By Yusuke Fukuhara / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. President Akihiko Ogino recently emphasized the importance of DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion), a concept opposed by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. "(Promotion of DEI) will lead to an environment where employees can better demonstrate their strengths," Ogino said during a press interview at "Tokyo Pride 2025" in Tokyo on Sunday. The event, in which the company participated, aimed to foster greater understanding of LGBTQ+ people.

The following is taken from the interview.

Question: What is the background behind your sponsorship of the event?

Akihiko Ogino: Tokyo Pride is the largest LGBTQ+ event in Japan. Our main purpose in sponsoring the event is to clearly demonstrate our company-wide commitment to providing a sense of security to our employees.

Question: What initiatives has your company undertaken (to support LGBTQ+ people)?

Ogino: In terms of our services, we allow our account holders' same-sex partners, if they are recognized as partners, to use our services, such as family support services.

For our employees, we have (benefit) programs in which we treat their LGBTQ+ partners as true family members. When such cases arise, we want to be sure to demonstrate inclusivity and lack of prejudice.

Question: How do you view the anti-DEI movements that have emerged since the Trump administration took office in the United States?

Ogino: Indeed, opposition to DEI has been adopted as government policy in the United States, and some companies have withdrawn their statements of support (for DEI). However, in reality, I don't think many companies have significantly weakened their support systems for employees.

On the contrary, (Japan) in a sense, has been lagging behind (in this area). I believe we need to move forward so that we can catch up during this interval (while the U.S. initiatives have stalled).

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This article is from The Yomiuri Shimbun. Neither Dow Jones Newswires, MarketWatch, Barron's nor The Wall Street Journal were involved in the creation of this content.

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June 10, 2025 05:26 ET (09:26 GMT)

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