and President. He spearheaded transformative business reforms centered around education, healthcare, and nursing. Under his stewardship, the company experienced a remarkable V-shaped recovery, with 15 consecutive terms of revenue growth. He currently serves as an outside director of Nippan Group Holdings, Inc., Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Furuoka Scholarship Foundation, and Chairman of the Japan Magazine Publishers Association.
He is the author of "Gyakufu ni Mukau Shain ni Nare (Being a challenger who can tackle the tough times)" (Gakken), "The Theory of M&A Management—Strategic Principles for Business Model Reinvention" (Toyo Keizai Inc.), and “Gakken Kyoshitsu 5-tsu no Himitsu (Five secrets of Gakken Classroom)” (Gakken).
