For a sustainable& happy Life
Integrated Report2023
Fiscal year ended
February 28, 2023

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01 INTRODUCTION
We are developing a community-based supermarket business based on our Corporate Philosophy,“through ʻreliable management with noble aspirations,ʼ contribute towards the realization of asustainable and flourishing society.” In this chapter, we explain our philosophy and corporate
culture, which we have regarded highly since our founding, in order to continue to provide uniquevalue for our customers and all other stakeholders in an era of rapid environmental change anddiﬃculties in forecasting the future.

CONTENTS

01

INTRODUCTION

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CHAPTER 02

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02

CONTENTS
CHAPTER01

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER04

OUR FOUNDATION

Editorial Policy

Our DNA

03

Sustainability Management40

Our History05

Our Materiality and Action Plan

41

Reducing the Burden on the Environment

43

Providing Safe, High Value-Added
Products and Services

47

Contributing to Local Communities as
Infrastructure for Everyday Life

49

CHAPTER

02

OUR VALUE CREATION

Top Message

08

Recognition of External Environment

12

Value Creation Process

13

Creating a Motivating Workplace Environment
Where Diverse Personnel Can Thrive

51

Values that We Regard Highly

15

Corporate Officers

53

Messages from Outside Directors

55

Corporate Governance

57

Compliance

61

Risk Management

63

CHAPTER03

OUR STRATEGYThe 7th Medium-Term Plan

20

Three Main Themes

23

The Circle of Kaizen

26

Special Feature 1
	Community-Based Management Ledby the Store (The Store is the Star!)

27

Special Feature 2
Central Square Yebisu Garden Place StoreWe have issued Integrated Report 2023 to further
strengthen communication with all our stakeholders,
including shareholders and investors, customers,
business partners, and employees. To contribute to therealization of a sustainable and flourishing society,Integrated Report 2023 presents information on ourpolicies and initiatives toward improving our medium- tolong-term corporate value, including the values weregard highly, and future management plans. During
the editing process, we focused on content with a highlevel of importance while aiming for a concise and easyto-understand structure. For more detailed information,please refer to our website in addition to various
disclosure materials.
Cautionary Note Regarding
Forward-Looking Statements
In this report, statements concerning performance
forecasts and business plans for March 2023 andbeyond are forward-looking projections and areassumptions and judgments based on currently
available information. Actual results, performance, andother information may differ from our forecasts.
Scope of Reporting

CHAPTER05

CORPORATE DATAKey Consolidated Financial and
Non-Financial Data

65

33

Corporate Information

67

At a Glance

35

Stock Information

68

Financial Capital Strategy

37• Applicable period: March 2022 to February 2023
(some information from March 2023 onward isincluded)• Scope: Activities of Group companies centered on
LIFE CORPORATION (in cases where the main subject
companies are different for each field of activity, thescope of coverage is described)• Publication date: November 2023
Reference Guidelines• The Integrated Reporting Framework (International
Financial Reporting Standards Foundation)• Guidance for Integrated Corporate Disclosure andCompany-Investor Dialogues for Collaborative Value
Creation (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry)INTRODUCTION

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Our DNA

Founder’sThoughts

Succession and
Evolutions

Corporate Philosophy

Through “reliable management with noble
aspirations,” contribute towards the realizationof a sustainable and flourishing society.

VisionLong-Term Vision

All LIFE stores will become and remain the stores
Nobutsugu Shimizu

Takaharu Iwasaki

Founder

Representative
Director and President

Our management has been
driven by the belief of our
founder, Nobotsugu Shimizu,
who passed away in October
2022, that the most important
thing to our business should betrust from our customers,society, and our employees."
Since our founding, our mission
has been to be a company that
contributes to creating a happyLife" for everyone.

Carrying on the intention of
our founder, while valuing therelationship of trust with our
stakeholders above all else,
we will contribute towards therealization of a sustainable andﬂourishing society. By pursuingthe “True to LIFE” concept as
symbolized by the words“delicious,” “exciting,” and“happy,” we will work toconstantly create new value.

Since 1961

most trusted by customers in the local communities.
“Trusted” means “believed in” and “relied on.”Our goal is to be Japanʼs best supermarket
that remains trusted by customers, society,and employees.

“True to LIFE” Declaration!

I will ﬁnd new Life again today.
Very fresh ingredients.
Truly delicious delicatessen items.
All with a warm, welcoming smile.
At LIFE, something “delicious” is always waiting for me.
At LIFE, I am sure to ﬁnd something “exciting” every day.
Making me a little bit “happy” in my everyday life.
This is my new Life.
LIFE. Itʼs my supermarket.

03

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Our DNA

P.28

Teamwork

Culture of LIFE
Corporate Culture
The Company has continued to value the philosophy carriedon from our founding of ﬁrst being a “company that remains
trusted by customers, society, and employees.” Based on
this philosophy, we have built a corporate culture in which
employees think and act independently while also engaging
in teamwork that goes beyond the traditional boundaries of
positions and affiliations. We also have a sense of mission to
be the lifeline for the community. Additionally, even in acomplex age of extreme volatility, uncertainty, complexity,
and ambiguity (VUCA), our strength is our strongly rooted
corporate culture that allows us to sensitively understandcustomersʼ needs and respond with a sense of speed.

We have created a culture in which
employees at stores and departments
come together to produce
innovative ideas thatplease our customers.

“True to
LIFE”
Concept
P.49

A Sense of Mission to
be the Lifeline for
the Community
As part of the infrastructure that
supports local communities, wework to run stores stably while
engaging in various social
contribution activities.

P.29

To Think and Act
from the Customerʼs
Point of View
We are working to realize a comfortable
shopping environment by taking anhonest look at our customersʼ needs
and updating our product lineupand sales ﬂoor layouts.

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05

CONTENTS

Our History
714,684

Operatingrevenue*

For more than 60 years, LIFE CORPORATION has taken the needs of our customers seriously andcontinuously supported supermarkets as an essential part of social infrastructure.

¥

629,986

million28,156503,107

Trends in Number of Stores and Financial Performance
Operating revenue

Ordinary proﬁt

Number of stores

765.4 billion¥

20 billion

296¥(FY2022)(FY2022)

765,426* “Accounting Standard
for Revenue Recognition”
applied from FY2022(Operating revenue
before application:¥785,627 million)

418,615200

357,792296

stores!

100(end of February 2023)

Numberof stores

stores!
Ordinary
proﬁt

210,722

50

9,850

¥

20,015
millionstores!

20

107,480

stores!

Path toBecoming
the Best Storein theCommunity

1,828

3,806

538

1961 1974

1980

1985

1990

1 96 1

1 982

1 985

1 992

2009

201 1

201 6

201 9

• LIFEʼs ﬁrst store opens
Toyonaka (Toyonaka,
Osaka Prefecture)• Listed on Second Sectionof Osaka Exchange.

• Opens ﬁrst foodprocess center.

• Enter into businessalliance with Mitsubishi
Corporation.

• Opens core systems.

• Launches private brandproducts.

• Opens ﬁrst BIO-RAL
format store.

• Starts own online
supermarket business.

• Issues the Groupʼsco-branded credit card,“LC JCB Card.”• Launches LIFE
Online Supermarket
on Amazon Japan.

1 983

1995

1 993 – 2000

• Listed on Second Sectionof Tokyo Stock Exchange.

• Surging wave of store
openings.

1 984• Listed on First Section ofTokyo Stock Exchange.

2005

2010

201 3
• Opens ﬁrst CENTRALSQUARE format store.

2015

2020

• Introduces points cardwith e-money function,“LaCuCa.”2022 (FY)2022• Listed on Prime
Market of Tokyo
Stock Exchange.

201 4 – 201 6• Listed on the First Sectionof Osaka Exchange.

POINT

2000

• Opens new food process
centers.

POINT

POINT

Food Process Centers

Surging Wave of Store Openings

CENTRAL SQUARE

Through centralized production focusedon agricultural produce, marine and meatproducts, and delicatessen items, foodprocess centers achieve high quality andlow costs in addition to the development
and production of original LIFE products.

Amid accelerating competition over retailstore openings in Japan and overseas,
based on the belief that expanding scale isnecessary to survive as a supermarket, we
opened 132 stores in eight years startingin 1993.

Our ﬂagship store format. Based on theconcept of “transforming daily shoppingfrom convenience to fun,” CENTRALSQUARE stores disseminate new,interesting, and highly relevant information
for the enjoyment of local customers.

POINT

BIO-RAL
BIO-RAL is our private brand that uses
healthy ingredients and production
methods that are kind to the body.
P.16 “Promotion of BIO-RAL Business”

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06

Our History
As a supermarket that handles an extensive range of products, LIFE CORPORATION has been
supporting peopleʼs lives with sincere service and making trusting relationships with customers
its top priority since 1961. We now have 296 stores in Japan (as of the end of February 2023).

1 95 6

Nobutsugu Shimizu separates Shimizu Storeʼs trading
department from the food wholesale business, establishes
Shimizu Jitsugyo Co., Ltd., which becomes LIFE
CORPORATIONʼs parent organization.

1961

Decides to operate supermarkets.
Opens ﬁrst Toyonaka store(Toyonaka, Osaka Prefecture). Makes
start on what would become LIFE
CORPORATION.

1971

Sets up a district head oﬃce in Tokyoand opens Itabashi store (Itabashi
Ward, Tokyo) as long-awaited ﬁrst
store in Tokyo region.

1 982

Listed on Second Section of Osaka Exchange.

198 3

Listed on Second Section of Tokyo Stock Exchange.

198 4

Listed on First Section of Tokyo Stock Exchange andFirst Section of Osaka Exchange.

1 9 95

Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake. Including Itami store,
seven stores temporarily closed, 39 damaged. Resumes
operations as soon as possible, plays important role as
lifelines for local communities.

19 9 9

Nobutsugu Shimizu establishes Japan Supermarkets
Association, an industry group, and appointed its ﬁrst
chairman.

198 5

2006

Holds joint labor-management
seminar to commemorate 45th
anniversary of launch of supermarket
operations.

2009

Relocates Tokyo head oﬃce to Taito Ward, Tokyo.

201 0Opens Matsudo Comprehensive
Logistics Center (Matsudo City,
Chiba Prefecture).

2011

198 6
1991
19 92

2016

2 01 2Enters into business alliance with
Yaoko Co., Ltd.
Relocates Osaka head oﬃce to Yodogawa Ward, Osaka.

2013

Opens Central Square Nishimiyahara Store (Yodogawa
Ward, Osaka City), the ﬁrst CENTRAL SQUARE format
store.

2017

Opens Kawasaki Comprehensive
Logistics Center in Tokyo region(Kawasaki City, Kanagawa
Prefecture).

2018

Opens Osaka Hirabayashi
Comprehensive Logistics Center
in Osaka region (Suminoe Ward,
Osaka City).

2019

Launches LIFE Online Supermarket on Amazon Japan.

2020

Opens Sakai Food Process Center inOsaka region (Sakai City, Osaka
Prefecture).

2021

Establishes LIFE HOME DELIVERY.
Tempozan bio-gas power generation
plant begins full operation.

Initiates a surging wave of store openings.

19 93

Opens Kurihashi Comprehensive
Logistics Center (Kuki City, Saitama
Prefecture) as strategic logistics basefor Tokyo region.

2 01 4

Opens Funabashi Food Process
Center in Tokyo region (Funabashi
City, Chiba Prefecture).

2 01 5

Establishes LIFE FINANCIAL SERVICE.

Opens BIO-RAL Utsubo Store (Nishi Ward, Osaka City),
the ﬁrst BIO-RAL format store.
Opens Kazo Food Process Center inTokyo metropolitan area (Kazo City,
Saitama Prefecture).

Celebrates 50 years since opening of its ﬁrst store.

Relocates head oﬃce to in front of
JR Shin-Osaka Station.

Enters into business alliance with Mitsubishi Corporation.

Creates LALAPI, LIFEʼs original
mascot.

Launches private brand product“Smile Life.”
Starts own online supermarket business.

Opens Kawaguchi Food Center in Tokyo region(Kawaguchi City, Saitama Prefecture).
Nobutsugu Shimizu appointed chairman of Japan ChainStores Association.

The small dish to the right was handed
out to our customers as a souvenir
when we opened our ﬁrst store, the
Toyonaka store, in 1961. A customer,
who has been a patron for more than 60
years, donated this dish to us as a
keepsake. Our goal is for all LIFE stores
to be supported by our customers long
into the future.

Appoints Takaharu Iwasaki aspresident.

Opens Nanko Logistics Center in Osaka region(Suminoe Ward, Osaka City).
Opens Nanko Food Process Center in Osaka region(Suminoe Ward, Osaka City).

Linking with Customers for Over 60 Years

2022

Opens ﬂagship Central Square Yebisu Garden PlaceStore (Shibuya Ward, Tokyo).
Listed on Prime Market of Tokyo Stock Exchange.

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OUR STRATEGYOUR FOUNDATIONCORPORATE DATACHAPTER

02 OUR VALUE CREATION
Through our business activities as a supermarket, we create three forms of value in the economy,society, and the environment, and contribute towards the realization of a sustainable andflourishing society. To provide these three forms of value, we provide a shopping experiencethat meets the various needs of our customers, ensures a work environment that respects our
employeesʼ individuality, and pursues eﬃcient business activities utilizing data. In this chapter,
we will present our approach to value creation along with speciﬁc examples of our initiatives.

CONTENTS
Top Message

08

Recognition of External Environment

12

Value Creation Process

13

Values that We Regard Highly

15

CONTENTS07

OUR VALUE CREATIONCHAPTER 01
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08

TOP MESSAGE
Our goal is to be Japanʼsbest supermarket
that remains trusted
by customers, society,and employees.
In a time full of drastic change, through a strong
grasp of both the present and future, we aim tobreak away from the homogenous competition,
further boost our presence, and enjoy evengreater success.

Takaharu Iwasaki
Representative
Director and President

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Top Message
Creating a sense of presence throughappealing store design especiallyin times of change
The waves of COVID-19 that have come repeatedly overthe past more than three years have ﬁnally calmed, andthe downgrading of the virus to a “Class 5” common
infectious disease has reenergized peopleʼs everyday
lives. However, the changes in lifestyles and values
caused by the COVID-19 pandemic will not simply revert
back to how things were prior to the pandemic. The
business environment surrounding the Company is also
entering a new phase amid rising costs starting withutilities costs and changes in purchasing behavior, as well
as needs caused by rising product prices from soaring
prices for raw materials. Amid these conditions, tocontinue growing, we must become “a store that attracts
customers.” A store that attracts customers is one that
continuously oﬀers products, services, and shopping
experiences that competitors cannot, and one that istrustworthy and reliable. For all LIFE stores to become“the most appealing store in the area,” we will continue torise to the challenge.

Review of the Fiscal Year Ended
February 28, 2023 (FY2022)

Achieved 19th consecutive year of revenue
growth, and secured ordinary proﬁt of¥20 billion for third consecutive year
FY2022 was positioned as the ﬁnal year of the 6th
Medium-Term Plan, and we focused on investment in
employees, products, and stores. As a result, operating
revenue totaled ¥765,426 million, marking our 19th
consecutive year of revenue growth.* Net sales at existing
stores were 104.5% compared to FY2019, prior to the
COVID-19 pandemic, maintaining the same levels as
FY2020, in which demand for eating at home rose due tothe pandemic. We believe that these results are due toour initiatives to create sales spaces, including renovationof stores, the creation of original products, and ourservices. In terms of proﬁt, impacted by rising raw
materials and other costs, ordinary proﬁt was ¥20,015
million and net proﬁt was ¥13,327 million, both declining
from the previous ﬁscal year. However, we secured
ordinary proﬁt of over ¥20.0 billion for the third
consecutive ﬁscal year, achieving proﬁt levels that were a
step higher than those in our 5th Medium-Term Plan.
* Results are compared using the ﬁgures before the application of the“Accounting Standard for Revenue Recognition”

Summary of the
6th Medium-Term Plan

Pursuing our “True to LIFE” concept
where the store is the star!
In the 6th Medium-Term Plan, we unveiled our mainconcept of “The store is the star!” Based on this concept,
we steadily carried out investment in employees,
products, and stores. We also strengthened infrastructure(at each food process center), and together withexpanding our card business strategy and online
supermarket business, we aimed to realize our “True toLIFE” concept. Because business continuity was our top
priority during the COVID-19 pandemic, there werecertain issues remaining to be addressed. However, wehave mostly achieved our targets, with many tangible
results.
In terms of “investment in employees,” investments toutilize human resources as a driving force for growth isongoing. We have worked to maintain a rewarding
working environment by delegating authority to stores,
creating a corporate culture that allows employees tofreely make suggestions, increasing the number of
employees in store management positions and job
rotations, and personnel change based on an internal
recruitment system. We also strove to increase employee
satisfaction through initiatives to improve employee
treatment, including raising base pay.
Regarding investment in products, we have enjoyedsteady growth in private brand products such as “BIORAL” and “LIFE PREMIUM.” In addition to being extremely
well received by our customers, the taste and quality ofthese brands have been recognized, and they have been
covered more and more by the media. Also, regarding
fresh produce, we worked with producers to pursue
highly original products using unique manufacturing andgrowing methods.
Regarding investment in stores, we aggressively
opened new stores and renovated existing stores as we
worked to create stores that meet the needs of our local
customers. We focused strongly on creating sales spaces
with a primary focus on providing a more comfortable
shopping environment for customers. Using data analysis
and the desires of our customers, we introduced productlineups for each store and face-to-face kitchens.
Furthermore, against the backdrop of increasing healthconsciousness, the number of stores with a BIO-RAL
corner oﬀering original, natural products including organic
products has risen to 240 stores, around 80% of all LIFE
stores.
The culmination of building stores focused entirely on
the customer is our ﬂagship store Central Square Yebisu
Garden Place, which opened in April 2022. Amid
intensifying competition including market entrants from
diﬀerent industries, under the “Supermarket 4.0” concept
which lays out the direction for new supermarkets for the
next generation, Central Square Yebisu Garden Place
realizes the vision of “building a store that combines the
CENTRAL SQUARE format and the BIO-RAL format, whilefusing a brick-and-mortar store and an online store, tooﬀer not only convenience, but also excitement with every
store visit.” In addition to broad support from ourcustomers, Central Square Yebisu Garden Place drewattention within the industry, capturing ﬁrst place in the“STORE OF THE YEAR 2023*” awards.
* Retail industry journal “Diamond Chain Store” award initiative.

In terms of “strengthening infrastructure (at each foodprocess center),” we expanded the use of our foodprocess centers for fresh food processing and productionof delicatessen items, as well as the use of satellitedelicatessen centers, working to improve productivity andexpand the full lineup of products in stores. Furthermore,by reorganizing the food process centers in the Osaka
region, we dramatically enhanced our production
capabilities to service 400 stores in the future.

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10Top Message
Regarding our “card business strategy,” we pursued
stronger policies to encourage customers to apply for thecompany credit card LC JCB Card, which oﬀers thegreatest beneﬁts to our customers in terms of loyalty
points, reaching 500,000 cardholders.* In addition tocontinuing to strengthen measures to encouragecustomers to apply for the card, we will also focus onpromoting its use. Membership for the points card withe-money function, LaCuCa, also rose to around 4.71
million.** Both as of the end of February 2023.

We have been focused on expanding online
supermarkets. LIFE has two online services, the “Life
Online Supermarket” and our online supermarket service
through Amazon. Through the two services, bothcustomers who regularly visit LIFE stores and customers
who have yet to visit us can purchase products throughour online supermarkets. Our strength is the ability toprovide ways to shop that are convenient for all ourcustomers, for example customers ﬁrst buying online andthen visiting our stores. Our online supermarkets haveopened new locations, increased their order receiving
capacity for existing stores, and boosted their productlineups. These eﬀorts resulted in net sales increasing byaround six times from ¥2.4 billion in FY2018 to ¥14.2
billion in FY2022.
The greatest result from implementing our 6th
Medium-Term Plan was the increase in our gross proﬁtratio, which rose by 3.2 percentage points during theplan. I believe that this was because each of ouremployees worked diligently to carry out various
initiatives with a strong awareness of improving our grossproﬁt ratio.

Start of the
7th Medium-Term Plan

Outlook and formulation of the vision“what we want to be in FY2030”
The 7th Medium-Term Plan began in FY2023. In a time of

drastic change in which the future cannot be discerned,
some question the need to create a medium- to longterm management plan. However, for us, the MediumTerm Plan is extremely important. For all employees tobe in alignment and continue to take on challenges, abackbone in the form of the Medium-Term Plan isessential. Our focal points in formulating the plan were
the Companyʼs vision, our desire to contribute towards
the realization of a sustainable and ﬂourishing society, a
corporate culture that encourages employees to think
and act from the customerʼs point of view, a challenging
spirit, teamwork, and the ability to see our policies
through to completion. Parallel to discussions by the
management team, the Medium-Term Plan was createdthrough frontline leaders gathering the opinions of
employees and then engaging in thorough discussion. As
a result, employees realize this is a Medium-Term Plan
that they created, which imparts a sense of purpose andbecomes a large driving force in executing the plan.
This Medium-Term Plan is a four-year plan covering
the period from FY2023 to FY2026 in which policies havebeen compiled to envision and realize “what we want to
be in FY2030.” This vision for FY2030 is to “become a

Aiming to ʻbecome a company
that everyone says,“Itʼs my supermarket,” as acommunity-based supermarket.ʼ

company that everyone says, ʻItʼs my supermarket,ʼ as acommunity-based supermarket.” “Everyone” refers to all
our stakeholders including our customers, people livingin the regions where we operate, our business partners,
and our employees. Our vision is for everyone to like
LIFE and to become both our fans and supporters. Our
ﬁnancial targets are net sales of ¥1 trillion, ordinary
proﬁt of ¥35 billion, net proﬁt of ¥22 billion, and 400
stores. Our non-ﬁnancial targets are a 50% reduction in
CO2 emissions (compared to FY2013 levels), reducing
ﬁnal amount of food waste per net sales by 50%(compared to FY2017), an employee satisfaction level of
4.0, a ratio of female managers of 20%, and a ratio ofmale employees taking childcare leave of 100%.
The keyword in our 7th Medium-Term Plan is “linking.”
This includes linking stores to customers, stores to local
communities, and our headquarters to stores. As aresult, LIFE will be connected to our customers, regions,business partners, shareholders, and investors. Througheach of our employees being aware of this spirit of“linking” and actively cooperating and collaborating, wehope to link our eﬀorts to realizing a better life andsociety for everyone.

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11

Top Message3) Contribution towards the Realization of a
Sustainable and Flourishing Society

Promoting even more initiatives
aimed at breaking away fromthe homogenous competition
with a strong sense of resolve.

The three main themes in our 7th Medium-Term Plan
are as follows.

1) Investment in Employees
As a theme carried forward from our 6th Medium-Term
Plan, our ﬁrst and most important theme is investment
in employees. Unless employees feel a sense of value intheir work and have a high level of satisfaction in the
Company we cannot provide services that satisfy ourcustomers. Because our human resources are a formof capital, maximizing their value will lead to mediumto long-term increases in corporate value. We believe
that, as a result, we will continue to be a supermarket
that remains trusted by customers. Our even greater
eﬀorts to build a corporate culture, delegate authority
to stores, promote diversity, develop human resources,
and improve employee treatment will lead to thegrowth of our employees, highly productive work styles,
and a sense of value, as we aim to further improve
employee satisfaction (ES). As a speciﬁc indicator, ourcurrent ES as evaluated by an external expert researchﬁrm is 3.4 (out of 5.0), and we aim to increase this to
4.0 by FY2030.

As Japan heads toward an age of accelerating
population decline, if LIFE does not become “theCompany also chosen by its employees,” we cannot
expect to enjoy sustainable growth. We would like to be
a company where our employees say, “I want to keep
working at LIFE.”

2) Breaking Away fromthe Homogenous Competition
If we oﬀer the same products and services as ourcompetitors, we will fall into price competition and lose
our corporate strength. Although we have been
focusing on developing unique services and original
products since before the 6th Medium-Term Plan, by
establishing “breaking away from the homogenous
competition” as a theme in the 7th Medium-Term Plan,
we aim to transform into a business model that alsoutilizes the strength of digital technology with a strong
sense of purpose to provide suitable product and sales
information for individual customers with varying tastes.
In this business model, we are focused on our goal of
having everyone like LIFE and becoming both our fansand supporters.

As an essential part of peopleʼs everyday lives,supermarkets take pride in contributing to local
communities as infrastructure for everyday life and act
with a sense of purpose. Recently, it seems that every
year we are met with extreme abnormal weather andclimate change that threaten peopleʼs everyday lives.
Maintaining an environment in which people can live
comfortably is essential to LIFEʼs growth. Given this, we
believe that it is our responsibility to reduce the burdenthat we place on the global environment to the extent
that we can by reducing both food waste and CO2
emissions. Based on this strong resolve, we haveestablished “contribution towards the realization of asustainable and ﬂourishing society,” part of our
Corporate Philosophy, as a main theme in our 7th
Medium-Term Plan.
To advance these three themes, we are engaged inCompany-wide eﬀorts in “linking the circle of Kaizen
activities” through which we use internal opinions andrealizations to resolve issues. Kaizen (improvement)
means to change for the better by not being satisﬁedwith the status quo, and recognizing and solving
problems on our own. The greatest management priority
during the COVID-19 pandemic was safe business
continuity, and we intentionally turned a blind eye tocertain cost factors. Put diﬀerently, this is an area
where Kaizen now has ample room to be applied. If wecome together with the Company-wide awareness thateach of us are personally involved in Kaizen, I am surethat we will be able to produce signiﬁcant results.
As we start our new 7th Medium-Term Plan, pleasecount on us to strive towards our goal to be a“supermarket that remains trusted by customers,society, and employees.” Finally, we humbly ask for thecontinued support of all of our stakeholders.

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12

Recognition of External Environment
In tackling issues towards the realization of a sustainable and flourishing society, we recognize the following issues in the external environment.
We maintain a constant awareness of establishing businesses within the reality of the global environment and a sustainable society andpursuing our business activities.

1. Changes in Social Environment

4. Technological Advances● Evolution of AI (artiﬁcial intelligence)● Popularization of autonomous devices such as robots and drones● Growing market scale of e-commerce● Popularization and growth of cashless payments withdiversifying payment methods● Evolution of freezing technology (emergence of a wide range offrozen food products)● Progressively aging society and declining total populationin Japan● Responding to an era of 100-year life expectancies● Expanding healthcare, nursing care, and social welfare
service demand● Increasing health consciousness

2. Diversiﬁcation of Work Styles

5. Resource Supply Uncertainties● Increasing ratio of workers 65 and older due to theprogressively aging population● Increasing foreign workers in Japan● Growing needs to balance work with giving birth, childcare,nursing care, etc.
● Expanding remote working after the COVID-19 pandemic● Normalization of short working hours and ﬂextime systems

3. Worsening Environmental Issues● Growing severity of climate change (rising temperatures andmore heavy rains)● Abnormal weather events including torrential rains andextreme heat
● Ocean and freshwater pollution● Declining biodiversity caused by deforestation● Soaring prices and insufficient supply of food resources● Soaring energy prices● Rising logistics costs● Soaring construction costs

6.

Growing Emphasis on Environmental, Social, andGovernance (ESG) Initiatives● Growing importance of management focused on the Company
long-term development● Growing sustainability demands placed on companies● Carbon-neutral and decarbonization initiatives● Demand to exercise and energize the functions ofBoard of Directors

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13

Value Creation Process
In the LIFE Group, we are pursuing the “True to LIFE” concept symbolized by three keywords, “delicious,” “exciting,” and “happy,” while utilizing our Groupʼsmanagement resources and responding to customer needs and changes in our external environment. We will continue to contribute towards the “realization ofa sustainable and flourishing society” by providing value that can only be created by our Group.

External
Environment

Diversiﬁcation ofworkstylesWorsening
environmental
issuesTechnologicaladvances

Resource
supplyuncertainties

Comfortablestore
atmosphere

Provision ofdelicious
products

Manufacturing
capitalCustomers

Dominant market position in
Japanʼs two largest metropolitan
areas, Tokyo and Osaka

Financial
capitalFinancial base that enables
aggressive store expansion

Onlinesupermarkets

Headquarters
Information utilization
platforms (AI/IT)

Food process
centers

Product
safetySocialValue

Logistics centers

Business partners
Convenienceof shopping
experience

Diversityfriendly

NaturalcapitalFlow of information

Experience and knowledge of
new product and store
development

Reducing
the burden
on theenvironment

Providingsafe, highvalue-added
products andservices

Implementation of
initiatives that are
trusted by both society
and employees

P.47–P.52

Flow of products

Environmental
value

Reduction in environmental
impactIntellectual
capitalGrowth as a sustainable
company whereenvironmental andsocial values co-exist

P.35, P.65

Our Materiality

Growingemphasison ESG
initiatives

Economic
valueStores

Welcoming
customer
service

SocialcapitalMutual trust with customers inareas where stores are opened

VisionPursuit of the “True to LIFE” Concept“Delicious,” “Exciting,” and “Happy”

Human
capitalActive participation of diverse
personnel who think and act
independently

Value We
CreateA Business Model Based on Our Core Values

Contributing
to localcommunities as
infrastructure
for everyday
life

Creating a
motivating
workplaceenvironment
where diverse
personnel can
thriveDevelopment ofan organization
with high value
and ethics

Realization ofa circular anddecarbonized society

P.43–P.46“Realization of a sustainable and ﬂourishing society”

Changesin socialenvironment

Management
Resources

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14

Value Creation Process
In the process of providing products to our customers, the LIFE Group strives to provide a highly precise supply of products that fulﬁll our customersʼ needs
through the proactive use of information and data. Additionally, each employee is personally involved in thinking and acting on providing “True to LIFE”
emotional value and functional value, and in doing so, we contribute towards the realization of a sustainable and flourishing society.

A Business Model Based on Our Core Values

Customers

Striving for eﬃcient value creation through data use

Onlinesupermarkets

Flow ofinformation

StoresFlow ofproducts

Headquarters
Information utilization
platforms (AI/IT)

Food process
centers
Logistics centers

Business partners

Emotional Value We Provide
At LIFE, we work to provide the added valueof comfort, relief, and having a little fun when
our customers purchase our products. All our
employees including those at ourheadquarters work to realize sales ﬂoors thatprovide an easy shopping experience to ourcustomers and welcoming customer service
through our smiles and greetings.

We do not simply procure and sell products. Rather,using our information utilization platforms (AI/IT)
that employ various data starting with sales data, wework to enhance the satisfaction levels of ourcustomers through procurement activities andproduct lineups that reﬂect their desires. Parallelwith these eﬀorts, we work to enhance productivity
through process management based on data.
Improving the accuracy of ordering and production
by using data in product ordering and productionplans earns the support and trust of our customers,
while connecting to operational streamlining andreduced food loss. Speciﬁc examples of data use

include setting product lineups that meet the needsof customers in each region in stores (see P.29),
standardizing production management in foodprocess centers, and streamlining facilities
operations in logistics centers. Moreover, in terms of
the relationships with our customers, by focusing on“linking” with each individual customer and bypromoting the creation of environments that provide
optimal shopping experiences to those customers
whether in the real or virtual world (see P.24), we
continue to challenge ourselves to provide products
and services that our competitors do not.

Functional Value We Provide
By providing our unique delicious products
and special products, we strive to contributeto healthy, ﬂourishing lives for our customers.
Furthermore, by building out services thatmake shopping more convenient, including
online supermarkets and in-store purchaseand home delivery services, etc., we aim to be
a company that everyone in the community
says, “Itʼs my supermarket.”CHAPTER 01

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15

Values that We Regard Highly

Towards the “realization of a sustainable and flourishing society,” through our business activities, the LIFE Group is creating three forms of value: economic
value, social value, and environmental value (see P.13).
Here, we present concrete examples of the initiatives that we are pursuing to create these three forms of value.

01

A Fun Shopping Experience

Economic
value

Socialvalue

Creating Sales Spaces with Added Excitement
Demand is increasing each year
for online supermarkets due to theconvenience of being able to shop
anywhere without going to thestore. However, we do not believethat brick-and-mortar stores will
disappear in the future. This isbecause there is value that only
real stores can provide. We wantto provide exciting sales ﬂoors andcustomer service that makes ourcustomers happy. Our brick-andmortar stores will continue to beplaces that realize these goals forour customers.

Childrenʼs Day* (Koinobori [carp streamer]
grilled meat set)
*A national holiday in Japan

Motherʼs Day (Cut fruit and thank you messages)

Halloween (Pumpkin sales)

New Yearʼs Day preparations (Extra large-scale displayof ceremonial rice cakes)

Valuing Connections with Our Customers
In September 2022, we changed the name of
our “Cash Register Operations Section” to the“Front Service Section.” As the division that
leads customer service, the Front Service
Section is involved not only with register
operations, but also in creating a comfortable
shopping environment throughout the entire
store. In doing so, we aim for our store to bewarm and welcoming to our customers.

Based on the sales ﬂoor development plan from headquarters, the sales ﬂoor personnel foreach store use their own creativity to create sales spaces that customers in each local
community will enjoy. One of our strengths is how all our store employees, including our parttime employees, come together as a team and create sales spaces while enjoying themselves.
Through proposals from our sales ﬂoors for seasonal ingredients, new product launches,seasonal events such as Motherʼs Day, New Yearʼs Day, etc., we strive to help customers add
a little charm to their lives.

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Values that We Regard Highly

02

Providing Products that are Gentle on People and the Earth

Economic
value

Socialvalue

Environmental
value

Promotion of BIO-RAL Business
The COVID-19 pandemic led to more customers wanting to buy healthconscious food products at aﬀordable prices. To respond to thesecustomer needs, BIO-RAL is developing and providing healthy, delicious
products that are also gentle on the global environment.

BIO-RAL product development
We are focused on the development of BIO-RAL private brand products as original products
unique to LIFE. By developing organic products and other products that are gentle on thebody, we are striving to provide even more products that are both healthy and delicious.

Four Concepts

Trends in number of BIO-RAL products

What BIO-RAL Values(Items)300

Organic

Local

Healthy

Sustainability

Agricultural produce andprocessed products arefull of natureʼs goodness.
We will communicate thevalue of these products
to the customers andprovide a place where
customers know they
can always get them.

We appreciate delicious
produce from the land
and the fruits of the four
seasons, and propose
eating habits that are intune with natureʼs
blessings.

A healthy diet nurtures asound body and mind.
We are also working todevelop and oﬀer a
range of products thatare gentle on the body.

We aim to realize acircular society andpreserve the global
environment to ensure
we pass on the blessingsof nature to ourchildrenʼs generation.

264

250

189

200
150
100
50
0

101
47

48

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

(FY)

A selection of BIO-RAL private brands

BIO-RAL store expansion
Since the opening of our BIO-RAL Utsubo
Store (Nishi Ward, Osaka City) in 2016 as theﬁrst BIO-RAL store, the brand has earned the
support of our customers, and we haveopened more stores. We are working to build
stores that are supported by a broadcustomer base, including store development
in large-scale multi-purpose facilities such as
MARUI and PARCO.

Message from Division COO of Product Division“Gentle on the Earth, Gentle on People”
That is the concept behind
the BIO-RAL business
Expanding products and stores based on the four concepts of the
BIO-RAL business is also extremely signiﬁcant from the standpointof the SDGs. It leads to greater trust and support from customers,
and as a result, diﬀerentiation from competitors and breaking awayfrom the homogenous competition. Toward even greater growth,
our goal is to grow the BIO-RAL business into a ¥10-billion businessin the near term. We are also opening new cafes as places toexperience the worldview of BIO-RAL. We invite our customers toexperience these cafes and to become fans of BIO-RAL.

Shinichiro AraiManaging Executive Oﬃcer
Deputy Group CEO of BusinessGroup Headquarters, and COO ofTokyo Region Product Division,and COO of Osaka Region Product
Division

Trends in number of BIO-RAL stores
FY2021

FY2022Stand-alone stores

4

5

Annexed stores

2

6

BIO-RAL corners

91

240

BIO-RAL Shinjuku MARUI Store(opened May 2022)

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Values that We Regard Highly

03

Diversiﬁcation of Shopping Options

Economic
value

Socialvalue

04

Connections with Our Suppliers

We oﬀer our online supermarket
service as a convenient option thatcan respond to the lifestyles and dayto-day circumstances of customers,such as being unable to go shopping
due to bad weather or poor health.
We aim to further improve quality sothat customers can shop with thesame convenience and comfort as inour brick-and-mortar stores.

JA FURANO
Onion producer

Economic
value

Socialvalue

To realize a sustainable andﬂourishing society, we believe thatcoexistence and mutual prosperity
is important not only for theCompany, but also for our entire
supply chain, and have included thisbelief as one tenet in the LIFE Codeof Conduct. Here, we introduce
examples of initiatives that we are
pursuing with our producers.

Expansion of Online Supermarket BusinessSupporting Producers

Many customers began using online supermarkets due to the increasing needs during the
COVID-19 pandemic. As a part of this shift, we began expanding the service areas of ouronline supermarkets. LIFEʼs Amazon-based online supermarket service expanded its coverage
broadly throughout the Tokyo and Osaka regions, and our own LIFE Online Supermarket
expanded the number of stores that it covers from 66 to 99 stores. Parallel with expanding
our service areas, we strove to improve quality. To ensure that our online supermarkets oﬀer
the same product lineups as our brick-and-mortar stores, we increased the number of listed
items by around 30% to 15,000 items. We are also working to improve quality further by
expanding and improving product information and special product features.

The Japanese agricultural industry faces many issues including aging farmers and a lack ofsuccessors to take over farms. Given this reality, as an initiative to support Japanese
producers, since 2020 we have cooperated with the National Federation of Agricultural
Cooperative Associations (JA ZEN-NOH) to run the Tsunagu Project. In addition to conducting
PR for Japanese-produced agricultural and livestock produce and products, we are
distributing pamphlets with the faces and messages of our producers featured, so that ourcustomers can get to know them better. We are also working to connect our customers andproducers through a “send a message to the producer” initiative using the questionnairefunction of the LIFE app.

Trends in online supermarket net sales
100(billion yen)

100

24
18

14.2

12
6

Each item is carefully selected fromour sales ﬂoors and delivered

0

1.9

2.4

3.1

5.3

9.6

2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

2030 (FY)

Salty Hyuganatsu citrus
fruit jelly producer

Sakaide Kintoki sweet
potato producer

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06

Connections with
the Local Community

CONTENTS

18

Values that We Regard Highly

05

Diversity & Inclusion

Economic
value

Socialvalue

We are advancing various
initiatives to realize becoming “acompany in which diverse humanresources can grow and ﬂourish.”
We are creating an environmentand raising awareness so that
employees can deepen theirunderstanding and respect fordiversity and be able to grow.

Respecting the Individuality of Employees
We respect, recognize, and make use of the strengths of our individual employees regardlessof their gender, age, nationality, or other individual traits. For example, we engage in proactive
management position hiring and constantly improve our training systems to create a work
environment that facilitates ongoing work for women while encouraging growth. We also
proactively hire persons with disabilities, and by creating handbooks to promote
understanding surrounding disabilities, we share items for consideration and ensure an
environment in which everyone can work regardless of the type of their disability. With regard
to our non-Japanese employees, we employ foreign technical intern trainees at our foodprocess centers and in some of our stores to promote their acquisition of practical skills.

Through our e-learning materials, we have created anenvironment in which the systems and knowledge of ourCompany can be repeatedly learned at any place and time.

To share systems and information related todiversity, we issue a monthly“Diversity Newsletter.”

Economic
value

Socialvalue

Environmentalvalue

To fulﬁll our mission as infrastructurethat supports the lives of local
communities, it is important that weare both trusted by the people in thecommunity and exist as a member ofthat community. To ensure that this is
the case, we advance various initiatives
both as a Company and in the form of
independent initiatives by our stores.

Implementing Initiatives that Connect to Local Communities

Initiatives led by divisions
As a company involved with food, we createawareness about the importance of food
through food education activities, andthrough cooperation with regional social
welfare councils, we donate food tochildrenʼs cafeterias.

Independent initiatives by stores
Through support from divisions forindependent proposals from our individualstores, we hold various fun learning eventsusing the sales spaces in each store.

P.50 Details on initiatives led by divisions

P.31 Details of independent store initiatives

Food education activities at
an elementary school

An eco-event at one of
our stores

CHAPTER 01

CHAPTER 02

INTRODUCTIONOUR VALUE CREATIONCHAPTERCHAPTER

03 OUR STRATEGY
Having established “what we want to be in FY2030,” we also formulated our 7th Medium-Term
Plan, covering the ﬁrst half of the next four years starting in FY2023. In this chapter, we will
explain both our medium-term plan and our ﬁnancial capital strategy. As speciﬁc examples of ourstrategic initiatives, we will also introduce community-based management led by the store andthe “Central Square Yebisu Garden Place,” which opened in FY2022 with the goal of oﬀering a
new supermarket format.

CONTENTS
The 7th Medium-Term Plan

20

Three Main Themes

23

The Circle of Kaizen

26

Special Feature 1
Community-Based Management Ledby the Store (The Store is the Star!)

27

Special Feature 2
Central Square Yebisu Garden Place Store33

At a Glance

35

Financial Capital Strategy

37

03

CHAPTER 04

CHAPTER 05

OUR FOUNDATIONCORPORATE DATACONTENTS

19

OUR STRATEGYCHAPTER 01

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INTRODUCTIONOUR VALUE CREATIONCHAPTER03

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20

The 7th Medium-Term Plan

The Positioning of Our Medium-Term Plan
In creating a medium- to long-term strategy amid drastic changes in society, we evaluated our strategy with an eye on “what we want to be in FY2030.” We will plot out asolid growth strategy in this uncertain world so that we do not rely on short-term proﬁts. We aim to realize both our Corporate Philosophy and Vision by sharing ourdesired direction, not falling into homogenous competition, and continuing to share our unique value with our customers. In our 7th Medium-Term Plan starting in
FY2023, in addition to “continuous strategy,” we are advancing our initiatives around the key word of “linking.”

Changes in the Medium-Term Plan

Ordinary proﬁt (annual average by medium-term plan) (millions of yen)

FY1998–2,300

No mediumterm plan
formulated

FY2002–

FY2005–

FY2008–10,056FY2018–FY2015–FY2012–

FY203012,7898,019

1st MediumTerm Plan

2nd MediumTerm Plan

3rd MediumTerm Plan

4th MediumTerm Plan

5th MediumTerm Plan

We formulated our
ﬁrst medium-term
plan

Vision formulated

Securing anddeveloping humanresources

Quantitative targets
established for nextten years (NEXT10)“12 issues”
established to clarify
management issues

Promoting ﬁve
strategies andwork-style reforms

Strengthening
initiatives to boost
our current
business region
share
Formulated the new“LIFE Pledge”

Signiﬁcance in Formulating the Medium-Term Plan
Even in a time of dramatic change in the business environment and a future that is impossible
to predict, the creation of our medium-term plans is signiﬁcant to the Company. In theformulation and execution of our medium-term plans, our employees will 1) align their eﬀorts
toward the Companyʼs desired direction and initiatives, 2) become personally involved in the
Companyʼs plan, and 3) for the Companyʼs lasting growth from a medium- to long-term
perspective, 4) continue to challenge themselves. Prior to our medium-term plans in FY2001
and earlier, our ordinary proﬁt remained at the ¥2 billion level. However, it nearly doubled in
the three years after we created our ﬁrst medium-term plan in FY2002. Thereafter, ordinary
proﬁt continued to increase steadily. In the ﬁve years in which the 6th Medium-Term Plan was
implemented through last year, ordinary proﬁt averaged ¥20 billion. Achieving ten times the
proﬁt levels from when we ﬁrst began our medium-term plans is a signiﬁcant result.

Realizing
our Corporate
Philosophy
and Vision

19,851

8,675

3,918

Issues organized
into “15 reforms”

Current

6th MediumTerm Plan

Clarifying ourpositioning

FY2023–

FY2027–

7th MediumTerm Plan

8th MediumTerm Plan

What we want to be
in FY2030
Become a company
that everyone says,“Itʼs my supermarket,”as a community-based
supermarket

Formulated
by back-castingfrom our
Corporate
Philosophy and
VisionFormulation of “Trueto LIFE” Declaration
Updating our
Corporate Philosophy

Changes in the External Environment as We Approach FY2030
In a time with an uncertain future amid abnormal weather and global pandemics, we are also
experiencing changing population trends, increasing cost burdens, an intensifying competitiveenvironment, the development and acceleration of digitalization, etc. Sustainability initiatives
will be called for more than ever. In the 7th Medium-Term Plan, we both recognize theseissues and establish deﬁnite means of responding. By limiting risks and capturing
opportunities, we aim to realize what we want to be in FY2030.

Recognition of External Environment

P.12

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INTRODUCTIONOUR VALUE CREATIONCHAPTER03

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21

The 7th Medium-Term Plan

Review of the 6th Medium-Term Plan
We achieved our quantitative target of ¥20 billion in consolidated ordinary proﬁt for three straight years from FY2020. Although we faced challenging conditions in
FY2022 with soaring electricity costs, ordinary proﬁt levels increased compared to before the 5th Medium-Term Plan. As a result of Company-wide eﬀorts to boost ourgross proﬁt ratio, it greatly exceeded planned levels and in turn boosted our ordinary proﬁt.
On the qualitative side, in addition to creating awareness of our basic strategy and clarifying our positioning, we shared the philosophies of our “ True to LIFE”
Declaration and “ The store is the star!” internally, which allowed all our employees to approach their work with shared values.

Overview of the 6th Medium-Term Plan
Basic Philosophy
The Company started the 6th Medium-Term Plan in FY2018, with its ﬁnal year set in FY2021.
Under the plan, we pursued our originality as a Company that can attract customers, andpromoted the realization of the “ True to LIFE” concept through investment in employees,
investment in stores, investment in products, an online supermarket strategy, card businessstrategy, etc. The impact of COVID-19 forced us to postpone some of our policies andinitiatives, and because of this, we decided to extend the plan by one year. The eﬀorts of ourentire organization focused on achieving this goal in FY2022, which we designated as the “yearof completion” for the 6th Medium-Term Plan.

Overview of Policies
In terms of investment in employees, by strengthening our personnel, advancing work-stylereforms, and improving employee treatment, we worked to build an environment in which
diverse personnel can thrive. Furthermore, by expanding authorities and responsibilities, wecreated job satisfaction by allowing each employee to work based on their own intentions.
In terms of investment in stores, we opened new stores including the ﬂagship Central
Square Yebisu Garden Place Store and stores featuring the natural supermarket BIO-RAL. We
also actively renovated existing stores based on customersʼ needs.
In terms of investment in products, we strengthened product development for four private
brands, focusing on materials and production methods and working to diﬀerentiate ourselvesfrom competitors by oﬀering delicious, original products.
We oﬀer two online supermarket formats, our own online supermarket as well as our online
supermarket service through Amazon.
In our card business strategy, to increase customer satisfaction levels, we worked toprovide cards with the best value and usability for our customers.

Consolidated Results
FY2018FY2019FY2020

FY2021

FY2022

Net sales (billion yen)

678.2

693.1

736.3

745.1

738.5

Gross proﬁt ratio (%)

28.8

29.5

30.6

31.0

31.3

Ordinary proﬁt (billion yen)

12.8

14.6

28.2

23.7

20.0

7.4

7.8

17.8

15.2

13.3

Investments (billion yen)

34.0

19.9

29.3

22.8

24.2

Number of stores at the end of the period

270

275

280

285

296

Proﬁt (billion yen)

Achievements and Issues
Achievements

IssuesHit the ¥20 billion consolidated ordinary
proﬁt target set in the 6th Medium-Term
Plan for three straight years fromFY2020Inefficient use of expenses due to prioritizing
expenses for safe and secure business activities in
response to the COVID-19 pandemic

Gross proﬁt ratio greatly exceeded theplanned levels
Progress in creating a workplaceenvironment where diverse personnel
can thrive and realizing a rewarding
company to work for

Unable to fully incorporate the eﬀects of ourinvestments in productivity improvements into ourﬁnancial results due to focusing most of our timeon dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic
The card business strategy, one of the ways we
diﬀerentiate from competitors, did not perform as
expected, resulting in a lower card utilization rate
than planned

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OUR FOUNDATIONCORPORATE DATACONTENTS22

The 7th Medium-Term Plan

Basic Policy of the 7th Medium-Term Plan
In the 7th Medium-Term Plan, our goal is to become a company that everyone says, “ It's my supermarket,” as a community-based supermarket. According to this goal, we
have set ﬁnancial and non-ﬁnancial targets in line with our materiality. To realize these goals, in the 7th Medium-Term Plan, we have established three main themes andKaizen activities as key policies.

Key Policies

Long-Term Targets
Three Main Themes and the Circle of Kaizen

Quantitative Targets (FY2030)

The three main themes in the 7th Medium-Term Plan are “ Investment in employees,” “ Breaking
away from the homogenous competition,” and “Contribution towards the realization of asustainable and ﬂourishing society.” To achieve these themes, we are focused on the keywordof “linking.*” Through links between customers and stores, stores and local communities, andheadquarters and stores, we believe that the three challenges interact and produce eﬀects.
Furthermore, we are advancing Company-wide Kaizen activities to promote the streamlining ofoperations and expense use at each of our locations to support these main themes. Throughthese Kaizen activities, we aim to realize improved productivity and cost optimization and to
generate funds for further growth.

1

Investment
in employees

P.23

2

Breaking awayfrom thehomogenous
competition

3

P.24

Contribution
towards therealization of asustainable andflourishing society
P.25

We set both ﬁnancial and non-ﬁnancial quantitative targets for FY2030. To achieve thesequantitative targets, the Group will come together to advance our key policies.
Financial targets
Net sales

Linking the circle of Kaizen

P.26

Socialvalue

Environmental
value

Economic
value

Socialvalue

Environmentalvalue¥ 1 trillion

Ordinary proﬁt¥ 35 billion

Proﬁt¥ 22 billion

Number of stores

400

Non-ﬁnancial targets
Employee satisfaction

4.0 (out of a maximum of 5.0)

Ratio of female managers

20 % (ratio within management)

Percentage of male employees
taking childcare leave

Economic
value

100 %

CO₂ emissions (Scope 1 and 2)

50 % reduction vs. FY2013

Final food waste per net sales

50 % reduction vs. FY2017* “Linking” refers to the links between stores and customers, stores and local communities, and headquarters and stores. As a result, we create links with customers and local communities. This keyword was chosen to symbolize linking with all our stakeholders to realize
our vision of “All LIFE stores will become and remain the stores most trusted by customers in their local communities. Trusted means believed in and relied on. Our goal is to be Japan's best supermarket that remains trusted by customers, society and employees.”OUR STRATEGYCHAPTER 01

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23

Three Main Themes

Investment in employees

1Speciﬁc measures
In terms of investment in employees, we will
implement various initiatives with the aim tobecome a company where all employees candemonstrate their abilities, provides great job
satisfaction to its employees, and where diverse
people succeed in a stress-free environment
without being pressed for time. To lift employee job
satisfaction, we will improve the working conditions
for full-time and part-time employees, and promote
store-led management by expanding authority at
the individual store level. We will also improve ourpersonnel framework that supports these
initiatives, expand training, and update personnel
systems.
From the diversity viewpoint, we are actively
engaged in putting to use the diverse skills andexpertise of individual talent. Initiatives include
promoting women to management roles, support
at work for employees with disabilities, technicaltraining support for foreign technical interntrainees, and the hiring of experienced mid-career
employees.
To support the expansion of our business scale
as we move toward FY2030, each department
must have even more specialized knowledge andskills. Given this, from a medium- to long-term
standpoint, we are proactively working to secureand develop specialized human resources.

The driving force behind corporate growth is employees. From early on, we have considered andtreated our employees as an important resource. In the 7th Medium-Term Plan, we will promote“investment in employees” to develop and secure human resources that connect to medium- to longterm increases in our corporate value by continuing to derive the maximum value from ouremployees. When looking ahead to 2030, it is almost certain that the worker shortage will be
increasingly severe amid the decline and aging of the Japanese population, and that we must work to
be “ the Company chosen by employees.”

Logic Tree to Increase Employee Engagement
We will strengthen engagement by creating a system and an environment that enable the success of diverse employees andprovide educational opportunities to achieve employee growth, highly productive work styles, and improved employee
satisfaction (ES).

HiringMaintaining“opportunities andan environment
for employees togrow and thrive”

Hiring of personnel from specialized ﬁelds and fromoutside of the Company to expand our business
operations
Facilitating diverse work styles to secure employees

Humanresources strategy
A company with arewarding work
environment

Promotions

Stimulating promotion system through job rotations
Discovering employees through internal recruitment

Development

Providing educational opportunities and training forself-driven employee development (development of
employees that support the Companyʼs growth)
Evolving the use and management of the employee
appraisal system

Employeesʼ
excellent
performance

Creating a work environment and cooperative systemthrough which anyone can be successful
Increasing awareness and supporting the use of eachsystemHealthmanagement

Trust

Workplaces without harassment or long working hours
An environment that recognizes when employees areunwell and in which anything can be discussed

Stress-freeenvironment
without beingpressed for time

Employee
growth“I want towork at LIFE”(desire)Diversity

Personnel
system change

A company atwhich diverse
employees canthriveThe Human Resources Division, connecting to each departmentʼs vision, works to optimize employees ofthe entire organization by building systems and environments

Highlyproductive
work styles

ES
improvement

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24

Three Main Themes

Breaking away from the homogenous competition

2
Speciﬁc measures
We are working to create an environment in which
we stably provide products that can only bepurchased at LIFE through our own distribution
network and through which customers canpurchase either at brick-and-mortar stores oronline based on the purchasing method that ismost convenient for them. Furthermore, by using
acquired sales data and digital technologies suchas mobile apps, we provide product and sales
information to our customers that matches theirindividual tastes.
We are also working to strengthen even further
the product development of our four private
brands—“LIFE PREMIUM,” “BIO-RAL,” “ Smile Life,”and “star select ”— and to oﬀer even more
attractive products only available at LIFE throughcarefully chosen ingredients and manufacturingmethods in order to diﬀerentiate ourselves fromthe competition. Furthermore, by enhancing our
product lineup in accordance with the special
characteristics of the regions in which we operate,
we aim to be the store most strongly supported
by local customers in each region.
In this way, through our attentive customer
service and expansion of products and services
unique to LIFE, we will break away from thehomogenous competition and realize sustainablegrowth.

When looking ahead to 2030, we expect the Japanese food retail market to contract due to Japanʼsdeclining and aging population. However, Japan has more than 300 supermarket companies, as wellas convenience stores, drug stores, and e-commerce, creating increasingly intense competition thatspans multiple industries. Given this environment, simply having the same products as neighboring
stores and competing by selling them more cheaply is not the type of management that will lead tosustainable growth. Instead, we are focused on breaking away from the homogenous competitionand delivering even greater added value to our customers.

New Initiatives to Strengthen Customer Relationships
All our employees are strongly committed to breaking away from the homogenous competition, and in addition to ouraggressive investment in products, logistics, and stores, we are expanding online supermarkets and using digital technology
to strengthen our customer relationships even further.

3 Brick-and-mortar stores
1 Products

2 PC/logistics

Attractive products
unique to LIFE
that are full of“deliciousness,”“freshness,” and“uniqueness,” at“reasonable prices”

Stably providing
safe, secure, anddelicious productswith optimal cost ina timely fashion

By connecting with local customers andcommunicating the “True to LIFE” concept, all stores
will become the absolute top store in their region

4 Online supermarkets
Online supermarkets provide the same convenience,
comfort, and quality of brick-and-mortar stores
while accommodating customersʼ lifestyle patterns
and day-to-day conditions such as bad weather by
allowing them to shop at any place and any time5

DigitalDigital technology
connects customers,
products, stores, andonline. Digital technology
also helps provide a
comfortable shopping
experience both atbrick-and-mortar storesand online and to makeproposals that suitcustomersʼ tastes

Data use

Through data use at our individual headquarters divisions and departments as well as our stores, we realize product lineups andthe creation of sales floors that suit the tastes of our local customers

Improved
productivity

Improved productivity is the foundation which is necessary to realize our vision even under the conditions of labor shortages andrising costs. We support eﬃcient work styles by combining the use of our systems and work process improvements

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25

Three Main Themes3
Speciﬁc measures
We support the lives of people in our communities
through our supermarket business. However,through our operations, we generate food waste
as well as residues in our food productprocessing. We also use refrigeration and freezing
facilities to maintain the quality of our foodproducts which emit CO₂ through their use ofelectricity. In addition to reducing these wastes,
we are focusing on activities in local communities
such as reducing plastic waste.
To reduce food waste, CO₂ emissions, andplastic waste, we have established a project teamunder the direction of the Sustainability
Promotion Committee to expand and evaluate
eﬀective initiatives such as emission restrictions
and recycling.
Furthermore, in terms of activities in local
communities, we are continuing and expanding
the type of food education activities that only
supermarkets can provide, as well as food
donations to childrenʼs cafeterias and foodbanks.

Contribution towards the realization of asustainable and ﬂourishing society
We believe that we must be successful in our Corporate Philosophy of “contribute towards therealization of a sustainable and ﬂourishing society ” to grow and develop. We must be aware thatsustainability of the global environment and society are what allows our business activities in theﬁrst place. To realize our Corporate Philosophy, we have established ﬁve materialities andapproach our work with the sense of responsibility of a company listed on the Prime Market of
the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Strengthening Sustainability Eﬀorts
To realize a sustainable and ﬂourishing society, we are steadily advancing various sustainability eﬀorts.
In FY2022, we formed a Sustainability Promotion Committee as well as various subcommittees.

P.42

Results of Activities through FY2022

Identiﬁed materialities
Established a Sustainability Promotion
Committee to strengthen our sustainability eﬀorts
Established the CO₂ Reduction
Subcommittee, Food & Plastic Waste
Reduction Subcommittee, and Social
Contribution Activity Subcommittee

Formulated our procurement policy, including
human rights andcompliance

Towards the realizationof a sustainable andﬂourishing society

FY

2022
FY

2021

FY

2018

Revised our Corporate
Philosophy and uniﬁed ourapproach to sustainability
Revised the LIFE Code of
Conduct, environmental policy,
and procurement policy in linewith our Corporate Philosophy

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26

The Circle of Kaizen

Linking the Circle of Kaizen
To undertake initiatives and investments to achieve the vision for FY2030, securing funding is essential.
Amid various soaring costs including food resources and energy costs, through our “ Kaizen” activities
across the entire Company to streamline our operations and eliminate waste, we aim to become a morerobust Company. As a result of each employee participating in our initiatives, we will boost both
motivation and operating results, and improve employee treatment through a positive cycle that we callthe “Circle of Kaizen.”

Circle of Kaizen

Two Gears that Drive the Circle of Kaizen

By never being satisﬁed with the status quo and recognizing problems, and improving(“ Kaizen”) operations and work, we will improve both our work efficiency and our workplaceenvironments. As a result, employee motivation will increase, leading to improvement in
performance and employee treatment. We call this process “linking the circle of Kaizen
activities.” Through these activities, we aim to improve productivity and optimize costs.

First, employees work on
Kaizen in their own
operations, which lead to
Kaizen in the workplace.

Kaizen inoperations

Kaizen intreatment

The Circleof Kaizen

Kaizenin theworkplace

Kaizen in treatment
motivates employees, whichleads to Kaizen in
operations.

We solidify Kaizen as our corporate culture through the two wheels of the “optimization” of
our PDCA cycle led by individual departments and divisions and “reform” in which theCompany comes together to work to resolve individual issues.

Our DNAOur DNA

A culture of serious andgenuine persistence

A culture that seeks
to challenge anything“Cost optimization” and“structural reform”
promoted
simultaneously

Optimization

Kaizen in the workplacecreates comfortable work
environments, which leads
to Kaizen in motivation.

Kaizen in
performance

Kaizen in performance is the sourceof funds that leads to Kaizen intreatment for employees.

Kaizen in
motivation

Kaizen in motivation is used toincrease productivity, which leads to
Kaizen in performance.

ReformKaizenConstantly reviewing
the status quo
Systematizing theannual PDCA cycle

Robustimprovement
in corporate
proﬁtability

Being prepared tochange the status quo
Project-type initiatives
that involve organizations
throughout the Company

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27

CONTENTS

SpecialFeature1

Community-BasedManagement Led by the Store(The Store is the Star!)

To realize the “ True to LIFE” concept that allows each store to suit the needs ofthe customers in its region, and so that each employee can approach their workwith an energetic sense of job satisfaction, all measures we implement are basedon the idea that “ The store is the star!” Moreover, through these activities, we
aim to create a corporate culture based on proactive teamwork that is resilient
to change.

Basic Philosophy
For employees to think and act independently torealize job satisfaction and meet the needs of the community
Our previous management system was a centralized system characteristic of chain stores.
Because all stores followed the directions of headquarters and implemented the samemeasures, the sales ﬂoors were identical in every store, which did not allow them to suitthe diﬀerent needs of customers in diﬀerent regions. Given the multitude of instructions
and directions from headquarters, it was diﬃcult for stores to make their own proposals.
As a result, prioritizing direction-following in operations led to decreased job satisfaction.
Given these issues, in the 6th Medium-Term Plan launched in 2018, we based allmeasures on the idea that “ The store is the star!” Through this concept, we promoted thecreation of organizations, systems, etc., that allow stores to think and act from thestandpoint of the customers in their region. In the 7th Medium-Term Plan, we aim to build
a ﬂexible and resilient organization that allows each of our employees to think and act
independently more than ever before. In doing so, our goal is to be “Japan's bestsupermarket that remains trusted by customers, society and employees” by balancing job
satisfaction for our employees with a detailed response to the needs of our customers ineach region.

Case studies of initiatives
As examples of our initiatives in which wevalue both self-driven actions of store
employees and our response to local needs,
from the next page (P.28-31) we introduce
case studies of initiatives from the three focal
points of “employees,” “customers,” and “ local
communities.” Lastly (P.32), we introduce the“ Smile Workshop” program as one of our longterm activities and a shared opportunity thatconnects with both progress in our policies
and the next ﬁscal year.

Realizing regional needs

Valuing the leadership of stores

Employees

Customers

Localcommunities

Valuing
independence

Product
lineups uniqueto stores

Coexisting withthe region

P.28

P.29

P.31

Smile Workshop

P.32

Store Operations that
Value Diversity
To realize our vision of every store becoming
the top store in its region, we work to create
stores that align with the characteristics of theirregion by connecting with both our customers
and headquarters. Furthermore, by sharing theindependent initiatives of our employees withall our stores, and through presentations,reward systems, etc., we promote both job
satisfaction and growth. The Chain Store
Division works to improve customer satisfaction(CS) and employee satisfaction (ES) byconsidering and implementing measures that
respect broad diversity.

Kiyotaka Okazaki

Noriaki Unno

Senior Executive Officer
COO of Osaka Region
Chain Store Division

Executive Officer
COO of Tokyo Region
Chain Store Division

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28

Community-Based Management Led by the Store

Valuing Independence

Employees

As part of our eﬀorts to create an environment in which each store employee canthink and act independently, we are building a framework through which various
successful case studies can be shared. The goal of sharing successful case studies
is of course horizontal development of these cases throughout the Company, but
we are also focused on connecting them to the job satisfaction and growth of theemployees presenting the case studies at each store. Here, we introduce two ofthese initiatives, “ The Thoroughly-focusing-on...Plan” for creating sales spaces,and “ True to LIFE Actions” for initiatives other than sales spaces.

Sharing Successful Case Studies for Sales Spaces:“The Thoroughly-focusing-on...Plan” (Tokyo Region)
Through “ The Thoroughly-focusing-on...Plan,” we share and develop the schemes for positive
case studies implemented independently at individual stores with other stores in the Tokyo
region. The name derives from creating “ thoroughly-focused” sales spaces on a speciﬁc
product or theme to communicate the message of “delicious,” “exciting,” and “happy ” to ourcustomers. Each store uses its innovative ideas to create sales spaces to match our monthly
promotional leaﬂets. Individual stores vote on successful case studies, which are then sharedwith all stores through in-house media.
Frequency of event

CHAPTER

Monthly

Concept

Creating sales spaces that match thetheme of our promotional ﬂyers

Sharing method

Individual stores vote on successful
case studies, which are then sharedwith all stores through in-house media

Sharing Initiatives Other than Sales Spaces:“True to LIFE Actions” (Osaka Region)“ True to LIFE Actions” are short- to medium-term activities in which not only employees, butalso our part-time employees, think and act individually on initiatives other than sales spaces,
including work process improvements and local contribution activities. Initiatives at store
sections are entered using a posting system,
Frequency of event
Once every three months
and successful case studies are chosen
Concept
Initiatives other than sales spaces
every three months at headquarters. These
Store Department General Manager
are then shared with every store throughAwards and Chain Store Division
Sharing method
in-house media, and headquarters presents
COO Awards are presented to theparticularly excellent initiatives
awards to the selected case studies.

Case Study

Chain Store Division COO
Awards Presentation Initiative[Winning store] Minamitsumori Store[Summary of initiative]

The Minamitsumori Store worked together to build an
online supermarket support system when the online
supermarket staﬀ could not keep up with the sharp
increase in online demand during the COVID-19 pandemic
Store management explained the statusof the online supermarket business toeach section and requested them to joina cooperative system

Kazue Ejiri (currently: General Manager,
Store Manager

Osaka Region Store Department 8)

Amid strong growth in online supermarket
sales, we succeeded in maintaining smooth
operations by proactively supporting staﬀ
members of each department.
Example of an initiative at our Masuo Store selected
as a successful case study

July 6, 2022 edition of the“The Thoroughly-focusing-on...” Flyer

Section staﬀ not engaged in productpicking also learned to use dedicatedterminals to support operations

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Customers

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Product Lineups Unique to Stores
Each Store Determines Product Lineups to Realize Local Needs
To realize our customersʼ needs in terms of our product lineups, we analyze sales data,
survey residents in our business regions, interview customers, etc., to understand buying
patterns and product desires by individual store. Based on this analysis, our individual storesand product departments at headquarters hold discussions and determine product lineupsthat align with our business regions. Store managers and the relevant departments at
headquarters also discuss issues outside of product lineups to create stores based on
customersʼ needs. For new stores, we spend suﬃcient time in considering sales ﬂoor layouts
and product lineups from the ground up, based on prior business region research and datafrom similar stores.

Sales region
analysis
Local needs
analysis

Businessregionresearch andconsiderationof details of
initiatives

Store
Departments
Store Managers

Concept
consideration
meeting

Sales Planningand Marketing
Department
Store Departments
Store Managers

Sales data
analysisTarget setting

On-siteobservation

Concept
consideration

SurveyConcept
announcementsfrom theStore
Managers

Coordination
meetings
with productdepartments

Store Managers
Product Departments

Consideration of
product lineups basedon the Store Managerʼs
Concept and the needsof the business region

Concept
announcementsfrom theproduct
departments

OPEN

Evaluation
three months
after opening

Conﬁrmation of sales
trends, etc., after
openings and revision ofsales spaces and productlineups as necessary

BecomestoresBecome and remain the stores
mosttrustedby customers
in themosttrustedby customers
local
communities
in thelocal
communities

Schedule for Considering Product Lineup When Opening New Stores

Sales Planningand Marketing
Department

29

Community-Based Management Led by the Store

Because customer needs diﬀer by region, having the same product lineup in eachstore will not win us the support of our customers. In recent years, there have been
dramatic social changes, and customersʼ needs are also diversifying. Rather than
only following instructions from headquarters, the store employees on the front
lines who are most sensitive to these changes must independently consider
solutions and promptly implement them. To become and remain the stores mosttrusted by customers in our local communities, we have clariﬁed the division ofroles to allow individual stores to make proposals independently and headquarters
departments to provide support.

Summarized
explanation

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Case Study

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Community-Based Management Led by the Store

Shijo Omiya Store
Product Lineup Concept
Because the area has many young, single-person households and households with children, webolstered our product lineup with “ timesaving, convenient products” that allow our customers toenjoy delicious meals even during their busy days full of work, housework, and child-raising. We
are also responding to our customersʼ needs by providing special products limited to the Kyoto
region based on the local food culture and setting up BIO-RAL corners, our brand for customers
interested in health and natural products, etc.

Opening Date
Hours of
Operation
Sales Floor Area
Parking Lot
Capacity

Kyotoʼs local foodingredients

Our grilled ﬁsh product lineup, including the “Fishmongerʼs
Delicatessen Items,” is extremely popular

In addition to Kyotoʼs traditional vegetables, our productlineup includes many local pickled products, seasonings,
Japanese sakes, etc.

Health conscious
products

Health conscious
products“BIO-RAL” corners, our private label products, which arehealthy for people and kind to the environment

BIO-RAL bento boxes with carefully selected ingredients andadditives (salt and rice malt grilled salmon belly with organic
brown rice and seaweed).

Community/
Business Region Characteristics

Store Overview
Address

Timesaving,
convenient products73-1 Mibukayogoshocho,
Nakagyo Ward, Kyoto
September 28, 2022

4-minute walk from the Omiya station of
the Hankyu Railway Kyoto Line

1,328m2

Compared to the average of Kyoto
Prefecture, the population composition by
age includes more people in their 20s-40s,
and there are 19.3% more single-personhouseholds

18 vehicles (rooftop)

Many young people living alone as well as
many households with children

9:30–24:00

Message from the Store Manager
We have always aimed to be a store trusted
and supported by the customers in the Shijo
Omiya area. Prior to opening, we worked withthe headquarter departments and focused onunderstanding local needs and reﬂecting themin our product lineup. All our employees willcontinue to work together hand in hand withour customers to be a store that oﬀers a fun,convenient, and satisfying shopping
experience.

Masaaki Ikeda
Store Manager
Shijo Omiya Store

30

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31

Community-Based Management Led by the Store

Local
Communities

Coexisting with the Region

Supermarkets play an important role as part of the infrastructure that supports the availability of food in the region. At our stores, we consider ways that we can contributeas a member of the local community and create plans independently. With headquarters supporting the independent proposals of stores and sharing successful case studies
with all stores, we work to create a culture in which employees can think and act independently. Here, we introduce events independently planned and carried out by ourstores aimed at coexistence with the local community.

FY2022 Activities

1

Creating environmental
awareness together withlocal volunteers

2

Providing learning opportunities
on food loss and ethicalconsumption marks

3

An event to make ourcustomers smile that ouremployees also enjoyed

At our Central Square Nishioji Hanayacho Store in the cityof Kyoto, we worked with volunteers from Miyako Ecology
Center, a local environmental facility, to create
environmental awareness among our customers. As a
shopping game, we browsed the store with our customers,
shared knowledge about our organic products, and provided
explanations on our product packaging. Lastly, we had ourcustomers ﬁll out a questionnaire on the environment andgave them gifts for their participation. The event was apositive opportunity for many of our customers, especiallychildren, to think about the environment.

At our BIO-RAL Utsubo Store in the city of Osaka, with thecooperation of the Sustainable Food Chain Association, we
provided an opportunity for elementary school students tolearn about food loss and ethical consumption marks in our“ Ethical Foods Master Course for Children.” After thecourse, the children searched for products with the ethicalconsumption mark throughout the store. It was an extremely
fun and lively learning event that resembled a treasure hunt.
Lastly, the children gave presentations on what kind ofmarks were on diﬀerent products and were given
certiﬁcates of completion and ethical goods.

As a Halloween event held at the end of October 2022 atour Doshida Store in Tokyo, store employees dressed inHalloween costumes gave out candy to children elementaryschool age and younger. During this fun event, twocostumed ghosts wandered through the store with baskets
of candy, putting a smile on the faces of both our employees
and customers. These kinds of events help build bonds
among store employees including part-time employees.
Events like this are opportunities for customers to get toknow both our store and employees even better.

A fun environmental event for parents and children

The Store Manager became the teacher to present to the children

Commemorative photo with the employees and homemade ghost costumes

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CONTENTS

Smile Workshop

Internal announcement pamphlet

The “ Heartwarming Awards” is an award system recognizing
those demonstrating “acts full of kindness” toward
customers, employees, etc. Four times a year, headquarters
selects employees from those recommended by StoreManagers to receive the Heartwarming Awards. Awardcertiﬁcates and badges are presented each time the awards
are given, and those receiving awards ﬁve times are
inducted into the Heartwarming Awards hall of fame. In
FY2022, we inducted ﬁve winners into the hall of fame.

Team presentations

Awards ceremony for ﬁve hall of fame inductees

First award(bronze badge)

Second award(silver badge)

your h
ea
rt

♥♥♥

in
ile
sm

your h
ea
rt

♥♥

in
ile
sm

your hea
rt♥ys a smile inwayAlAround 500(half the normal number for infection prevention)

In FY2022, we held the 8th Smile Workshop, and the ﬁrst
one held in three years. The event featured presentations on
diverse topics including enhancing productivity, improving
customer service, and tackling environmental issues. Teamsof two representatives each gave presentations on their
topics. There is tremendous value for the participatingteams in sharing their successful case studies at the Smile
Workshop, and even those who were not selected to present
gained valuable experience by participating as audience
members. Listening to the presentations was a good
opportunity for all our employees, including part-time
employees, to increase their problem awareness and to
think, make proposals, and act independently.
Each of our employees will continue to work to resolve
various issues through their work based on the standard of
our “ True to LIFE” Declaration.

ys a smile inwayAl

Mielparque Osaka Hall

2

Recognizing Care for Others“Heartwarming Awards” Hall of
Fame Induction Awards Ceremony

ys a smile inwayAlFriday, October 14, 2022

Venue

1

Promoting Employee Success andSharing Successful Case Studies
Teaming Up to Change LIFE!

in
ile
sm

10 teams selected

Date

FY2022 Activities

eart AlwaysrhaouSummary

Participants

03

Community-Based Management Led by the StoreThe Smile Workshop program, which had been heldin both the Tokyo region and Osaka region, wassuspended during the COVID-19 pandemic, andrestarted in October 2022 in the Osaka region. In
addition to sharing successful case studies that
embody “ True to LIFE” concept realities, the Smile
Workshop is positioned as an opportunity toencourage part-time employees to succeed. We also
held an awards ceremony for the “HeartwarmingAwards,” presented to those demonstrating
consideration for others. While the number ofparticipants was limited as a measure to prevent
infections, the event was an excellent opportunity forthe presenters to share their passion.

Presenters

CHAPTEReart Alwaysrhaou

Information
Sharing

CHAPTER 02
OUR VALUE CREATION

eart Alway
sa
rh
ou

Special Feature 1

CHAPTER 01
INTRODUCTION

Third award(gold badge)

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SpecialFeature2

Central Square
Yebisu Garden Place StoreIn April 2022, Central Square Yebisu Garden Place opened as one of our flagshipstores. Following our Oshiage Ekimae Store, the Central Square Yebisu Garden
Place store opened as our second store in our “CENTRAL SQUARE” flagship store
format in the very popular Ebisu area in which a modern streetscape and richnature harmoniously coexist. We challenged ourselves to open a new style ofsupermarket by consolidating all our existing knowledge and seamlessly connecting
a brick-and-mortar store with an online supermarket and organic selections.

Store Overview
Address

Concept

Background Behind Opening
4-20-7 Ebisu, Shibuya-ku,
Tokyo YEBISU GARDEN
PLACE Center Plaza B2Opening Date

April 15, 2022

Business Hours

9:30–22:30

Sales Floor
Area

1,765m2

Parking Lot
Capacity

463 vehicles(general on-site parking)Transforming daily shopping fromconvenience to fun. A new type ofsupermarket in which everything is linked

As a ﬁrst-of-its-kind initiative for the Company, we challenged
ourselves to create exciting sales ﬂoors at Central Square Yebisu
Garden Place. In addition to daily shopping, where standard
stores have our “premium, special, and regular” product lineups,
we also oﬀer a high-quality and rare “celebratory” product range
for particular occasions, providing products and services that will
satisfy any customer.

VisionCentral Square Yebisu Garden Place opened on
the former site of the “Mitsukoshi Ebisu Store,”
which closed for business in February 2021. The
store was opened using the “CENTRAL SQUARE”
format as the concept matched the characteristicsof the business region. The area was already adominant area for the Company, with seven
existing stores in a 4.5km radius. The goal was tocreate a new food supermarket supported by our
Ebisu customers by using the purchasing data
accumulated from customers in the area.

Through links originating at Central Square
Yebisu Garden Place, we will continue
to support peopleʼs healthy andﬂourishing lives

At Central Square Yebisu Garden Place, we are realizing a newstyle of supermarket with comfortable, easy-to-shop sales ﬂoors
rooted in the local community where customers can ﬁnd both
unique tastes and a happy, fun experience.

Message from the Store Manager
At Central Square
Yebisu Garden Place,
we want the store“linking” with ourcustomers and society.
We are increasing
opportunities forconversations withcustomers through faceto-face sales and by
introducing concierge
services. In addition to
Masaaki Matsuhara
taking pride in
Store Manager
supporting the lives ofCentral Squarelocal residents, we are
Yebisu Garden Place Storealso thankful for the
support that they
provide us. Through each of our employees making
every eﬀort to resolve the problems faced by ourcustomers, we aim to earn local trust and become an
indispensable store to the Ebisu area.

33

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Central Square Yebisu Garden Place Store

Realizing Exciting
Sales Floors

Feature02

Responding to customersʼ needs by oﬀering abroad product lineup based on thecharacteristics of the business region

Co-Creation With the
Local CommunityOﬀering a lineup of products that are
local to the Ebisu area where our store
is locatedLarge, 1.8-meter-wide live tank in the fresh ﬁsh section

Limited-time
products

Around 50 types of bento boxes, 1.5 times more than standard stores

Feature03

34

A Focus on Health andIngredientsOﬀering a lineup of products made fromcarefully selected ingredients that aredelicious and healthy

Large-scale BIO-RAL corner set up

P.16“Celebratory” products for particular occasions (products rotated as necessary)

Feature04

Integrating Brick-and-Mortar
Stores and Online Shopping
We are enhancing our relationship of trustwith our customers by providing a diverse
range of shopping options

We have two online services, the“LIFE Online Supermarket” andour online supermarket service
through Amazon. Customers canpurchase our trusted and highquality products both in person
and online. We also stock close
to 3,000 daily necessities andlifestyle goods—more than canbe displayed in our sales ﬂoors—that can be purchased eitherwith an in-store tablet or throughour online supermarket services.

TOPICS
Won ﬁrst place in the“STORE OF THE YEAR 2023” awards
that decides the yearʼs
No. 1 supermarket
The Central Square
Yebisu Garden Placestore won ﬁrst place inthe retail industry
journal Diamond ChainStoreʼs “STORE OF THE
YEAR 2023” awards, inwhich votes are cast to
decide the ranking ofstores that opened
during the selection
period and impacted
the industry.
(Selection period: January 1~December 31, 2022)

OUR STRATEGYCHAPTER 01

CHAPTER 02

INTRODUCTIONOUR VALUE CREATIONCHAPTER03

CHAPTER 04

CHAPTER 05

OUR FOUNDATIONCORPORATE DATACONTENTS

35

At a Glance－Financial Highlights
Operating revenue

Operating proﬁt

Ordinary proﬁt

Proﬁt/ROE(million yen)(million yen)(million yen)(million yen)

800,000

30,00030,00020,00025(million yen)(million yen)(million yen)(million yen)(%)

800,000

30,00030,00020,00025

25,00025,00015,00020

15,00020

750,000
750,000

700,000
700,000

650,000
650,000

600,000

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

25,00025,00020,00020,00020,00020,00015,00015,00010,00015

10,000

15

5,000

10

5,000

10

15,00015,00010,00010,00010,00010,000

5,000

5,000

5,000

5,000

0
(FY)

600,000

0* Accounting Standard for Revenue Recognition applied from2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 (FY)FY2022 (ﬁgures prior to FY2022 are before application).

Equity ratio

(%)

50

(JPY)

80

(%)

0

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

(FY)

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

(FY)

0

Dividend per share(million yen)

40,000

(JPY)

50

(%)

0

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

(FY)

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

(FY)

Capital expenditures

0
Proﬁt

2019

2020

2021

2022

(FY)

ROE
2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

(FY)

5

ROIC

(%)

12

(million yen)

5

2018

(%)

80

40,000

12

60

30,000

960

30,000930

40

20,000

620

40

20,000

6

20

10,0003

20

10,000

3

40
40
30

20
10
10
0
0

2018
2018

2019
2019

2020
2020

2021
2021

2022
2022

0
(FY)

0
(FY)

2018
2018

2019
2019

2020
2020

2021
2021

2022
2022

0
(FY)

0
(FY)

2018
2018

2019
2019

2020
2020

2021
2021

2022
2022

0
(FY)

0
(FY)

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

(FY)

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

(FY)

OUR STRATEGYCHAPTER 01

CHAPTER 02

INTRODUCTIONOUR VALUE CREATIONCHAPTER03

CHAPTER 04

CHAPTER 05

OUR FOUNDATIONCORPORATE DATA36

CONTENTS

At a Glance－Non-Financial Highlights
Final amount offood waste (per sales)/Recycling ratio(kg/million yen)Store recycling and collection
(%)

45.00
40.00

(1000t-CO₂)(%)(Persons)

(%)

1,000

220

120

600

36

(tons)
800(1000t-CO₂)

200

100
(%)

(Persons)

(%)

220

120

600

36

180

80

400

24

200

100

500

30

160

60

300

18

180

80

400

24

140

40

200

12

160

60

300

18

120

20

100

6

140

40

200

12

80

(kg/million yen)

(%)

70
90

35.00
45.00

1,000

60
80

30.00
40.00
25.00
35.00

50
70

20.00
30.00

40
60

15.00
25.00

30
50

10.00
20.00

20
40

5.00
15.00

10
30

0
10.00

(tons)

90

Number and ratio of
mid-career manager hires

CO₂ emissions (Scope 1+2)

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2019

2020

2021

400
600

200
400

0
20

(FY)

5.00amount of food waste (per sales)
Final
Recycling amount (per sales)
Recycling ratio
0

2018

600
800

10

2022

0
200

2018

Trays

PET bottles

2019

2020

2021

2022

100
(FY)

Milk cartons* Having revised the weighing method for PET bottles in FY2022,0
the ﬁgures for FY2021 and earlier have been adjusted
20192020 2021 2022 (FY)
according 2018
to the new
method.

0(FY)

5 A DAY Association-Japan: Food education training results

Company

FY2021
Classes

Participants

LIFE CORPORATION

737

24,466818

25,346A

390

10,070441

13,596

B

23

619

51

1,455

C

41

1,163

43

1,151

D

2

29

13

438

E

10

333

11

272

F

6

110

9

335

G

7

161

9

262

H

0

0

3

170

20

3

2019

2020

2021

CO₂ emissions
Compared to FY13
Compared to FY13 (base units*)
100* Base units: operating hours x total ﬂoor space

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2022

0

0

(FY)

20

0
(FY)

(Persons)

(%)

200

10

100

(%)
8

120
160

6
8

80
120

4
6

40
80

2
4

54

* 5 A DAY Association-Japan is an NPO that conducts social contribution activities which contribute to health and good eating habits* The number of classes is not the number of schools, but the number of food education classes held (excluding the number of in-store
events)

0
40

0

30

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

0
(FY)

6

Number of managers (including those responsible forworking hours management)00Numberof Store Managers/Section Managers and above
Ratio of managers(including
those 2021
responsible
for working(FY)2018 20192020
2022
hours management)
Ratio of Store Managers/Section Managers and above

(%)

3.5

Ratio of employees with disabilities(Persons)
160

200

FY2022

Participants

1

2018

Number and ratio of female managers

Classes

I

120

500

10

0

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

(FY)2

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

(FY)

0

Number of managers (including those responsible for working
hours management)
Number of Store Managers/Section Managers and above
Ratio of managers (including those responsible for working
hours management)
Ratio of Store Managers/Section Managers and above

(%)

3.5
3.0

3.0
2.5

2.5
2.0

2.0
1.5

1.5

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

(FY)

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

(FY)

LIFE CORPORATION
Legally mandated employment ratio

OUR STRATEGYCHAPTER 01

CHAPTER 02

INTRODUCTIONOUR VALUE CREATIONCHAPTER03

CHAPTER 04

CHAPTER 05

OUR FOUNDATIONCORPORATE DATACONTENTS

37

Financial Capital Strategy

Building a strong ﬁnancial foundation and supporting ourchallenge to achieve medium- to long-term growth
Review of the
6th Medium-Term Plan

Nobuyuki Kawai
Director & Managing
Executive Officer
Deputy Group CEO of
Corporate Functions HQ
and COO of Corporate
Finance and Accounting
Division

Regarding our 6th Medium-Term Plan, whichmarked its ﬁnal year in FY2022, the businessenvironment surrounding the Company
faced changes, including rising stay-at-homedemand and demand to eat at home amid
the unprecedented conditions created by
the COVID-19 pandemic. To respond tothese changes, we ﬂexibly revised ourinvestment plan and maintained around thesame high level of total investment as our
initial plan.
In a period of ﬁve years, we haveopened 45 new stores mainly in the urban
centers of the Tokyo region and Osaka
region, and we are also challenging
ourselves to pursue new business formats,such as BIO-RAL stores to respond to rising

health consciousness. Furthermore, torespond ﬂexibly to changes in customer
needs and diversiﬁcation, we made thelargest renovation investments ever toremodel existing stores (¥20 billion in the
period under review). Since FY2020, net
sales for existing stores has reached evenhigher levels than in FY2019 prior to the
COVID-19 pandemic. In terms ofinfrastructure investment, in the Osaka
region, we focused on strengthening andreorganizing our logistics and food process
centers, making steady progress in shoringup our logistics and production system withthe goal of having a network of 400 stores in
the Tokyo region and the Osaka region.
In the area of systems investment, wehave introduced semi-self-checkout
registers in almost all our stores to improve
store operation eﬃciency. Moreover,securing human resources is expected to

grow even more diﬃcult in the future.
Therefore, to maintain high store operating
capacity even with limited human resources,
we are moving forward with investment indigitalization such as electronic shelf labels
and AI-automated ordering.
The results of the investment in our 6th
Medium-Term Plan have connected tostrengthening our ﬁnancial foundation.
Compared to prior to the start of the plan at
the end of FY2017, our equity has increased
from ¥70 billion to ¥120 billion, while ourequity ratio has risen dramatically from
30.4% to 43.4%.

Financial Capital Strategy underthe 7th Medium-Term Plan
Our 7th Medium-Term Plan began in
FY2023. We have shared our goals as well

6th Medium-Term Plan Highlights
Investment Results
Major investments
Opened Osaka Hirayabashi Food
Process Center
Acquired land for Osaka
Headquarters, etc.
(million yen)

35,000

Balance Sheet

Major investments

Major investments

Renovated Nanko Food Process
CenterOpened 11 new stores(Central Square Yebisu Garden
Place, etc.)

Current assets¥59.1 billion

33,99729,25630,00025,00022,84819,86720,00024,225
New stores
Remodeling
IT systems
Centers
Others

15,00010,0005,000
0Total assets ¥227.5 billion

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

(FY)

Non-current assets
Others¥168.3 billion

Total assets ¥280.8 billion
Current assets¥80.4 billion

Liabilities¥158.2 billion

Equity¥69.2 billion

End of FY2017

Equity ratio 30.4%

Non-current assets
Others¥200.3 billion

Liabilities¥158.8 billion

Equity¥122.0 billion

End of FY2022

Equity ratio 43.4%

OUR STRATEGYCHAPTER 01

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CHAPTER 04

CHAPTER 05

OUR FOUNDATIONCORPORATE DATA38

CONTENTS

Financial Capital Strategy
as our new initiatives and challenges in thefour years of the plan through FY2026 withall our employees. However, in a slightchange from our plans thus far, this time wehave set medium- to long-term goals for whatkind of company we want to be in FY2030.
Our goals for FY2030 include 400 stores, net
sales of ¥1 trillion, ordinary proﬁt of ¥35
billion, and net proﬁt of ¥22 billion. However,
we will only be able to achieve these goals if
we expertly balance scale (sales) expansion
with quality (proﬁt) improvements.
In the 7th Medium-Term Plan, we have
not yet disclosed the goals for ourquantitative targets four years ahead in
FY2026. However, we plan on holding
numerous internal discussions and working
together at a management level on what kindof numbers we will produce and what our
future vision is for our capital structure andbalance sheet in the coming eight years as
we head toward FY2030.
A key mission of the Corporate Financeand Accounting Division is to secure andprovide the necessary investment capital tofurther strengthen the 400-store networkand logistics and food process centers, togrow our online business, accelerate
digitalization, and other measures. To provide
support for the various challenges faced byeach department to achieve medium- tolong-term growth, the Corporate Financeand Accounting Division will appropriately
fulﬁll its ﬁnancing function while striking abalance with future free cash ﬂow.
It is diﬃcult to predict trends in theﬁnancial markets accurately, as they include
complex risk factors. However, regarding
procuring interest-bearing debt, we are notlimiting ourselves to traditional indirect
ﬁnancing, and are instead proactively
examining ways to diversify our procurementof ﬁnancing including accessing the capital
markets ourselves.

ROIC-Business Management
Focused on the Cost of Capital
Amid concern over spikes in a wide range ofcosts, for the individual projects planned inthe 7th Medium-Term Plan, we make decisions
to carry out investments based on a careful
evaluation of investment recovery plans andproﬁtability. We use the rate of ROIC (Returnon Invested Capital) as a Company-wide
management indicator and evaluate whether
appropriate returns are being secured oninvested capital. Although there are diﬀerent
approaches to calculating the cost of capital,
we currently recognize a maximum capital
cost (WACC) of 5%. We monitor both capital
proﬁtability and proﬁt levels to determine
whether we are realizing ROIC of 6% orhigher that exceeds our cost of capital.

Operating CF

Investment CF

Expansion of new store openings toward 400 stores

Renovation

Rejuvenation of existing stores

Strengthening IR Activities
Through ﬁnancial results brieﬁngs, small
meetings, one-on-one meetings withinstitutional investors and analysts, etc., weengage in meaningful dialogue with ourshareholders and investors, while also
working to make our various materials
available in English in the interest of
improving information disclosure to global
investors.
To ensure that the various policies andresults of our 7th Medium-Term Plan areproperly shared with our shareholders andinvestors, in our IR activities, we are working
to create new opportunities for dialogue andto disclose information even more proactively
than in the past.

Shareholder Return Policy
Toward becoming what we want to be in
FY2030, we believe that it is possible toprovide further shareholder returns withoutcompromising our ﬁnancial foundation. To doso, we have gone one step beyond ourprevious basic policy of “continued stabledividends” and established a newshareholder return basic policy of “Whilemaintaining a basic policy of paying
dividends, targeting a dividend payout ratioof 30%, the Company will also remain mindfulof continuing to pay stable dividends with a

7th Medium-Term Plan Cash Allocation
New stores

dividend equity ratio (DOE) of 3% as a guide.”
Going forward, we will place greater
emphasis on the return of proﬁt to ourshareholders in conjunction with themedium- to long-term growth of theCompany.

ROIC

Dividend per share

(%)
12

(JPY)
80

11.5

80
70

8.9
9

Free CFIT anddigital systems

Expansion of electronic shelf labels
Introduction of cart and smartphone POS systems

Process centers

Scale expansion of processing and distribution centers
Installation of bio-gas power generation facilities

OthersRenewal of existing store facilities, major repairs, etc.

3

Shareholder
return policy

Enhancement of the return of proﬁts based on the
new shareholder return policy

0Balance sheet
improvement

Repayment of interest-bearing debt

6

60

6.2

5.7 6.0
4.1 3.9

5.7

7.4
5.6

6.3

70

50
40

40

25

25

25

30

30

30

30

20

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 (FY)02012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 (FY)Dividends

Commemorative dividends(Forecast)CHAPTER 01

CHAPTER 02

CHAPTER 03

INTRODUCTIONOUR VALUE CREATIONOUR STRATEGYCHAPTER

04 OUR FOUNDATIONAs a Company trusted by all of its stakeholders, our sustainability initiatives are guided by our
Corporate Philosophy to “contribute towards the realization of a sustainable and flourishingsociety.” We have established ﬁve materialities to promote our sustainability initiatives, and weare strengthening our activities to realize these initiatives. In this chapter, we explain our
approach, systems, and main initiatives related to the environment, society, and governance thatact as the foundation that supports our corporate activities.

CONTENTS
Sustainability Management40

Our Materiality and Action Plan

41

Reducing the Burden on the Environment

43

Providing Safe, High Value-Added
Products and Services

47

Contributing to Local Communities as
Infrastructure for Everyday Life

49

Creating a Motivating Workplace Environment
Where Diverse Personnel Can Thrive51

Corporate Officers

53

Messages from Outside Directors

55

Corporate Governance

57

Compliance

61

Risk Management

63

CHAPTER04

CHAPTER 05
CORPORATE DATACONTENTS

39

OUR FOUNDATIONCHAPTER 01

CHAPTER 02

CHAPTER 03

INTRODUCTIONOUR VALUE CREATIONOUR STRATEGYCHAPTER04

CHAPTER 05

CONTENTSCORPORATE DATA

40

Sustainability Management
How We Approach Sustainability

Process for Identifying Materialities

In 2021, we updated our Corporate Philosophy and established a newone: “ Through ʻreliable management with noble aspirations,ʼ contributetowards the realization of a sustainable and ﬂourishing society.” As acommunity-based supermarket, to realize a sustainable and ﬂourishingsociety, we believe that it is essential both for people in the community tolead fun, safe, and healthy lives, and for the global environment andsociety that act as the foundation for those lifestyles to remain sound. To
meet these goals, we maintain stable, continuous store operations andprovide safe, secure, and high-quality products and services.
Additionally, we take a serious approach to global environmental andsocial issues as well as governance, striving to be a Company that istrusted by all of its stakeholders.

We have identiﬁed ﬁve materialities according to the process shown below. In the domains related to the identiﬁedmaterialities, we are engaged in activities to increase sustainability and raise corporate value.

ST E P1

We make it clear why we exist, our vision, decision-making standards, etc., toensure that all our employees strive toward the same direction and for that
direction to be shared with as many of our stakeholders as possible.

2

STEP

Survey current
conditions

Identify
materialities

We conducted interviews with
relevant people within the
Company and compiled
descriptions of current
conditions and initiatives.

To visualize their importance, we
mapped individual social issues
by plotting “Impact on society”(our own analogous evaluation)on the y-axis against “Impact on
the Company” on the x-axis.

To conduct the materialities
analysis, we identified social
issues to be considered in lightof guidelines (demands fromsociety) including GRI, SASB,
SDGs, and ISO 26000.

Illustration of Our Philosophy

STEP

3

Validate

We identified high-impact social
issues as our materialities fromthese two viewpoints.

After consolidating thesematerial social issues anddescribing initiatives, etc., wesought the advice and opinions
of external experts.
Following internal reviews,
including by management, theBoard of Directors deliberated
them and provided a final
validation.

Formulating Our Action Plan
We have compiled an “Action Plan” as a speciﬁc activity plan for our ﬁve areas of materiality.
The state of achievement of the Action Plan and the results of our initiatives arereported annually in our Integrated Report.
We plan to revise our Action Plan as necessary based on the changing needs of society, etc.

Basic approach to management
and why we exist

Corporate
Philosophy

P.3

Long-Term Vision
P.3

Environmental Policy
Procurement Policy

http://www.lifecorp.jp/company/
info/strategy/concept.html(In Japanese)

Conduct standards to beobserved based on guiding
principles
http://www.lifecorp.jp/company/
info/policy.html (In Japanese)

Speciﬁc environment andprocurement policies based on
guiding principles
http://www.lifecorp.jp/company/
sustainability/environment.html(In Japanese)

Evaluate and map social issues from a“society” and Company viewpoint

Impact on society

LIFE Code of Conduct

Medium-Term VisionHigh

Vision“True to LIFE”
Declaration

Extract items of importance for“society” and the Company

Consolidate and arrange the extracted
items to identify the “five materialities”
Impact on the Company

High

P.41

OUR FOUNDATIONCHAPTER 01

CHAPTER 02

CHAPTER 03

INTRODUCTIONOUR VALUE CREATIONOUR STRATEGYCHAPTER04

CHAPTER 05
CORPORATE DATACONTENTS

41

Our Materiality and Action Plan
Materiality

E

Reducing theburden on
the environment

S

Providing safe, highvalue-added products
and services

S

Contributing to local
communities as
infrastructure
for everyday life

S

Creating a motivating
workplace environment
where diverse personnel
can thrive

G

Development of anorganization withhigh value and ethics

Initiative theme

Action plan

FY2022 results(1) Reduce food waste

Reduce, reuse, recycle
Final amount of food waste: –50% by 2030 (compared to FY2017)

Amount of food recycled: 18,051t (amount per sales: 24.4kg/million yen)
Food recycling ratio: 65.5%
Final amount of food waste per sales: –28.0% (compared to FY2017)(2) Reduce plastic waste

Restrict emissions from stores and centers, strengthen resource
collection and recycling, and change containers, trays, and packaging

Number of plastic cutlery reduced: approx. 17 million (switched to environment-friendly
materials)
Number of stores that started to collect clear trays: 18
Introduction of 100% recycled PET bottles in private brand products(3) Reduce CO₂ emissions

Promote energy conservation, conduct energy creation initiatives, use
renewable energy
CO₂ emissions (Scope 1 & 2): –50% by 2030 (compared to FY2013)

Electricity usage in existing stores: 98.1% (compared to FY2021)
CO₂ emissions (Scope 1 & 2): 196,235t, 94.5% (compared to FY2013)(1) Ensure safety andsecurity

Establish a supply chain quality assurance inspection system
Introduce a food safety management system at food process centers

Sakai Food Process Center acquired ISO 22000 certiﬁcation
Nanko Food Process Center (agricultural produce and meat products) acquired ISO 22000
certiﬁcation
Expanded use of eBASE, a raw ingredient and product information management database(2) Promote responsible
procurement

Procurement that takes into account human rights and the labor
environment; procurement that complies with laws, regulations, andsocial norms; procurement that takes into account safety veriﬁcationand health

Implemented sustainable food product procurement, stable supply, and consumption
expansion initiatives such as “Fish Day” and the “Smile Project for Milk”(3) BIO-RAL business

Enhance product development and store openings, introduce acrossexisting stores, build operations, and strengthen education
BIO-RAL business：Quickly reach 20 stores and net sales of ¥10 billionAwarded the 31st “Food Safety, Security and Environment Contribution Award” from THE
JAPAN FOOD JOURNAL
Private brand net sales: ¥5,192 million (Up 179.1% compared to FY2021)(1) Run stores stably

Use hazard maps to ascertain risk levels at each of our business sites
Formulate, update, practice, and implement business continuity plans(BCPs)

Announced “Declaration of Initiatives to establish Sustainable Food Logistics” together
with three other supermarkets in the Tokyo region: Yaoko, Maruetsu, and Summit;
launched “Tokyo region Supermarket Logistics Study group.”(2) Diversify shopping
options

Delivery services, online supermarket services through our own
website and Amazon, and enhanced “last mile” delivery through LIFEHOME DELIVERY
Online supermarket business：¥100 billion in net sales by FY2030

Expanded stores that oﬀer LIFE Online Supermarket: +33 stores (10 in the Tokyo region
and 23 in the Osaka region)
Expanded service area for our online supermarket service through Amazon: three cities inTokyo, one city in Kanagawa Prefecture, one city in Chiba Prefecture, 11 cities in Saitama
Prefecture, one city and one district in Osaka Prefecture, and two cities in Hyogo Prefecture(3) Contribute to
local communities

Continue and expand food education activities, and childrenʼs cafeteria
and foodbank contributions

Held food education activities at 353 schools (participants: 25,949)
Expanded donations to childrenʼs cafeterias in Sakai City (Nishi Ward, Osaka)
Supported Ukrainian evacuees in the cities of Kyoto and Osaka
Cooperated with the ORANGESANTA PROJECT® in Adachi Ward, Tokyo.

(1) Diversity

Promoting active participation of women, mid-career hires, and nonJapanese talent as well as promoting employment of people withdisabilities

Female managers: 162 (9.4% of total managers)
Employees with disabilities: 658 (employment rate of 3.22%)
Number of mid-career manager hires: 531 (30.7% of total managers)
Foreign technical interns: 440(2) Health management

Promote initiatives focused on health and safety management andhealth maintenance and enhancement

Conducted regular health examinations and stress checks
Implemented “speciﬁc health guidance”
Established various consulting services and helplines(3) Human resource
strategy

Develop talent systematically and strategically through a cycle ofrecruitment, placement, training, and evaluation

Personnel changes and placements made based on personnel data
Employee career development through human resource strategy meetings
Use of internal recruitment system(1) Corporate governance

Strengthen the corporate governance structure and meetings,
establish the Nomination & Remuneration Advisory Committee,
strengthen IR activities

Number of Board meetings: 17 (to improve eﬀectiveness, oﬀ-site meetings, etc., for officers
used to reenergize discussions)
Number of Nomination & Remuneration Advisory Committee meetings: nine; ﬁnancial
results brieﬁngs: two; small meetings: nine; individual interviews: over 200 in total(2) Compliance

Exercise thorough compliance, steadily implement the LIFE Code of
Conduct, carry out employee training, set up an appropriate internalreporting system

Conducted compliance training through conferences and other meetings, in addition toregular training
Revised internal reporting regulations and reestablished the internal reporting desk

OUR FOUNDATIONCHAPTER 01

CHAPTER 02

CHAPTER 03

INTRODUCTIONOUR VALUE CREATIONOUR STRATEGYCHAPTER04

CHAPTER 05
CORPORATE DATACONTENTS42

Our Materiality and Action Plan
Our Sustainability Promotion Framework

Sustainability Promotion Committee Meetings

To respond to materialities related to society and the environment, we have established four
subcommittees based on individual materiality themes. Reports and recommendations are
given to the Sustainability Promotion Committee on the measures and plans prepared at eachsubcommittee as well as the state of progress of initiatives, and the individual initiatives are promoted from a Company-wide perspective following the ﬁnal decision by the Board of Directors.

Sustainability Promotion Committee Framework
Board of Directors
Report/proposeDirectMeeting

Date Held

1stMarch 1,
2022～

(Held weekly)

7thApril 12,
2022

8th

May 27,2022

Future committee proceedings, direction of social contribution
activities, status of progress at subcommittees

9thJune 23,
2022

Status of consideration at the Food Waste Reduction
Subcommittee and the Plastic Reduction Subcommittee

10th

July 22,2022

Plan to achieve CO₂ reduction targets

11th

September 20,
2022

12th

January 27,
2023

Sustainability Promotion Committee
Chair:A Corporate Functions Group officer
Vice chair: A Director or Executive Officer nominated by the committee chair
Members: COO of General Aﬀairs Division; COO of Human Resources Division;
COO of Corporate Finance and Accounting Division; COO of
Compliance Division; General Manager of Corporate Strategy andPlanning Department; General Manager of IR Department; General
Manager of Sustainability Management and Promotion Department,
and other Directors and department managers nominated by thechair, as well as officers and employees of Group companies
Organizer: Sustainability Management and Promotion Department
Report/proposeFood Waste
Reduction

Plastic
Reduction

CO₂
Reduction

SocialContribution
Activity

ExecuteEach Department: Business Group HQ, Development Group HQ,Infrastructure Group HQ, Corporate Functions Group HQ

Final conﬁrmation of the Board Meeting Proposal materials“Response to Materialities in the Environmental and Social Fields”
Evaluation of the FY2023 Schedule

Food Waste
Reduction

We expanded the number of stores implementing food product recycling,visualized waste volume by increasing the installation of measuring
devices, promoted initiatives at model stores, and created awarenessabout “taking the product from the front”*, etc.

Plastic Reduction

We worked to understand the state of use of plastic containers and trays
by department and organized reduction methods. Furthermore, topromote plastic recycling, we expanded the collection of clear plastic trays
at our stores.

CO₂ Reduction

To secure the necessary quantities of renewable energy to achieve our2030 CO₂ reduction goals, we have examined medium- to long-term
reduction plans with power companies.

Social Contribution
Activity

We have established the direction for our social contribution activities,
focusing on activities for the children who will be responsible for our
future, including providing learning programs such as food education for
local children and donating food products to childrenʼs cafeterias.

Members: Related departments
Organizer: Sustainability Management and Promotion Department
Coordinate

Our climate-related risk and response according to the TCFDʼs
recommendations as well as our agreement with therecommendations and information disclosure

Status of Subcommittee Activities

DirectSubcommittees

Agendas* “Taking the product from the front” is a purchasing behavior that helps reduce food waste by encouraging shoppers to takeproducts from the front of the shelf, which have an earlier expiration date, if they eat shortly after shopping.

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Reducing the Burden on the Environment

Decision to participate in the “Methanation Hydrogen Supply Chain Building andTesting Business” at the Expo 2025 in Osaka

Basic
Philosophy

With the rapid global destruction of the environment, frequent abnormal weather
events, exhaustion of natural resources, etc., one of our greatest challenges isreducing the burden on the environment. We aim to realize a circular anddecarbonized society by reducing CO₂ emissions, cutting food waste, and reducing
plastic waste—actions for which our own business activity has a large impact upon
the environment—as we endeavor to lower the environmental burden arising fromour business activity.

Reduce Food Waste
PolicyDeveloping upcycled products
We are developing upcycled products using remnants, etc., generated
during our product manufacturing process that were previously
discarded. By creating new food products instead of letting foodmaterial be thrown away, we are working to reduce food waste.
Examples of this initiative include dried fruit made from the cores ofpineapples processed at our food process centers and smoked chicken
liver made from liver left over after preparing chicken for salads.

Final amount of food waste (per sales) and recycling ratio

To make the most use of limited resources, we promote a reduce, reuse, recycle policy in all
the processes involved in the design and procurement of ingredients of our private brandproducts, manufacturing at our food process centers, and manufacturing, sales, and disposal
at our stores.

FY2022 Initiatives and Results
Expanding the number of stores implementing food product recycling and visualizing
waste volume by department by introducing measuring devices
We have expanded our food product recycling thatrecycles the food residues generated by our storesand food process centers into fertilizers and animal
feeds to 18 new locations. In addition to food productrecycling at a total of 130 locations, through therecycling of food waste including ﬁsh scraps andused food oil at almost all our stores, we haveworked to recycle a total of around 18,000 tons offood waste. Moreover, we are installing measuring
devices for food waste at our stores to gauge wastequantities by department for use in root cause
analysis and policy evaluation.

We are cooperating in the “building and testing business for a hydrogen supply chain createdthrough hydrogen derived from renewable energy and methanation using waste-derived biogas in urban areas,” run jointly by the City of Osaka and the Osaka Waste Management
Authority, by providing raw garbage generated by our stores (biomass resources). In thetesting business, we are providing the raw garbage generated from our stores within Osaka(one ton per day) to the trash incineration plant in Konohana Ward, Osaka (Maishima Plant) inan eﬀort to reduce food waste.

(kg/million yen)

(%)

45.00

90

40.00

80

35.00

70

30.00

60

25.00

50

20.00

40

15.00

30

10.00

20
10

5.00
0

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

0
(FY)

Final amount of food waste(per sales)
Recycling amount(per sales)
Recycling ratio

FY2023 Action Plan (Reduce Food Waste)

Food waste
measuring devices

Our action plan for food waste reduction includes revising our expiration dates anddiscount sales methods, creating awareness among customers about “taking from thefront,” working to limit the creation of waste, developing upcycled products, andrecycling the food waste that we do produce into fertilizers and animal feeds. We arealso working to reduce food waste through various methods such as donating productsthat cannot be sold because of damaged packaging, etc., to childrenʼs cafeterias.

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Reducing the Burden on the Environment

Reduce Plastic Waste

Clear tray recycling
At 18 of our stores, we began collecting theclear trays used to package fresh ﬁsh andother products. The collected clear trays arerecycled into new trays, etc., for reuse in the
products sold at our stores.

PolicyAs the environmental impact of businesses startingwith marine pollution from waste plastic becomes anissue, we recognize that businesses using large
amounts of plastic have a signiﬁcant social
responsibility. As such, we are working to reduce thevolume of the plastic packaging used in our business.
Additionally, we are collecting plastic containers andtrays at our stores and encouraging shoppers to use
their own bags, etc., as we work to realize a circularsociety together with our customers.

“Bottle to bottle” initiative
In February 2023, we launched our “bottle tobottle” initiative that aims to change over tobottles made from 100% recycled PET resin in
the PET bottles used for our private-brandproducts (500ml).

FY2022 Initiatives and Results

Trends in plastic

Changing cutlery from plastic to environmentfriendly materials
We have been gradually switching from plastic topaper and wood straws and spoons provided at ourstores since April 2022. This reduced the number ofplastic straws and spoons used in our stores byaround 17 million pieces (around 30 tons) per year.

cutlery distribution(million)
20

Approx.
millionpieces17

Trends in recycling of resources(tons)
1,000
800

Trays

600

Milk cartons

PET bottles

400

15

200
0

10

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

(FY)

* Having revised the measuringmethod for PET bottles in
FY2022, the ﬁgures for
FY2021 and earlier havebeen adjusted according to
the new method.

50

0 pieces
2021

2022 (end of FY)

Dessert spoons
SporksStraws

FY2023 Action Plan (Reduce Plastic Waste)
We will continue to promote the lightening of packaging, the use of recycled trays, andour “bottle to bottle” initiative. Furthermore, regarding resource recycling for collections
in our stores, we are working to reduce plastic waste further by expanding collection
locations for clear trays.

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Reducing the Burden on the Environment

Reduce CO₂ Emissions

Energy creation initiative using
solar power generation

PolicyNinety-three percent of the CO₂ generated byus comes from power use. First, we willprioritize placing the utmost attention into
self-reliant eﬀorts toward energy conservationand energy creation. For the remaining energy
required, by procuring renewable energy, we
will work to reduce our Company-wide CO₂
emissions volume.

CO₂ emissions by energy source(FY2022 results)

93%
%
93

FY2022 Initiatives and Results

Electric power
City gas
Heavy fuelGasoline
Heat
LPG

We are making progress in using the roofs of ourstores to install solar power generation facilities. In
FY2022, we newly installed a facility at our
Mizoguchi Store, bringing the total number oflocations with solar power generation to 20. These
locations produce 1.4 million kWh, which combinedwith bio-gas power generation produced 1.9 million
kWh of power in FY2022. This is around the annual
power use of 450 households.
* 4,285kWh per household
From the Ministry of the Environmentʼs “Survey on the Actual Conditions of Carbon Dioxide Emissions
from Residential Sector in FY2020”

Energy conservation initiatives
As energy conservation initiatives at ourstores, we are conserving electricity in various
ways including reviewing the temperature
settings in our refrigeration cases andadjusting our lighting settings. Results areappearing with each passing month, and in
February 2023, we reduced our power use atexisting stores signiﬁcantly to 91.7% the use of
the same month in the previous year.

Electricity usage in existing storesin FY2022 (compared to FY2021)
(%)
104
102
98
96

1.5

90

CO₂ emissions (Scope 1+2)
(1,000t-CO₂)
220

(%)
110

210

100

200

90

190

80

180

70

170

60

160

50

1.0

94
0.5

88
86

M
ar
.
A
pr
.
M
ay
Ju
n.
Ju
l.
A
ug
.
S
ep
.
O
ct
.
N
ov
.
D
ec
.
Ja
n.
Fe
b.

A newly established bio-gas power generation
facility, one of the largest in Japanʼs retailindustry, has been installed at our Tempozan
Food Process Center. The facility began
operations in March 2022 and produces biogas using food residue, which is used as fuel togenerate power.
This initiative won the “Award for
Decarbonization” in the “ Sustainability Award
2022 ” held by the “ Sustainable Consortium
2030 - for Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries andFood,” a cooperative project run by the
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries,
the Consumer Aﬀairs Industry, and theMinistry of the Environment.

(million kWh)
2.0

100

92

Energy creation initiative using bio-gas
power generation

Energy creation0

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 (FY)Solar power generation
Bio-gas power generation

150

40

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 (FY)

CO₂ emissions
Compared to FY13
Compared to FY13 (base units*)*Base units: operating hours x total ﬂoor space

FY2030 Action Plan (Reduce CO₂ Emissions)
In addition to working to conserve energy at our stores and food process centers, we are
expanding the installation of solar power generation facilities as a means of energy
creation. We have also formulated a medium- to long-term renewable energy procurement
plan aimed at achieving our 2030 reduction targets for CO₂ emissions (Scope 1 and 2)
and are evaluating speciﬁc implementation plans for various policies starting with oﬀ-site
corporate PPA.

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CONTENTSCORPORATE DATA

Reducing the Burden on the Environment

Response to TCFD

Indicators and targets
Regarding the medium-term target of lowering Scope 1 & 2 CO₂ emissions by 50% by 2030
(compared to FY2013), we have set targets from FY2022.

Please see our website for details
http://www.lifecorp.jp/company/sustainability/environment/tcfd.html (In Japanese)

We recognize the social and environmental issues attributable to climate change as urgent
issues. We comply with the approach of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial
Disclosures (TCFD), while collecting and analyzing the necessary data.

Governance
The Board of Directors and the Sustainability Promotion Committee monitor climate-relatedrisks and opportunities. For details on the structure of the Committee, see p.42.

Risk Map Envisioned for 2030
We have prepared a risk map that assesses “likelihood of occurrence” and “ﬁnancial impact”
on its two axes. Given the nature of the supermarket business, we believe that risks arequite prevalent based on our scenario-speciﬁc assumptions. By enhancing and prioritizing
responses to risks while steadily seizing opportunities, we believe we can lessen the impact
on operations as much as possible.
High

Strategy

Risk

Financial impact

We have examined “physical risks” such as abnormal weather brought about by climatechange and “ transition risks” such as the introduction of policy regulations and changes inmarket requirements. While keeping an eye on 2030, we have conducted a scenario analysis
and estimated the ﬁnancial impact.

(5) Increased customer
attrition andreputational risk ifclimate change is notaddressed

Among the risks extracted by the Sustainability Promotion Committee, we identify climaterelated risks that are important to the Company and assesses their importance on the twoaxes of “likelihood of occurrence” and “ ﬁnancial impact.”

Assumptions

Less
than 2℃

Regulations and policies toward decarbonization are strengthened, and progress is made on
measures to combat climate change. There is an escalation of costs such as those created byvarious regulations and policies and business investment related to measures to ﬁght climatechange. Customers have increased desire for decarbonized and low-carbon approaches to
products and services.
Action on climate change is strongly desired, and if not addressed, customer attrition gains
momentum, reputational risk increases, etc., leading to greater transition risks. Meanwhile, thegreater severity and increase of natural disasters, etc., caused by climate change will be kept incheck to a certain extent, so physical risks are assumed to be relatively low.

4℃

Measures to ﬁght climate change are inadequate, abnormal weather increases, sea-levels rise andnatural disasters become more severe, etc., leading to increased physical risks. There is greater
impact on operation and management of stores and food process centers, which in turn could
have an impact on ﬁnances. Due to the eﬀects stated above, demand for BCP-compliant products
and services will increase, and the cost of purchasing and introducing them will also increase. On
the other hand, policies and regulations to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) do not make much
headway, and we estimate that the transition risks are low.

(3) Higher capital investment due to
CFC regulations(4) Higher costs for substitute goods
due to plastic regulations(9) Higher product prices due toshortages of food resources(8) Higher refrigeration
and air conditioning
costs, increased
repair costs(7) Insufficient product supply due to damage tosuppliers and logistics
Likelihood of occurrence

Scenario-Speciﬁc Assumptions
Scenario(6) Monetary damages from ﬂooding
and power outages(1) Higher costs due toelectric power rateincreases(2) Higher tax burden
due to introductionof carbon taxes

High

Financial Impact Regarding Risks Envisioned in 2030
Scenario

Assumptions

Financial impact

Carbon tax

Cost increases associated with a carbon tax (annual)¥2,393–2,792 million

Electricity rates
from renewableenergyHigher procurement costs for electricity derived fromrenewable energy (annual)¥170–680 million

Decline in gross proﬁt from temporary store closures(per store per day)

¥2–4 million

Damage fromﬂooding, power
outages, etc.

Decline in gross proﬁt from service interruptions at
centers (all centers per day)

¥80–120 million

Carbon tax price in developed countries: $140t-CO₂ (less than 2˚C scenario); 1$=120–140 yen
Our CO₂ emissions: approx. 142,452t-CO₂/year (50% reduction compared to FY2013)
Electricity rates from renewable energy: prices ¥1–4/kWh higher (compared to electricity rates other thanrenewable energy)
Our electricity usage from renewable energy: 170,000MWh/year (renewable energy ratio of 30%)
Impact of damage from ﬂooding, power outages, etc., is estimated based on total gross proﬁt from stores andcenters (assumed to be ±20%)

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Providing Safe, High Value-Added Products and Services

Basic
Philosophy

PolicyOur eﬀorts to supply safe and secure products
to consumers are supported by a robust quality
assurance system in the supply chain that links
raw materials and products from suppliers to
consumers. We make fresh and safe products
by carrying out extensive quality control andhygiene management activities, and haveestablished product inspection areas tomaintain reliable quality.

Perishables
Delicatessen
ingredients

Products
Perishables
Delicatessen
ingredients
Daily delivery

Internal purchasing standards
Inspection of production sites
Inspection of manufacturing
facilities
Inspection of documentation
Traceability
Testing of production
samples** Microbial testing, physical andchemical testing, etc.

(Stores)

Manufacturing andprocessing

Preparation, processing,display, and sales

Sorting and delivery

Display and sales

Inspection systems at eachcenterOperations based on ISO
22000 and FSSC 22000
Hygiene management
inspections
Facility management
inspections
Employee education andtraining

Inspection of products
being sold** Microbial testing, physical andchemical testing, etc.

Customers

Ensure Safety and Security

Raw materials and products suppliers

The supply of safe, secure, and high-quality products and services is fundamental
to the food supermarket business and one of our highest priorities. To provide
customers with safe and secure products, in our stores, we implement highly
eﬀective hygiene management and check freshness and expiration dates, using ourhygiene management manual, which is based on the Hazard Analysis and CriticalControl Point (HAACP) system. We are making an eﬀort to eliminate the risk of foodpoisoning by strengthening our in-store hygiene management systems to ensurethat all products manufactured comply with our in-house standards. In addition, we
encourage not only Quality Assurance Department staﬀ, but also buyers, foodprocess center staﬀ, and other related staﬀ to become qualiﬁed as food labelinginspectors. All our employees have a strong awareness of quality management inorder to provide customers with safe and secure products.

Purchase andprocurement
Raw materials(Food process and logistics centers)

Hygiene manager
inspections
Quality control inspections
Measurement checks

FY2022 Initiatives and Results
At our Sakai Food Process Center (meat products), we newly
obtained certiﬁcation under ISO 22000, the international standard
for food safety management systems. Together with ISO 22000
certiﬁcation for Nanko Process Center, which processed at ﬁrst
marine products expanded the scope of its processing into
agricultural and meat products, and ISO 22000 certiﬁcation for the
Kurihashi and Kazo food process centers as well as FSSC 22000
certiﬁcation for the Funabashi and Tempozan food process centers,
we maintain the highest possible level of quality management.
Furthermore, by expanding the scope of use of eBASE, ourdatabase for raw materials and product information managementwith quality labeling creation capabilities, beyond our stores andinto our food process centers, we further increased the accuracy ofour data management.

Nanko Food Process Center(ISO 22000)

Sakai Food Process Center(ISO 22000)

FY2023 Action Plan (Ensure Safety and Security)
To provide safe and secure products, our Quality Assurance Department is strengthening
safety conﬁrmations during product development as well as in-store hygiene management atstores. At our food process centers, we are using successful case studies and measures forpreventing the recurrence of incidents horizontally, and gathering knowledge on MAP
packaging (a packaging method using gas to preserve freshness) and the frozen foods
business to strengthen food safety management.
Additionally, while developing and securing the human resources that can handle diverse
tasks, we are working to streamline operations by creating databases from new inspection
data, etc.

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Providing Safe, High Value-Added Products and Services

Promote Responsible Procurement

FY2023 Action Plan (Promote Responsible Procurement)
The Products Departments will continue to engage in procurement that complies with laws,
regulations, and social norms. They will also pursue evaluations and initiatives in cooperation
with its business partners to ensure procurement that takes into account safety veriﬁcationand health, as well as human rights and the labor environment.

PolicyAs our procurement policy, we work toward “ fair,transparent, and appropriate transactions” thatconsider “quality, safety, and health,”“environmental preservation,” and “human rights
and the labor environment.” Our expert buyers
and the Quality Assurance Department verify thatthe products meet our standards. In addition, allprivate brand products are checked for
ingredients, food additive data, raw material
certiﬁcates of origin, etc. We also carry out
inspections of manufacturing sites.

FY2022 Initiatives and Results (1)Japanʼs Fisheries Agency launched “ Fish Day ” asa campaign to encourage both seafood
consumption and sustainability. Marine resources
are renewable resources that recover as part of
the food chain if managed properly, andeating ﬁsh also leads to ensuring
sustainable production-andconsumption patterns. During “ Fish
Day,” we increase our seafood oﬀerings
at each of our stores and recommend
ways of cooking and eating seafood thatmeet our customersʼ desires.

FY2022 Initiatives and Results (2)The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
launched its “ Smile Project for Milk ” with the goalof contributing to the expanded consumption ofmilk and dairy products, stable supply, and thehealthy eating habits of Japanese citizens. We
pledged our support for this project, providing our“ Smile LIFE Ajiwai Milk 1000ml” at an aﬀordable
price from November to December 2022 at storesin the Tokyo region.

BIO-RAL Business
FY2022 Initiatives and Results
Internal audit at one of our food process centers

BIO-RAL won the “ 31st Food Safety, Security andEnvironment Contribution Award” awarded by theJAPAN FOOD JOURNAL. The BIO-RAL concept
includes four components: Organic, Local, Healthy,
and Sustainability. By designing, preparing, andselling products that use as little pesticides, chemical fertilizers, food additives, etc., as possible, we
aim to support the healthy living of people and realize an environment-friendly and sustainable world.
Six stores currently operate using the BIO-RAL
format, with BIO-RAL corners also available within
LIFE stores.
P.16 Promotion of BIO-RAL Business

FY2023 Action Plan (BIO-RAL Business)
In December 2020, private brand “BIO-RAL” products were born. The brand now has morethan 250 products to its name. Furthermore, by aggressively expanding the BIO-RAL
business, we will increase the trust of our customers. As a result, we will diversify ourselvesfrom competitors and break away from the homogenous competition. We believe that one of
the most fundamental parts of living a healthy and secure life is the food that we eat everyday. We will continue to develop the BIO-RAL business with the goals of being kind to ourplanet and helping everyone to live healthy lives.

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Contributing to Local Communities as Infrastructure for Everyday Life

Basic
Philosophy

We see supermarkets as “infrastructure that supports food and lifestyle for local
communities.” We are working to run stores stably and diversify shopping options
that allow customers to have our products delivered without needing to physically
visit our stores so that we can continue to provide local customers with daily
necessities, especially safe and secure food products. Through our foodsupermarket business, we will also continue to engage actively in social contribution
initiatives that help people to enjoy good health and fulﬁlling lives in their local
communities.

Run Stores Stably
PolicyAs a social infrastructure that supports people, we continue to work on our BCP measureswhile pursuing further logistics streamlining to continue realizing stable product supply into the
future.

FY2023 Action Plan (Run Stores Stably)
We will establish a sustainable, stable food supply system by pursuing research into logistics
streamlining with the other member companies through the Tokyo region Supermarket
Logistics Study group and by promoting proactive streamlining policies.

Diversify Shopping Options
PolicyWe are responding to growth in the number of dual-income households and demographic
aging by diversifying our shopping options so that customers can have our products delivered
without needing to physically visit our stores.

FY2022 Initiatives and Results
The number of stores able to receive online supermarket orders placed from customersʼ
homes rose from 33 stores to a total of 99 stores in FY2022. Additionally, the service areas for
Amazon-based online supermarket services expanded to include Tama, Hachioji, and Machidain Tokyo; Isogo Ward in Yokohama; Kusakabe and Koshigaya in Saitama Prefecture; Ichikawa
and Funabashi in Chiba Prefecture; Mishima District in Osaka; and Kita Ward and Sakyo Wardin Kyoto. Moreover, to increase the convenience of our brick-and-mortar stores, we are
implementing our “same-day home delivery service” for goods purchased at our stores.

Tokyo
RegionFY2022 Initiatives and Results
Four Tokyo region supermarkets, SUMMIT INC,
The Maruetsu, Inc., Yaoko Co., Ltd. and LIFE
Corp., have pledged to promote four initiatives
to lead to logistics streamlining throughout theentire value chain to build and maintainsustainable food logistics for the future. They
also established a “ Tokyo region Supermarket
Logistics Study group” to research further
logistics streamlining with the cooperation ofeach company to fulﬁll our duty as animportant part of the local social infrastructure.

In-House Online
Supermarket
Delivery Areas

Osaka
RegionSaitamaPrefecture

Tokyo
Metropolitan Area

Chiba
Prefecture

Kyoto
Prefecture

Hyogo
Prefecture

Kanagawa
Prefecture

Osaka
Prefecture

FY2023 Action Plan (Diversify Shopping Options)To achieve our target of ¥100 billion in net sales by FY2030, we are working to expand further
the service areas of our online supermarket business and to improve our service level.

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Contributing to Local Communities as Infrastructure for Everyday Life

Contribute to Local Communities

gather and places for local community exchange.
We plan to continue to implement the childrenʼscafeteria program and further expand the regions
it supports to contribute to realizing a sustainable
society.

PolicyWe contribute to local communities through ourfood supermarket business, conducting various
activities for communities in the areas where ourstores are located and stakeholders, such as“ food education activities,” donating products to“childrenʼs cafeterias,” and participating in local
environmental events.

FY2022 Initiatives and Results (3)FY2022 Initiatives and Results (1)Food education activities (store events)
Focused on regional elementary school students
and kindergarteners, we hold food education
activities in stores, schools, online, etc. In FY2022,
we held food education activities at 353 schoolsthat were attended by 25,949 people. At our store
events, children participate together with theirguardians. The contents of the food education
included food groups of three colors (categorizing
foods into “red, green, and yellow ” based on thefunctions of the nutrients contained in each food),talks about food loss, as well as contents that can
only be oﬀered at the stores themselves such as
shopping games on actual sales ﬂoors and toursof the backyard. Collaborations with
manufacturers are also leading to an expansion in
the contents of our courses. We will continue toinform as many local residents as possible about
the importance of food.

FY2022 Initiatives and Results (2)Childrenʼs cafeterias
We donate products at our stores for which thesell-by date has elapsed, but the use-by date has
not, and products with damaged packaging asfood products to childrenʼs cafeterias. By
providing food for free or at a reduced price tochildren who are underfed, the childrenʼscafeterias are becoming places for children to

Food education activities(Participants)
40,000(School)
400

30,000300

20,000200

10,000100

02019 2020 2021 2022 (FY)Participants

Schools0

Support for Ukraine
We are donating to the Ukrainian people who haveﬂed as refugees to Kyoto and Osaka as part ofour continued social contribution activities. The
success of our contributions has been recognizedwith the City of Osaka presenting us with a letterof thanks for supporting Ukrainian evacuees in
Osaka. We have donated everyday goods such as
futons and other household essentials to help the
refugees live safe and secure lives.

FY2022 Initiatives and Results (4)ORANGESANTA PROJECT®
We participated in the “ORANGESANTAPROJECT®,” one of the activities of the NPO“minatsunagi” (connecting everyone). This is an
initiative to create happy Christmas memories forparents and children without the economic
resources to do so. As part of the project, six ofour stores in Adachi Ward, Tokyo gave Christmas
dinners as presents to the children of 100
households in Adachi Ward.

FY2023 Action Plan (Contribute to Local Communities)
As a “community-based food supermarket,” we will continue to hold food education courses
for elementary school students and kindergartners and to actively support childrenʼscafeterias.
We are also planning various other events including joint events with our manufacturers
and reopening store tours. We will work to build connections among customers and storesand to become a store and company that is trusted by members of the community.

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Creating a Motivating Workplace Environment Where Diverse Personnel Can Thrive

Basic
Philosophy

We have over 50,000 full-time and part-time employees working at over 300 storesand centers across the Tokyo and Osaka regions. We believe that the diversity of
individual employees and their ability to take the initiative in their work are essential
to the achievement of sustainable growth. In Japan, where the workforce continues
to shrink, labor shortages have become a chronic problem, particularly in the retailsector. We are responding to this situation by making eﬀorts to create a motivating
workplace environment to secure both the quality and quantity of personnel that weneed to maintain our business activities.
We want to be a “company that helps improve every employeeʼs chances ofachieving job satisfaction, at which diverse people succeed in a stress-freeenvironment without being pressed for time.” This vision is reflected in our
promotion of “diversity,” “health management,” and “human resource strategy.”

Diversity
PolicyWe aim to be “a company
that makes the most of its
diverse personnel” bycreating a working
environment that ensures
diversity including gender,
nationality, age, etc. inwhich each employee can
exercise their individual
abilities and knowledge.
As an organization topromote initiatives toward
these goals, we haveestablished the Diversity
Promotion Oﬃce.

FY2022 Initiatives and Results
Promoting active participation of women
To promote the active participation of women, we are
expanding the range of departments and duties towhich women are assigned and promoting staﬀ who
are working reduced hours due to childcare obligations
to management positions. Led by the Oﬃce forDiversity Promotion, we are distributing guidebooks to
improve understanding of the systems related tonursing care, childcare, etc., oﬀering support measuresfor employees returning to work after childcare leave,
including individual interviews and gatherings for staﬀ
who are working reduced hours due to childcare
obligations, and the provision of training in preparation
for a return to work. As of the end of FY2022, we had
162 female managers (9.4% of the total), and our
FY2023 target is 180 (10% of the total).

Number of Female Managers
Number of female managers(including those responsible for the
management of working hours)

End of FY2022

162(9.4% of the total)

Target for FY2023

180(10.0% of the total)

Number of female Store Managers,
Section Managers, and above
End of FY2022

30(5.1% of the total)

Number of female managers
working reduced hours
End of FY2022

14

Promoting employment of people with disabilities
To promote the creation of a corporate culture in whichpeople can support each other and play active roles regardless of disability, we actively
conduct regular visits to various support schools, manage job experience programs at our
workplaces, etc. As of the end of FY2022, 658 employees with disabilities (3.22% of the total
workforce) were working with us.
Promoting opportunities for mid-career hires
We employ a diverse array of people, regardless of age or gender, with specialist skills in ourstoresʼ sales sections, product development at food process centers, store building design,certiﬁed public accountants, tax accountants, etc. As of the end of FY2022, mid-career hires
made up 30.7% (531 employees) of our managerial positions.
Promoting foreign employees
We employ foreign technical intern trainees from Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, and othercountries at our food process centers and in some of our stores. As of the end of February2022, 440 foreign technical intern trainees were working with us.

FY2023 Action Plan (Diversity)
1) Increasing the number of store management positions to create a system in which
management staﬀ can continue working even while providing childcare and nursing care
2) Further expanding the assignment of female employees to sales departments
3) Aggressively promoting excellent young employees to managerial positions and creating
posts in which senior staﬀ can utilize their experience

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Creating a Motivating Workplace Environment Where Diverse Personnel Can Thrive

Health Management

Human Resource Strategy

PolicyPolicyWe consider the health of our employees to be a vital management resource. We promote
initiatives focused on health and safety management to maintain and enhance employeesʼ
health.

We will secure the talent necessary for our growth by continuing to hire new graduates, while
also actively recruiting mid-career personnel, people with disabilities, and non-Japanese
workers whose experience, skills, and qualiﬁcations enable them to make an immediate impact.
To encourage diverse talent to play active roles regardless of personal qualities such asage, gender, or nationality, we have introduced a talent management system to ensure
placements that allow employees to exercise their individual capabilities and to develop talentthat facilitates the companyʼs growth.

FY2022 Initiatives and Results
Prevention of physical and mental health issues through regular health examinations andstress checks
Provision of “speciﬁc health guidance” in collaboration with the LIFE Health Insurance Society
Establishment of an “occupational physician consulting service” to address physical andmental health concerns, and a “mental and physical health helpline” in collaboration with the
LIFE Health Insurance Society
Establishment of a harassment helpline
Development of a teleworking environment that allows people to work at any time and fromany location

FY2022 Initiatives and Results
Develop talent systematically and strategically through a cycle of recruitment, placement,
training, and evaluation
Transfers and placements based on personnel data, employee career development throughhuman resource strategy meetings
Operation of personnel evaluation cycle that leads to personal growth
Use of internal recruitment system

FY2023 Action Plan (Health Management)
1) Providing opportunities for health education to employees2) Identifying mental health problems early and using public health nurses to resolve them3) Revising the number of days of ﬁxed annual leave from 115 days to 116 days
4) Evaluating health management that includes employeesʼ families

FY2023 Action Plan (Human Resource Strategy)
1) Energize human resources through changes to the personnel systems, develop specialized
personnel, update the system so that the right people can be placed in the right jobs
regardless of age or years of experience, and connect to increased employee satisfaction
2) Provide educational opportunities that allow employees to learn anywhere at any time andpromote reskilling through participation in external training, etc.

Trends in new graduate andmid-career hires(persons)
500
400
300
200
100
0

Providing information on mental health

Awareness poster at the health consultation desk

Dedicated website to apply for distance education

2018

2019

New graduate hires

2020

2021

2022 (FY)

Mid-career hires

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53

Corporate Officers (as of May 25, 2023)

Back
row

Front
row

Haruhiko Yahagi

Takashi Katayama

Koji Shiono

Kaoru Sueyoshi

Mitsuo Maki

Koichi Narita

OutsideDirector

OutsideDirector

OutsideCorporate Auditor

Full-Time
Corporate Auditor

OutsideCorporate Auditor

OutsideDirector

Nobuyuki Kawai

Tomehisa Morishita

Naoko Miyatake

Takaharu Iwasaki

Hiroko Kono

Takashi Sumino

Director & Managing
Executive Officer

Director & Senior Managing
Executive Officer

OutsideCorporate Auditor

Representative Director
and President

OutsideDirector

Director & Managing
Executive Officer

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CONTENTS

Corporate Officers
Directors and Corporate Auditors (as of May 25, 2023)
Group
HQ

Name

Position(s) in the Company

Comments

PeriodTakaharu Iwasaki

Representative Director and PresidentGroup CEO of Business Group Headquarters and Development Group Headquarters

Experience at a general trading company/Insight about the distribution industry and the Companyʼs overall management throughserving as the President of the Company for 17 years since 2006

24 years●

Tomehisa Morishita

Director & Senior Managing Executive Oﬃcer
Group CEO of Corporate Functions Group Headquarters, and COO of Information
Strategy Division

Successfully served as head in various divisions including sales, systems, and corporate strategy and planning in the Company/Insightabout the Companyʼs overall management, administration, and business operation

9 years●

Takashi Sumino

Director & Managing Executive Oﬃcer
Group CEO of Infrastructure Group Headquarters

Successfully served as head of sales division of the Company/Abundant operational knowledge, mainly in the sales division, as well as
insight on the distribution industry and the Companyʼs overall management

11 years

Nobuyuki Kawai

Director & Managing Executive Oﬃcer
Deputy Group CEO of Corporate Functions Group Headquarters, and COO of
Corporate Finance and Accounting Division

Experience at the ﬁnance and accounting divisions in a general trading company/signiﬁcant knowledge in ﬁnance and accounting andabundant knowledge in compliance

4 years

Koichi Narita

Outside Director

Accomplishments as a corporate manager at an IT company, etc./High level of knowledge of business operations in IT solutions

5 years

Haruhiko Yahagi

Outside Director

Long-term operational experience as a consultant in the environmental ﬁeld for the retail industry/High level of knowledge in the retailindustry and digital marketing

2 years

Hiroko Kono

Outside Director

Operational experience with institutional investors/Performance and insight concerning school operations and human resource
development through coaching

2 years

Takashi Katayama

Outside Director

Performance as a corporate manager at a company that develops, manufactures, and sells system-related equipment/Knowledge
related to logistics environment systems and overseas logistics

1 yearKaoru Sueyoshi

Full-Time Corporate Auditor

Experience in the ﬁnance and accounting departments of the Company/High level of knowledge in ﬁnance and accounting andwell-versed in the Companyʼs overall management

4 years

Mitsuo Maki

Outside Corporate Auditor

Abundant experience as an attorney at law/Specialized legal knowledge

22 years

Naoko Miyatake

Outside Corporate Auditor

Strong insight in human resource development, customer service, and quality control at a credit card company/Performance as amanager of a subsidiary of the same credit card company

4 years

Outside Corporate Auditor

Abundant experience as a certiﬁed public tax accountant and operational experience at Japanʼs National Tax Agency/Expertise andhigh level of knowledge related to ﬁnance and accounting

0 years●●●●

Koji Shiono

Executive Oﬃcers (as of May 25, 2023)
Group
HQ

Name

Organizational Chart (as of May 26, 2023)
Position(s) in the Company
COO of Tokyo Region Product Division, and COO of Osaka
Region Product Division

Executive Oﬃcer

COO of Osaka Region Process Center & Logistics Division●

Masaki Hayashi

Executive Oﬃcer

COO of General Aﬀairs Division●

Yasuhiro Ishioka

Executive Oﬃcer

COO of Compliance Division●

Kunihiko Nagasawa

Executive Oﬃcer

COO of Human Resources Division●

Takashi Kato

Executive Oﬃcer

COO of Business Strategy Division, General Manager of IT
Strategy Department, and General Manager of Card Business
Department●

Motonobu Matsunaga

Executive Oﬃcer

Deputy COO of Osaka Region Product Division, and General
Manager of Osaka Region Marine Products Department●

Masahisa Sekiguchi

Executive Oﬃcer

Deputy COO of Tokyo Region Product Division, and General
Manager of Tokyo Region Grocery Department●

Kazuo Kaneko

Executive Oﬃcer

Deputy COO of Corporate Finance and Accounting Division,and General Manager of IR Department●

Makoto Yasuda

Executive Oﬃcer

COO of E-Commerce Business Division●

Jun Adachi

Executive Oﬃcer

General Manager of Corporate Strategy and Planning
Department

InfrastructureGroup HQ

Development
Group HQ

Business
Group HQ

Corporate Functions
Group HQ

Quality Assurance Div.

Masanori Fukuoka

Information Strategy Div.

COO of Tokyo Region Process Center & Logistics Division●

Compliance Div.

Executive Oﬃcer

Corporate Finance andAccounting Div.

Yoshinori Ito

General Aﬀairs Div.

COO of Tokyo Region Chain Store Division●

Human Resources Div.

COO of Tokyo Region Development Division

Executive Oﬃcer

Tokyo Region Product Div.

Senior Executive Oﬃcer

Noriaki Unno

Tokyo Region ChainStore Div.

Hitoshi Umeki●

Corporate Strategy andPlanning Department

Business Strategy Div.

●

E-Commerce Business
Division

Osaka Region Product Div.

COO of Osaka Region Chain Store Division

Osaka Region ChainStore Div.

COO of Osaka Region Development Division

Senior Executive Oﬃcer

Tokyo Region
Development Div.

Senior Executive Oﬃcer

Kiyotaka Okazaki

Osaka Region
Development Div.

Yoshiki Nakagawa●

Tokyo Region Process
Center & Logistics Div.

Shinichiro Arai●

Representative Director
and President

Osaka Region Process
Center & Logistics Div.

●Managing Executive Oﬃcer

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Messages from Outside Directors

I have strong expectations for the 7th
Medium-Term Plan, which launched at
the start of the new ﬁscal year.
In formulating the 7th MediumTerm Plan, discussions at oﬀ-site
meetings by members of the Board of
Directors acted as a broad outline,
and the real discussions took place
among the General Manager class
who are candidates to become thenext generation of corporate
management. I believe that diﬃcult-topredict, rapid changes in the businessenvironment will continue, which is
why the Company laid out its vision
for what we want to be in FY2030
ﬁrst of all. The people who will act as
the leaders during that period were at
the center of the formulation of theplan as “OUR PLAN.” I believe that
this sense of ownership will act as astrong driving force in the future.
I also believe that having theGeneral Manager class that works
diligently every day with a sense offrontline responsibility discuss theplan from a Company-wide
perspective going beyond their

Building an even stronger
team based on the
7th Medium-Term Plan

In further pursuit of the“ True to LIFE”
concept to meet thechanging times

Koichi Narita

Haruhiko Yahagi

individual organization and envisioning
FY2030 was signiﬁcant in terms ofdeveloping top management.
To do away with preconceived
notions, the Company held
discussions on questions such as“ What is the meaning of formulating a
Medium-Term Plan in the age of
VUCA where projections are noteﬀective? ” and “ Why are we aiming
for economic growth? ” In terms of
LIFEʼs uniqueness, the Company held
detailed discussions on questions
such as “ What are we doing diﬀerently
from our competitors? ” and “ What
are the essential elements of LIFE? ”
As a result of these discussions, eachmember was able to renew theirunderstanding and share theimportance of the Corporate
Philosophy, Vision, the “ LIFE Pledge,”
and the “ True to LIFE” Declaration.
The supermarket business is an
exercise in teamwork. With “linking”
as the keyword, I would like to see theCompany grow both into a strong
team and a team that even more
stakeholders wish to support.

The speed of the evolution andspread of technology accelerated
during the COVID-19 pandemic, and I
expect no changes in this trend in the
future. With a wide range of digitaltechnologies now able to be used
quickly and easily, corporate activities
are becoming streamlined and moresophisticated, and many new growth
opportunities are now available
including oﬀering services that
previously were not possible.
Additionally, as a supermarket with acommunity-based business, LIFE isrequired now more than ever to carefor the global environment by
reducing greenhouse gas emissions,plastic waste, and food waste, and tocontribute to local communities aspart of everyday infrastructure.
To respond to these kinds ofdemands from society, it is essentialthat the Company continues to beaware of and work to understandchanges in the world. We should
encourage viewpoints that are notlimited to the Companyʼs internal
perspective and are instead open to

the world by sharing this knowledge
within the Company through various
means of communication and meetingbodies, and through exchange withthose outside of the Company. It is
important for the stakeholders that
the Company then considers thosechanges in light of the Corporate
Philosophy and Vision, corporate
culture, and beyond.
In the 7th Medium-Term Plan,
LIFE will become a company thateveryone says, “ Itʼs my supermarket,”as a community-based supermarket,
is one of the goals. This is a goal thatis being pursued not only by LIFE in
Japan, but also by some of theleading supermarkets throughout theworld.
I would like the Company to seechanges in the world as opportunities
and use them to contribute to further
strengthening the “ True to LIFE”
concept.

55

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Messages from Outside Directors

In formulating the 7th Medium-Term
Plan, the Company laid out its vision
for what we want to be in FY2030
around the major themes of“investment in employees,” “breaking
away from the homogenous
competition,” and “contribute towards
the realization of a sustainable andﬂourishing society.” Because the plan
incorporates the broad direction
provided by the Board of Directors aswell as the collective intention of thefrontline leaders, we can truly say that
this is a Medium-Term Plan that is
personal to Company employees.
One of the most important management resources in creating lastingvalue for the Company is its personnel,
and personnel is listed as the ﬁrst
major theme in the Medium-Term Plan.
Moreover, by valuing teamwork anddirect communication while still
ensuring highly controlled precise
operations, the Company has built an
open and productive organizational
culture with an open atmosphere.
I believe that this is one of LIFEʼsstrengths that is diﬃcult to quantify.

Aiming to create corporate
value through independent
personnel andsuperior teamwork

Aiming for continuous growthby rising to new challenges
without engaging inhomogenous competition

Hiroko Kono

Takashi Katayama

As an outside Director, I would liketo challenge myself to spread thisorganizational culture to every cornerof LIFE and increase both theengagement and sense of leadershipamong all employees so that they feelin name and in substance that “ I am
playing the leading role.” Promoting
the active participation of women isnaturally part of this initiative, but theCompany must also pursue diversity
beyond that, and I would like use thismindset to contribute to the creationof a management personnel
development program and otherinitiatives. Another issue is that theCompany is not sharing enoughinformation about “ The corporate
value created by the Company ” either
internally or externally.
The Company also formulated a
new shareholder return policy. Goingforward, while further clarifying theﬁnancial strategy that underpins
LIFEʼs management strategy, I would
like to use my own knowledge toincrease opportunities for dialogue
with its investors.

Entering the current ﬁscal year, there
have been many signiﬁcant events
that will impact the future of Japan.
The Nikkei Stock Average recorded a
new high for the ﬁrst time in 33 years
since Japanʼs economic bubble. An
increase in wages, which have been
ﬂat for almost 30 years, and acorresponding increase in theJapanese economy are also expected.
Additionally, we are now seeing thereal application of generative AI.
Considering these factors, the coming
ten years are predicted to be a large
turning point in Japan notexperienced in the past 30 years inwhich the makeup of the country willchange signiﬁcantly. In addition to thesound macroeconomic developmentof Japan, there are rising expectationsof being able to create a better social
structure for the country.
In terms of wages, which require
improvement compared to othercountries, either increased
productivity or improved labor shareare necessary. Especially productivity,
in other words added value, has only

increased slightly over these 30 years,
and the lack of wage hikes is one
large reason that Japan is fallingbehind other countries.
In the 7th Medium-Term Plan,
which starts this ﬁscal year, theCompany has established the goals of
responding to the changes that will
occur in the coming ten years,
continuing to grow, and contributing
to improved lifestyles. LIFE provides
the food and clothing that are
essential to life, and as expressed in
the phrase “ Feed the Nation” used by
British retailers during the COVID-19
pandemic, we consider food retailers
such as LIFE to be public institutions.
Continuing to rise to newchallenges while not taking part inhomogenous competition and not
fearing failure is the key to increasing
productivity. This is extremely
important in continuing the growthnecessary to realize improved
lifestyles.

56

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Corporate Governance

Basic
Philosophy

Under the Corporate Philosophy, “ through reliable management with noble aspirations, contribute towards the realization of a sustainable andflourishing society,” the LIFE Group ensures compliance and achieves sustainable company growth to enhance the Groupʼs contribution to society asa supermarket group trusted by all stakeholders. Because of this, the Group continuously strive to fulﬁll corporate governance to realize transparent,
fair, swift, and bold decision-making.

Corporate Governance Structure (as of May 25, 2023)

General Meeting of Shareholders
Appointment

Appointment

Dismissal

Accounting
Auditor

Dismissal

Appointment

Board ofCorporate
Auditors
ReportCompany with a Board of
Corporate Auditors

Director term of office

One yearDirectors

Eight (including four independent
outside Directors)

Adoption of executive
officer system

Yes

Chairman of the Board

Representative Director

Voluntary Advisory Committeeof the Board of Directors

Nomination & Remuneration
Advisory Committee

Corporate Auditors

Four (including three independent
outside Corporate Auditors)

Accounting auditor

KPMG AZSA LLC

Dismissal

Nomination &Remuneration Advisory
Committee: 3 members

Consultation

Board ofDirectors
Audit/
report4 Corporate
Auditors

Organizational
Structure

8 Directors

1 independent
outside Director

Report1 independent outside
Corporate Auditor
1 Representative
Director

Accounting
audit report

Accounting
audit
Cooperation

Audit

Cooperation

Selection
supervisor

Agenda items
Business execution
reportNumber of meetings

Board of Directors(FY2022)

Sustainability Promotion
Committee
Representative Director

Internal Audit Oﬃce

Management Strategy Meeting
Risk Management Committee

Business
audit

Computer
Security Team
(LIFE-CSIRT)

Department/Store

Compliance
Subcommittee
Safety Action
Subcommittee

Group Company

13Internal officers

6

Outside officers

Chairman

7

Representative
Director(Overview)

The number of Directors and Corporate Auditors who attend Board meetings is set at a level that will allow
substantive discussions, taking into consideration various factors including the creation of an effective
management structure as well as expertise and diversity.

(Main agenda
items)

Management strategy (approval of 7th Medium-Term Plan, shareholder return policy, decision on key sales
strategies/target values, etc.)
Sustainability (sustainability-related measures, response to TCFD recommendations and materiality, etc.)
Corporate governance (evaluation of the eﬀectiveness of the Board of Directors and internal control systems,etc.), nomination/remuneration, and ﬁnancial results/ﬁnances
Sales policies (new store openings, key sales policies, execution of subsidiary operations, etc.), and revision/
abolition of key regulations

Internal Controls System
Management Committee

Cooperation17

Total members

Nomination & Remuneration Advisory Committee: This committee is comprised of three oﬃcers selected by a resolution of the Board of
Directors, with a majority of members being independent outside Directors. To ensure the transparency and objectivity of discussions, thechairperson of this committee must be an independent outside Director. The committee held nine meetings in FY2022. Topics discussed atthese meetings included the possibility of further improvements to the oﬃcer remuneration system, the appointment and dismissal of
Directors, the appropriateness of remuneration levels, and the selection of Executive Oﬃcers. Results of deliberations were reported to theBoard of Directors.
Internal Controls System Management Committee: The role of this committee is to ensure appropriate governance by considering
whether internal control systems are being administered properly, reporting the results of these deliberations to the Board of Directors,
and proposing solutions to any issues.
Risk Management Committee: This committee examines risks relating to the business activities of the Group, reports the results of its
deliberations to the Board of Directors, and proposes courses of action. The committee manages the Computer Security Incident
Response Team “LIFE-CSIRT,” a permanent unit created to help prevent incidents impacting the Groupʼs computer security, and tominimize the harm caused by any such incidents. The committee has also established the Compliance Subcommittee for developing aframework to promote compliance and monitor the status of compliance, and the Safety Action Subcommittee for developing a framework
to improve quality centered on safety and security, and monitor the status of initiatives.

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Corporate Governance

Response to Japanʼs
Corporate Governance CodeWe are aiming to achieve sustainable growth andincrease our corporate value over the medium tolong term. These aims will be achieved by appropriately implementing each principle of the Corporate Governance Code, which was formulatedby the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) and summarizes the main principles that contribute to therealization of eﬀective corporate governance.
In 2019, we established a Nomination &Remuneration Advisory Committee and introduced a performance-linked share remuneration
plan for Directors. In 2021, having introduced
support for evaluations of the Company througha third-party organization who evaluates theeﬀectiveness of the Board of Directors, we havebeen making further headway in our response to
the Code. For example, we have established a
Sustainability Promotion Committee to address
sustainability issues and disclosing the skills
matrix of our Directors in 2022.
Furthermore, as of the General Meeting of
Shareholders held in May 2023, the ratio ofindependent outside Directors was 50%.
We appointed four outside Directors, who
act independently from the executive team andbring outside insights to the activities of theBoard of Directors, while the independent
outside Directors oversee management from an
objective viewpoint.
In the years to come, we will continue topromote the strengthening of governancerequired of a company listed on the Prime
Market of the TSE.
Other information concerning these eﬀorts isdisclosed in our Corporate Governance Report.
Please see our website for details
http://www.lifecorp.jp/company/info/corporate_
governance/index.html (In Japanese)

Composition of the Board of Directors, Board of Corporate Auditors, andNomination & Remuneration Advisory Committee (as of May 25, 2023)
Board ofBoard of

Nomination & Remuneration

Directors

Corporate Auditors

Advisory Committee

InsideFour

InsideOne

84

Total:(one woman)

OutsideFour

InsideOne

3

Total:(one woman)

OutsideThree

Total:(one woman)

OutsideTwo

Directorsʼ Skills Matrix
Name

Position(s) in the Company

Takaharu
Iwasaki

Representative Director andPresident Member of theNomination & Remuneration
Advisory Committee

Tomehisa
Morishita

Director & Senior Managing
Executive Officer

Takashi
SuminoDirector & Managing
Executive Officer

Nobuyuki
Kawai

Director & Managing
Executive Officer

Koichi
NaritaDirector
Chairperson of the Nomination &Remuneration Advisory Committee

Haruhiko
Yahagi

Director

HirokoKono

Director

Takashi
Katayama

Director

Independent
Overall
Sustainability HR andoutsidemanagementand ESGlabor

Finance
Legal and
andcomplianceaccounting

IT

DigitalInternational
marketing experience

Sales Logistics

Store
development

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Corporate GovernanceNomination Policy

Remuneration Policy

The Nomination & Remuneration Advisory Committee, which receives consultation from theBoard of Directors, deliberates on the oﬃcer candidates, and the Board of Directors
determines the candidates based on the Committeeʼs report.
The requirements for oﬃcers are that they deeply share the Corporate Philosophy, possess
excellent character and strong virtue, have rich knowledge and a wealth of experience, as wellas the ability to perform fair and accurate business operations and management. We also
require them to possess adaptability to address changes in the external environment, as well
as objective decision-making ability, insight, and foresight.
In particular, outside Directors are required to possess a wealth of experience andexpertise in specialized areas such as corporate management, industrial knowledge, ﬁnance/accounting, crisis management, legal aﬀairs, education, HR, and marketing, as well as provide
objective management supervision and judgment, and advice and support for the sustainablegrowth of the Company.

To increase the transparency and objectivity of Director remuneration, the Nomination &Remuneration Advisory Committee veriﬁes the appropriateness of remuneration levels,
remuneration components, performance-linked indicators, and performance-linked
remuneration. The Committee consists of three members: A Representative Director, an
independent outside Director, and an independent outside Corporate Auditor.
The basic policy for Directors' remuneration is to appropriately reﬂect the Companyʼs
performance and individual contribution in remuneration for each of the components described
below, considering industry levels and the levels of similar sized companies with reference tosurvey results from external organizations. In addition, we have adopted performance-linked
remuneration for the purpose of increasing the Directorsʼ motivation to contribute to improving
medium- to long-term performance and increasing corporate value. Remuneration for outside
Directors is comprised solely of role-based remuneration in light of their role andindependence.

Composition ofOﬃcer Remuneration

Composition of
remuneration for Directors

Remuneration for Directors
Director remuneration consists ofthree types of remuneration, withcash and shares as the form of
beneﬁts. In terms of role-based
remuneration, outside Directors are
only paid based on their supervisory
functions and do not receive
remuneration for business execution
or performance-linked remuneration.
(See diagram on the right)

Performance-linked
remuneration (Shares)

Remuneration forbusiness execution (Cash)

Details on remuneration, etc.

Target Director(s)Based on the target ﬁgure for consolidated ordinary proﬁt, which is
our management target, each Director is granted points, which areconverted into shares, determined for each position according to theachievement of the targets for each ﬁscal year, and then delivered.

Executive
Directors

Remuneration paid for performing duties and responsibilities as well
as for the results of business execution (individually determinedcommensurate with the state of business execution and other factors
for each Director).

Executive
Directors

Separated into representative functions and supervisory functions,
the Representative Director is paid remuneration for each function,
and Directors are paid remuneration for supervisory functions only
(ﬁxed remuneration).

Representative
Director,
Directors,
outside Directors

Remuneration for
Corporate Auditors
Remuneration for Corporate
Auditors consists of a ﬁxed cash
amount for their auditing functions,and do not receive remuneration forbusiness execution or performancelinked remuneration.

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Corporate GovernanceEvaluation of Board of Directorsʼ Eﬀectiveness
Basic Philosophy
Our basic philosophy is to implement the principle of our Corporate Governance
Code, “ the Board of Directors shall work to improve its capabilities by analyzing andevaluating its own overall eﬀectiveness.” As part of this philosophy, to continuously
improve the eﬀectiveness of the Board of Directors, we have been conducting
eﬀectiveness evaluations of all oﬃcers, including Corporate Auditors, once a year
since FY2016. Since FY2021, to make the identiﬁcation of issues smoother compared
to using only our own resources, we have been conducting eﬀectiveness evaluations
that incorporate external perspectives and analysis by introducing support forevaluations of the Company from an external third-party organization. By having theBoard of Directors analyze and evaluate its own eﬀectiveness, identify issues for
improvement, and formulate improvement plans, we are working to improve its
eﬀectiveness.

Evaluation Process
As part of our evaluation process, we implement a 40-question survey of all ouroﬃcers including our Corporate Auditors on the eﬀectiveness of the Board of
Directors, incorporating the know-how of a third-party organization. To ensure that
we obtain the frank opinions of our oﬃcers and objective analysis, responses areprovided directly to the third party without going through the internal departmentsin charge, which also ensures anonymity. In FY2022, a report on the objective
tabulation and analysis results from the questionnaire created by a third party was
given to the Board of Directors for their review and discussion. Furthermore, at theBoard of Directorsʼ meeting held in March 2023, the Board of Directors engaged inanalysis, issue recognition, and evaluation of the questionnaire results and deemedthat its eﬀectiveness is being ensured.

FY2022 Evaluation Results[Issues and Initiatives in FY2021]

IssuesPriority issues identiﬁed were those related to improvement of the themes, content, and qualityof discussions at the Board of Directorsʼ meetings.
We conﬁrmed the need for greater awareness of changes in the external environment,
proﬁtability, and capital efficiency, as well as for deeper discussions on initiatives and disclosure
methods for increased sustainability.

Initiatives
We held continuous deliberations and opinion exchanges on invigorating the Board of Directors,
and each officer held discussions based on those contents.
We held frank opinion exchanges through prior brieﬁngs to outside Directors and oﬀ-site
meetings with officers.

[FY2022 Evaluation Results and Future Responses]

Evaluation Results
Compared to FY2021, we made progress in our initiatives addressing previous issues. There wasparticularly signiﬁcant improvement in our sustainability initiatives, with increased discussions
on initiatives to reduce our environmental burden and CO₂ emissions.
(Issues from our evaluation results)
More discussions to create greater awareness of capital efficiency.
Setting non-ﬁnancial targets to realize sustainable growth together with society.
Continuous oversight and monitoring of the allocation of management resources starting withhuman capital and the implementation of our management strategy.
Deepening discussions that incorporate the opinions of shareholders (investors) through IR.

Evaluation Items
Composition of Board of Directors
Operation of Board of Directors
Board of Directorsʼ discussions
Monitoring function ofBoard of Directors
Inside Director performance
Outside Director performance

Support system for Directors andCorporate Auditors
Officer training
Dialogue with shareholders(investors)
Individual eﬀorts of Directors andCorporate Auditors

Future Responses
Working to further improve the quality of discussions to realize increased corporate value andthe sustainable growth of the Company.
Conducting discussions with an even greater awareness of the position of stakeholders startingwith shareholders (investors).

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Compliance

Organizational Framework Related to Compliance

Creating Awareness Among Employees

Basic Philosophy

So that employees can always act with an awareness of our Corporate Philosophy and the
LIFE Code of Conduct, we distribute a card with these printed to every employee so that they
can review them as needed. We also work to make employees aware of our Compliance
Framework and internal reporting system through our company newsletter and posters within
the Company. Additionally, we provide various compliance trainings and work to createawareness of compliance among all our employees.

We have identiﬁed “development of an organization with high values and ethics” as one of ourmaterialities. Speciﬁcally, we are working to realize this materiality through thoroughcompliance, the steady implementation of the LIFE Code of Conduct, employee training, andthe creation of an appropriate internal reporting framework.

Organizational Framework
The Compliance Division is responsible for formulating and promoting policies, regulations, andmeasures related to compliance to ensure the entire LIFE Group, including aﬃliated companies,
maintain sound business practices. We investigate compliance or potential breaches andformulate Group-wide measures to prevent recurrence of such breaches and conduct Groupwide education and training on compliance.
Additionally, under the Risk Management Committee, which examines risks related to ourGroup business operations, we have established the Compliance Subcommittee. The
Compliance Subcommittee is responsible for developing a framework for promoting
compliance based on our Corporate Philosophy, LIFE Code of Conduct, and the various
regulations of Group companies, monitoring the progress of compliance promotion and making
improvements to it.

LIFE Code of Conduct
The LIFE Group has establishedits code of conduct as anembodiment of its Corporate
Philosophy, in which it declares
our intent to contribute tosociety by ensuring all
employees share the samecommitment to thoroughcompliance. (Please see P.40
for details)

Internal Reporting System
Our internal reporting system consists of the LIFE Hotline
and a point of contact within the HR department forharassment complaints. The LIFE Hotline has an internal
point of contact (Compliance Department) and an
external one (law ﬁrm) that deals with legal violations andviolations of internal Company rules and regulations. The
harassment desk within the HR department isestablished to enable reporting of harassment and issues
related to the workplace environment. We are striving toenhance the eﬀectiveness of the system by ensuringwhistleblowers are not disadvantaged and by establishingan environment whereby employees can easily reportissues and seek advice.

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Compliance

Compliance Training
To raise employee awareness of compliance, we conduct compliance training throughconferences and other meetings, in addition to regular training when new employees join the
Company or when employees are promoted to store management positions, etc.
We have also rolled out systems to allow all employees to undertake training at any time bycreating educational videos. Through these training opportunities, we are working to nurture a
corporate culture with an emphasis on compliance.

Main Compliance Training Sessions Held in FY2022
We hold regular compliance training for new managers and new employees, as well ascompliance training for which we select highly important themes related to legal and regulatory
revisions and changes in the business environment.
For our harassment training, we distributed training videos so that all our employees,
including partners, would have access to training. Regarding the revisions to the operating
standards for Japanʼs Subcontract Act, we took time to conduct training with all the buyers in
our Product Division on the points to bear in mind when holding business discussions.
Name of training

Main contents

Trainees

New management training

Necessary legal and regulatory knowledge formanagers

New managers

New employee compliance training

Introducing the operations of the Compliance
Division and explaining compliance

New employees

Personal information training for stores

The handling of personal information at stores

Store employees

Harassment training

The initial response to harassment complaints,
and information on power harassment

All employees

Compliance questionnaire

Compliance awareness questionnaire

Mid-career hires

Personal information training forspecialized divisions

The handling of personal information at
specialized departments

Specialized
departments at
headquarters

Price discount rule training

Explanation of the dual price display rules
when discounting products

Store Support
Department

Transactions with tax-exempt vendors
using the invoice system

Points to bear in mind when reviewing
transaction conditions with tax-exempt
vendors

General Managers/
Section Managers of the
product departments

Revisions to the operating standards
for Japanʼs Subcontract Act(Antimonopoly Act)

Points to bear in mind accompanying stronger
oversight of Japanʼs Subcontract Act(Antimonopoly Act)

General Managers/
Section Managers,
Buyers of the productdepartments

Insider trading training

Knowledge on insider trading related to theallocation of restricted shares

Persons allocatedrestricted shares

Training for regular employees

Regulations accompanying revisions to Japanʼs
Whistleblower Protection Act

Regular employees*Examples of the training provided

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Risk Management

Key Risks and Our Responses
The following are some of the risks that may aﬀect the management, performance, and/or ﬁnancial condition of the Group. Issues related to these risks are discussed at the Risk Management
Committee, held twice every ﬁnancial year, where the status of how we are responding to the proposed countermeasures is conﬁrmed and reported to the Board of Directors.

Risk Factors

Speciﬁc Risks

Our Responses

Changes in the operating environment of food supermarkets in Japan, suchas domestic economic trends, inﬂation, and competition

Enhance our strengths and diﬀerentiate ourselves by pursuing the “True to LIFE” concept
Pinpoint and understand changes in our operating environment by analyzing societal trends andcustomer sales data, and ﬂexibly change our measures in responseStore
expansion

Potential impact from a competitor opening a nearby store
Rising construction costs, construction delays due to labor shortages, andhigher rents

Growth strategy by continuing to open stores in Tokyo and Osaka, Japanʼs two major metropolitan
areas
Thorough research of competitor trends
Store openings that enhance competitiveness, such as collaborative store openings in conjunction withother industries
Proactive development in the online supermarket space to improve customer convenienceEﬀorts to eﬀectively introduce and use systems, comprehensively streamline store operations, andimprove productivity to create a proﬁt structure that can respond to increases in construction costs
and rents

Food safety

Lost trust in products or additional costs incurred due to factors out of ourcontrol such as food poisoning, communicable diseases, or foreign bodies infood products

Led by our Quality Assurance Department, we ensure that our product inspection system and store
hygiene checks are thoroughly implemented
Our Kurihashi, Nanko, and Kazo Food Process Centers have acquired ISO 22000 certiﬁcation, and our
Funabashi and Tempozan Food Process Centers have acquired FSSC 22000 certiﬁcation (See P.47)
Our store hygiene management complies with HAACP, and we have clariﬁed product histories andstrengthened food defense measures

Domestic
market trends[Climate change risk]
Supply shortages due to poor harvests of agricultural produce, marine
products, and meat products domestically or overseas, higher commodity
prices, and rising energy consumption costs
Environmentand climatechange[Environmental risk]
Increased store operating costs and energy procurement prices due tofactors such as changes in environmental laws, tax systems and energy
policies, as well as heightened societal demands[Disaster risk]
Disasters causing more damage than expected to clients involved in theoperation of stores, processing/logistics centers, information systems, online
supermarkets, procurement, and logistics, etc.

Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by actively promoting transition to LED lighting and adoption ofenergy-saving and CFC-free fridges and freezers (See P.45)
Work to reduce environmental impact and adopt low-cost energy sources in accordance with laws andregulations
Make every eﬀort to ensure stores remain open in the event of a disaster to fulﬁll our mission ofproviding infrastructure for everyday life while ensuring the safety and security of customers andemployees as a highest priority
Develop disaster response manuals, adopt in-house power generation facilities at processing anddistribution centers, and establish a Company-wide system for supporting stores

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Risk Management

Risk Factors

Speciﬁc Risks

Our Responses

Employment
environment

Difficulty in securing necessary talent, rising labor costs

Actively hire and train part-time workers, and intensify regular hiring of new graduatesand mid-career hires
Create a motivating workplace environment where employees want to work anddiverse personnel can thrive (See P.51-52)
Improve productivity by introducing and using systems to increase store operation
efficiencies and enhance store work methods

Infectious diseases

Group sales activities signiﬁcantly restricted due to an outbreak or epidemic
Closure of stores and food process centers in the event of an outbreak among employees

Development of response guidelines based on government policy, and thoroughimplementation of measures against infectious diseases by all employees

Information systems

Damage to facilities due to disasters or accidents, and system failures due tounauthorized intrusion of computer viruses or employee error

Installation of critical equipment for core systems in areas less susceptible to damage
Outsourcing of operational management to enable 24/7 monitoring

Compliance

Risk of incurring additional costs such as loss of public trust and/or compensation fordamages in the event of a scandal or violation of laws or regulations

Promotion of compliance management and implementation of education and training
Establishment of points of contact for whistleblowing both internally and for clients towork toward early detection and prevention of misconduct, corruption, or illegal or
dishonest practices (See P.61 for details on the internal reporting system)

Leaking of personal
information

Leaking of personal information related to customers, clients, and employees held by theCompany due to human error in management or unauthorized external access

Development of a management system and establishment of personal information
management rules and administrative procedures, based on the Act on the Protectionof Personal Information
Establishment of LIFE-CSIRT as an organization to strengthen information security
Constantly check for system problems and establishment of a system that can
respond rapidly in an emergency

Interest rates andﬁnancial market
trends

As of February 28, 2023, we have interest-bearing liabilities of ¥74.1 billion, and depending
on future trends in interest rates and ﬁnancial markets, there are risks of increases infunding costs and difficulties in raising funds

Ongoing work to manage interest-bearing liabilities
Take measures such as borrowing at ﬁxed interest rates to reduce the risk of interest
rates increases

Impairment of ﬁxed
assetsPossibility of incurring impairment losses by holding a signiﬁcant amount of ﬁxed assets,
and it is determined that investment cannot be expected to be recovered within a certain
period of time due to changes in the economic environment or competitive conditions

Regularly check store proﬁt (loss) status to identify signs of impairment
Implement targeted proﬁt improvement measures for stores with declining proﬁtability

Statutory,
regulatory, andsystemic changes[Tax reforms]
Negative impact on consumer spending expected if consumption tax rate is raised again
Systemic changes like the abolition of reduced tax rate causing increased burden forhaving to switch systems[Other legal regulations]
New costs incurred due to responding to food safety management updates, revisions tolaws and regulations such as the Labor Standards Act, changes to health insurance
premium rates, and changes in traditional business practices

Appropriately respond to tax system changes and tax reduction measures that may
apply to the Company
Work to develop systems that are as simple and low-cost as possible in response to
tax reforms
Appropriately respond to revisions to various laws

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Key Consolidated Financial and Non-Financial Data
(millions of yen)

FY2012FY2013

FY2014FY2015*1

FY2016FY2017FY2018FY2019FY2020

FY2021

FY2022*2

Operating revenue

519,941

534,923584,984

629,986

652,974

677,746

698,693714,684

759,146

768,335

765,426

Operating proﬁt

7,402

7,634

10,872

12,831

12,664

12,094

12,285

13,87927,38822,932

19,148

Ordinary proﬁt

7,308

7,702

11,01012,982

12,834

12,55012,831

14,55828,156

23,69520,015

Proﬁt

2,968

3,798

5,213

7,923

8,110

6,555

7,401

7,834

17,824

15,20813,327

Capital expenditures

20,316

21,603

27,231

27,032

19,083

20,56833,997

19,86729,256

22,84824,225

7,942

8,276

8,833

10,316

11,373

12,055

12,63912,715

13,11014,061

14,966

Total assets

176,542

186,079

205,743

211,533

222,421

227,552

246,812

262,053

268,307270,229

280,810

Net assets

52,86455,38052,453

57,84363,276

69,271

75,34081,36097,560110,299

122,002

29.9

29.8

25.5

27.3

28.4

30.4

30.5

31.0

36.4

40.8

43.4

64,34868,07152,53979,97578,536

78,20890,204

59,14842,76069,10874,170Cash ﬂows from operating activities

11,301

16,90851,355(7,688)17,565

16,952

18,23554,89841,747(7,926)23,899Cash ﬂows from investing activities(15,354)(16,121)(18,861)(22,891)(14,343)(18,045)(27,799)(16,067)(20,587)(20,303)(23,839)

Cash ﬂows from ﬁnancing activities

558

637

(25,623)

25,932(3,886)(2,551)

9,375(33,521)(19,029)

22,695

(142)

7,403

8,828

15,69911,051

11,336

7,692

7,503

12,813

14,943

9,409

9,327

Proﬁt (loss)

Depreciation and amortization
Financial position

Equity ratio (%)
Interest-bearing liabilities balance
Cash ﬂows

Cash and cash equivalents at end of period*1 Figures for FY2015 are non-consolidated ﬁgures as there were no consolidated companies in the Group.
*2 Accounting Standard for Revenue Recognition applied from FY2022 (ﬁgures prior to FY2022 are before application).

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Key Consolidated Financial and Non-Financial Data

FY2012FY2013

FY2014FY2015*1

FY2016FY2017FY2018FY2019FY2020

FY2021

FY2022*2

Net proﬁt per share (yen)

56.78

72.52

107.92

169.24173.23140.03157.91

167.17380.32324.50284.35

Net assets per share (yen)1,008.64

1,060.89

1,120.35

1,235.47

1,351.55

1,477.96

1,607.47

1,735.94

2,081.61

2,353.44

2,599.79

25.00

25.00

25.00

30.00

30.00

30.00

30.00

40.00

50.00

70.00

70.00

Return on equity (ROE) (%)

5.8

7.0

9.7

14.5

13.6

9.9

10.2

10.0

19.9

14.6

11.5

Ratio of ordinary proﬁt to total assets (ROA) (%)

4.2

4.2

5.6

6.2

5.9

5.6

5.4

5.7

10.6

8.8

7.3

Return on invested capital (ROIC)

4.1

3.9

5.7

6.0

5.7

6.2

5.6

6.3

11.5

8.9

7.4

Price earnings ratio (PER) (times)

22.4

20.2

16.4

14.3

19.1

20.1

15.7

14.1

8.3

9.4

9.7

Price book-value ratio (PBR) (times)

1.3

1.4

1.6

2.0

2.5

1.9

1.5

1.4

1.5

1.3

1.1

Total number of issued shares at the end of
the period (thousand shares)

53,45053,45053,45053,45053,45053,45053,45053,45053,45049,45049,450Total number of employees*3

20,35621,002

22,48724,31325,06426,09927,51228,15929,48930,81931,645

11

14

9

11

9

7

10

8

8

8

11

Number of stores at the end of the period

231

239

245

256

264

266

270

275

280

285

296

Sales ﬂoor area at the end of the period(thousand m2)

589

605

621

644

660

662

669

675

676

668

690

Per share ﬁnancial data

Dividend per share (yen)Management indicators

Other

Number of new stores*1 Figures for FY2015 are non-consolidated ﬁgures as there were no consolidated companies in the Group.
*2 Accounting Standard for Revenue Recognition applied from FY2022 (ﬁgures prior to FY2022 are before application).
*3 Of the total number of employees, the average number of part-timers employed per year is calculated based on eight hours per day.

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CONTENTS

Corporate Information (as of February 28, 2023)
Company Overview

Organizational Chart

Company name

LIFE CORPORATIONFounded1910 (ﬁrst LIFE store opened in 1961)

Established

October 24, 1956

General Meeting of
Shareholders

Internal Controls System
Management Committee[Head Office]3-6-2 Nihonbashi Honcho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Head oﬃce
and regional
headquarters

Sustainability Management andPromotion Committee
Representative Director
and President*Head oﬃce moved to 2-2-22 Nishimiyahara, Yodogawa-ku,
Osaka, as of May 27, 2023.

[Osaka Headquarters]
2-2-22 Nishimiyahara, Yodogawa-ku, Osaka[Tokyo Headquarters]
1-2-16 Taito, Taito-ku, Tokyo

Quality Assurance Div.

Information Strategy Div.

Compliance Div.

IR Dept.

http://www.lifecorp.jp/ (Japanese)

Corporate Finance andAccounting Div.

WebsiteSustainability Management
and Promotion Dept.

31,260 (consolidated)

Corporate Functions
Group HQ

General Aﬀairs Div.

Number of
employees

Business
Group HQ

Diversity Promotion Oﬃce

296

Development
Group HQ

Human Resources Div.

Number of stores

InfrastructureGroup HQCX Co-creation
Promotion Oﬃce

1

Tokyo Oﬃce

Business Strategy Div.

Companies subject
to consolidated
ﬁnancial statements

LIFE-CSIRTTokyo Region Product Div.

Supermarket chain

Risk Management
Committee

Tokyo Region Chain Store Div.

Main businessCorporate Strategy andPlanning Dept.

Osaka Region Product Div.

KPMG AZSA LLC

Management Strategy
Committee

Osaka Region Chain Store Div.

Accounting auditor

Board of Corporate
Auditors

Internal Audit Oﬃce

Tokyo Region Development Div.

From March 1 every year to end of
February of the following year

Osaka Region Development Div.

Fiscal year

Corporate
Auditors

E-Commerce
Business DivisionTokyo Region Process Center &Logistics Div.

¥10,004 million

Osaka Region Process Center &Logistics Div.

CapitalNomination & Remuneration
Advisory Committee

Board of Directors

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Stock Information (as of February 28, 2023)
Share Distribution by
Shareholder Type

Company Shares
Total number ofauthorized shares

120,000,000 shares

Total number ofissued shares

49,450,800 shares(2,438,486 shares of treasury stock)

Number ofshareholders

7,676

Number of shares
per trading unit

Other domestic
corporations

L AL AP
Happ I is a
y fai
who
ry,
is
make said toeverhapp yoney.

Foreigncorporations, etc.

7.46％

48.78％

Financial
institutions

25.61％

100 shares

Stock exchange
listing

Prime Market of theTokyo Stock Exchange

Securities code

8194

Shareholder
register agent

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank
1-4-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo

Individuals/
others

11.86％

Treasurystock

Securities
ﬁrms

4.93％

1.36％

About

L A L A PI

Name

LALAPI

Hometown

LIFE Island

BirthdayApril 28
(Four-leaf Clover Day)・Soft, cuddly andcomforts everyone
Character ・Always smiling andmaking everyone
around happy
Favoritefood

Mini croissants
baked in the LIFE’s
bread corner“Komugi no Sato.”

Our endearing and long-loved character LALAPI was createdMajor Shareholders
Name

Number of shares held

Shareholding ratio

10,562,500

22.5%

Seishin Kosan Corporation

5,382,000

11.4%

The Master Trust Bank of Japan, Ltd. (Trust Account)

3,238,500

6.9%Life Sports Foundation

3,229,200

6.9%Life Mutual Prosperity Association

2,322,212

4.9%

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Limited

2,264,000

4.8%

The Norinchukin Bank

2,100,276

4.5%

Custody Bank of Japan, Ltd. (Trust Account)

1,104,200

2.3%

SUMITOMO LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY

737,000

1.6%

Nobutsugu Shimizu

701,400

1.5%

Mitsubishi Corporation

Note: The shareholding ratio is calculated after deducting treasury shares (2,438,486 shares). The treasury shares do not include 84,300
shares of the Company held by Custody Bank of Japan, Ltd. as trust assets for the “Trust for Delivering Shares to Directors.”by the character designer Atsuko Nishida, who designed thefamous Pokémon character Pikachu, to make LIFE a more
attractive place to shop for many customers. We decided
on LALAPIʼs design and name through an employee ballot.

To learn more about LALAPI, scan the QR codes below.*
LALAPI is waiting!

WebsiteYouTubeInstagram*Written in Japanese