4. Diversity and Inclusion

Diversity and Inclusion

As a comprehensive entertainment company offering enjoyment, emotion, knowledge, and more without barriers through culture, the KADOKAWA Group believes that it should help to realize a society where no one is discriminated against.

We respect diversity, including race, religion, creed, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, disability, nationality, culture, values, and more, and we do not tolerate discrimination and bias. This attitude is fundamental to all of our Group business activities, from the treatment of employees in employment, training, evaluation, promotions, and more to creating and offering content and services and in our interactions with users, creators, business partners, shareholders, locals, and all other stakeholders.

We also respect freedom of expression in content and services, but as an exception to this rule, we do not tolerate expressions that idly encourage discrimination and bias or that wrongfully infringe upon the rights of others.

The KADOKAWA Group works to create an environment and corporate culture that values human individuality and diversity based on these ideas.

Promoting Opportunities for Women

At the KADOKAWA Group, female employees account for 44.0% of the total employees. 28.0% of our managerial and executive positions are women, with 277 female section chiefs and other middle management, 88 female department heads and other senior management, and 19 female officers (as of March 31, 2026). Many women play a central role in our business. Combining KADOKAWA and its domestic consolidated subsidiaries, women accounted for 22.9% of managerial-level employees as of March 31, 2025. Our target is to raise the figure to 30% by FY2030.

At KADOKAWA, we have introduced a variety of leave systems and allowances to support the diverse working styles of all our employees. We have achieved a 100% rate of both return and retention for women who have taken childcare leave (as of March 31, 2026). We have established general action plans based on the Act on the Promotion of Female Participation and Career Advancement in the Workplace and the Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children. We are working to create the foundation for female participation by setting up a pleasant environment for work. In September 2017, KADOKAWA attained Eruboshi Level 3 certification, which means the company is deemed to satisfy all five criteria. Granted by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, “Eruboshi” certification is aimed at recognizing companies that are excellently committed to women’s empowerment in workplaces. As these achievements show, we are highly regarded publicly in terms of women's empowerment.

Number of Managers and Officers (as of March 31, 2026)

  Female Male Total
Employees Percentage Employees Percentage Employees
KADOKAWA
(parent company only)		 Middle management *1 86 31.4％ 188 68.6％ 274
Senior management *2 30 23.1％ 100 76.9％ 130
Management total 116 28.7％ 288 71.3％ 404
Officers *3 2 8.7％ 21 91.3％ 23
Total managers and officers 118 27.6％ 309 72.4％ 427
Entire KADOKAWA Group Middle management *1 277 33.3％ 554 66.7％ 831
Senior management *2 88 23.3％ 289 76.7％ 377
Management total 365 30.2％ 843 69.8％ 1,208
Officers *4 *5 19 11.7％ 144 88.3％ 163
Total managers and officers 384 28.0％ 987 72.0％ 1,371

*1 Middle management: section chiefs
*2 Senior management: department heads
*3 Board Members and Corporate Officers
*4 Total number of officers. Board Members and Corporate Officers
*5 Ten internally promoted female officers
Note: Percentages are rounded to the second decimal place and are shown to the first decimal place.

Employment of Persons with Disabilities

The KADOKAWA Group is working to create an environment where employees can work while freely demonstrating their unique abilities, regardless of disability or degree of disability. We established KADOKAWA CRAFT INC. in 2019 to develop businesses focused on the roasting and selling of coffee and business support, including editing, back-office operations, and more, as a special subsidiary company to employ persons with disabilities. In February 2024, KADOKAWA CRAFT received “Monisu system certification” which the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare awards to recognize small and medium-sized enterprises that excel in the employment of people with disabilities.

logo: Monisu system certification

A total of 112 employees with disabilities, including 31 profoundly disabled persons, work for special subsidiary companies of the Group (KADOKAWA, KADOKAWA CRAFT, DWANGO Co., Ltd., KADOKAWA UPLINK INC., Win Graffiti Inc., Building Book Center Co.,Ltd., and Vantan Inc.). They include 45 employees at KADOKAWA CRAFT, seventeen of whom are profoundly disabled (as of March 2026).

In January 2026, the World Tree Café and Gallery opened in the Naka-Ochiai area of Shinjuku, Tokyo, as a space for co-creation with the community. This café was the result of a public-private partnership involving Shinjuku City, Takinogawa Gakuen, Japan’s first welfare facility for people with intellectual disabilities, and KADOKAWA CRAFT, KADOKAWA’s special subsidiary. In the café space, staff with disabilities support operations as roasters, baristas, and hall staff.

Win Graffiti Inc. became our subsidiary in April 2024. This company operates welfare business such as the support for continuous employment project* and a chicken egg business producing and selling rare, high-quality eggs from domestic hens under the “Haconiwa eggs” brand. Going forward, the KADOKAWA Group will increase and improve its sustainable employment of people with disabilities, which makes good business sense. At the same time, we will explore many different ways for listed companies to handle the employment of people with disabilities.

*This project provides employment opportunities and training necessary for the improvement of knowledge and skills to people who encounter difficulties working in general companies or offices due to disability or illness.

  • Photo : Yuzuri Onoue

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Global Human Resources

More than 1,100 non-Japanese employees work for companies across the KADOKAWA Group, contributing to the Group’s businesses both in Japan and overseas (as of March 31, 2026).
To recruit, develop, and support talent capable of driving forward the Group’s core “Global Media Mix” strategy, the Global Human Resources Development Center has been established.
The Center implements the following key initiatives to support globally active talent and business development.

  • In addition to offering multilingual media for mid-career recruitment and expanding our activities by adding global content, we have also participated in overseas career forums to recruit global talent in a more practical manner.
  • We conduct skill surveys for employees of KADOKAWA Group companies in Japan and overseas, focusing on identifying global talent within the Group.
  • Various initiatives are being promoted, including personnel exchange and remote concurrent roles, to develop hybrid talent with both KADOKAWA-style expertise and global business skills.
  • Various reward systems have been enhanced, such as providing a bonus to employees of overseas subsidiaries who pass the Japanese Language Proficiency Test and obtain the corresponding certification.
  • The “Temporary Remote Work from Home Country” policy was introduced in October 2023 as part of KADOKAWA’s efforts to strengthen the recruitment and retention of global talent. Under this policy, non-Japanese employees may work remotely from their home country for a maximum of 90 days per fiscal year, about one-third of the average annual number of working days.
  • To boost motivation and foster a stronger sense of belonging among overseas employees, KADOKAWA established the “Global Business MVP Awards” to recognize outstanding projects from its international offices.
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Initiatives to Improve Accessibility and Provide Reasonable Accommodation

As a comprehensive entertainment company that delivers joy and inspiration to everyone without barriers, the KADOKAWA Group is working to improve accessibility and promote understanding of reasonable accommodation. Through these efforts, we aim to create an environment where more people can enjoy content regardless of disability or circumstances, and where employees can work in a safe space.

In published content, we are working to further produce and provide e-books and audiobooks, which are leading examples of accessible publications. We have been producing e-books for more than 20 years, since the early days of the market, and have published a total of 160,000 titles. We also offer more than 2,000 audiobooks, books that can be “read with the ears”, across a wide range of genres, and they have also gained support from people who have difficulty reading.

To deepen employees’ understanding of reasonable accommodation, we held e-learning courses and internal seminars in November 2025. We are also working to promote understanding of accessibility improvements by hosting study sessions with external instructors and exhibitions of accessible publications for Group employees. These initiatives are planned and implemented in collaboration with relevant departments, led primarily by the Project Supporting People with Disabilities and Their Families and Facilitating Inclusion*, a volunteer employee project born of an internal call for “Project Open Call.”

*Project Supporting People with Disabilities and Their Families and Facilitating Inclusion
One of our “Project Open Call” project recruitment initiatives, in which KADOKAWA Group employees propose challenging, medium- to long-term, cross-departmental projects and seek to realize them through teams made up of project promotion members recruited from across the Group. The project carries out activities to ensure that KADOKAWA remains a company where everyone is needed and can work with job satisfaction and the ability to dream, regardless of ability.

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LGBTQ+ Initiatives

KADOKAWA provides congratulation or condolence leave and wedding gift money even on such occasions as common-law marriage or marriage of a LGBTQ+ couple. An LGBTQ+ seminar titled Let’s Think About Workplace Diversity Together was held in October 2023 to increase people's understanding of LGBTQ+ issues within KADOKAWA. Many employees, including employees of KADOKAWA Group companies, attended the seminar. Respecting diversity, we will also consider and implement the expansion of the scope of the applicability of many different rules and regulations.

ESG-Related Information