Kamada: In WIPS, where I serve as a leader, our goal is to make SIE "The Best Place to Work" for every employee. This year, we are organizing and managing a variety of initiatives under four themes of globalization, work-life balance, empowerment of women, and building connections.
Around 2016, at Sony Interactive Entertainment in the United States, initiatives were being conducted mainly by female engineers to create a more comfortable work environment. I was invited to consider launching similar initiatives in Japan, which led me to join this project.

Iwasa: SSS DIVI consists of four groups: Work Style, "TSUNAGARI" (Connection), Career, and Women Engineer Community. I belong to the Career Group, where we focus on promoting sustainable career development. Last year, we held a career design workshop for young female employees. We also exchanged information on career support with Rei-One PJ at SCK, another company in the SSS Group.
After giving birth to my second child, I faced many challenges balancing work and caring for young children, who are two years apart, amid departmental transfers and remote work during the pandemic. These experiences inspired me to join this initiative so that I could support colleagues facing similar difficulties.

Yoshikawa: Through Rei-One PJ, I have participated in a variety of diversity-related activities. In FY2023-FY2024, we focused on work-life balance and support for balancing work and family responsibilities. For FY2025, our theme is supporting senior employees and helping mid- to late-career employees design the next stage of their careers.
I joined this initiative at the suggestion of my supervisor. As a parent taking advantage of reduced working hours, I wanted to leverage my own experience to help others in similar situations.

Kikuchi: STAND BY YOU! consists of two teams: Childcare and Nursing Care. I belong to the Childcare team, where we focus on activities such as introducing work-life balance support programs, conducting awareness sessions through lectures, and organizing networking events to foster a sense of community.
I joined this initiative around the time my child was born, upon my supervisor's recommendation. Since I was seeking information about childcare support at that time, it turned out to be an ideal opportunity.

Nozaki: DIVI@ET&S adopted a project-based structure from FY2024. Last year, I was involved in planning and organizing the "Global Meetup," an exchange event between Japanese and non-Japanese employees within ET&S*4 under the theme of globalization, and the "Talk & Piano Concert" by Gohei Nishikawa, themed around building an inclusive society.
My motivation to join this initiative stemmed from attending Nishikawa's Talk & Piano Concert in FY2023. Seeing the organizers working so passionately on projects that engaged so many employees was exciting and inspiring, which made me want to become part of that energy myself.

• *4 ET&S: Sony's entertainment, technology, and services segment

Watanabe: The S-Hub team was newly established in FY2024, and I have been involved since its inception. The group consists of two teams: Opportunity and Place. I belong to the Opportunity team, where we aim to create an inclusive environment that fosters mutual understanding among employees with disabilities, their colleagues, and the company. Our activities include developing and operating "Work With," a communication tool designed to convey necessary considerations for employees with disabilities, as well as enhancing the portal site for employees with disabilities.
I decided to join because I saw S-Hub as a platform where I could share unique insights that only I might have. I also wanted to build cross-departmental connections and networks that I wouldn't have gained by staying solely within my own division.

Iwasa: In 2023 and 2024, SSS DIVI held career design workshops for young female employees. These workshops are part of our initiatives to support women's empowerment by encouraging positive and sustainable career development. The sessions targeted women in their twenties who were concerned about balancing upcoming life events with their careers. We invited senior employees to share their experiences and created a space where participants could openly discuss their concerns and seek advice. I was reminded of the struggles I faced in my twenties and realized how important it is to provide a place where such employees can find realistic, forward-looking solutions. Organizing this event itself was deeply rewarding, but what made me even happier was hearing from a participant who said the workshop inspired her to request a departmental transfer-something that set her on a new career path. Knowing that our efforts encouraged someone to take such a step was truly gratifying.

Kikuchi: One of the most rewarding aspects of my involvement has been seeing our efforts take root. At STAND BY YOU!, we had previously introduced work-life balance support programs on our intranet, but the number of site visits had stagnated. To make the information more engaging, we incorporated manga into our content, which doubled the number of page views compared to the previous year. Although I wasn't directly responsible for the project, seeing employees respond so positively and knowing that our initiative met their needs brought me great satisfaction.
In addition, we noticed that attendance at seminars focusing solely on childcare or nursing care was limited. To address this, we organized a session themed around "time-saving tips for household chores," which provided practical information related to both childcare and nursing care. The post-event survey was filled with comments such as "I've been waiting for a seminar like this," and seeing this initiative succeed was an especially fulfilling experience.

Yoshikawa: What I value most from participating in these activities is the awareness I've gained by listening to diverse perspectives. It has significantly contributed to my own growth. I realized that work-life balance support is not limited to employees juggling childcare or nursing care; it's a system available to all employees, ensuring that those who need help can receive it. I also learned that everyone's perspectives on balancing work and life are different, so the kind of support needed varies from person to person, and that's perfectly natural. This awareness has changed the way I view my work. Balancing work and personal life is only possible through mutual support. I'm now more grateful to those around me, and I communicate more clearly about what I can and cannot do. Additionally, I actively reach out to offer help when I see colleagues trying to balance similar responsibilities.

Watanabe: What makes me happiest about being part of S-Hub is seeing more people around me say that participating in or hearing about our activities has helped them develop an awareness of diversity. When we implemented inclusive design to make the Sony Store Ginza a more wheelchair-accessible workplace, we received many comments such as "I saw the S-Hub article!" and "That was an excellent feature!" from employees who read about it on our intranet. Hearing this kind of feedback made me realize that our bottom-up efforts are truly spreading throughout the company, and that was incredibly rewarding.

Nozaki: Through my involvement, I've been able to connect with people from departments I normally wouldn't interact with, which has been a great experience. When we organized the piano concert, we promoted it through various ways, including handing out flyers in front of the cafeteria and featuring it in Sony Group-wide internal announcements. As a result, I began receiving messages not only from people in my department but also from other divisions, which made me very happy. At one of our events, an employee from Taiwan attended, and I was able to connect them with another Taiwanese colleague who had joined a different DIVI event. They quickly hit it off and later went out for lunch together. Seeing these kinds of human connections form through our activities gives me a strong sense of purpose.

Kamada: We've been receiving more and more messages from employees saying things such as "That was helpful" or "Thank you for sharing." Some even tell us, "Please let me know if there's any way I can help." A comfortable workplace cannot be built by a small group of volunteers alone; it requires everyone's involvement. What's truly important is for each employee to develop an awareness and desire to make our workplace better. When I feel that this circle of collaboration is expanding, it genuinely makes me happy. Although I sense that horizontal connections within the company have weakened due to the pandemic and increasing globalization, I also feel that our activities are helping to rebuild those cross-organizational connections.

In Part 2, we will explore the challenges and difficulties faced in these activities, the creative solutions for overcoming them, and the goals and positive changes these employees hope to bring to themselves and to society in the future.

Read Part 2 of the feature on bottom-up diversity initiatives across the Sony Group in Japan here

PEOPLE index