Miki Shoko Co., Ltd. Modern Slavery Statement for Fiscal Year 2020
1. Introduction
This Modern Slavery Statement (hereafter referred to as this Statement) has been made by Miki Shoko Co.,
Ltd. (hereafter referred to as Miki Shoko) in accordance with the “U.K. Modern Slavery Act 2015” and the“Australian Modern Slavery Act 2018” (hereafter collectively referred to as Modern Slavery Acts). This
Statement outlines measures implemented to ensure legal compliance and to prevent modern slavery andhuman trafficking in the business activities and supply chain of Miki Shoko and all group companies shown
below (hereafter referred to as the Miki House Group).
This Statement reports on activities implemented by February 2021, based on modern slavery risks
identified in human rights due diligence conducted in August 2019.
2. Organization Structure and Business Overview
Trade name

Miki Shoko Co., Ltd. (The MIKI HOUSE Group)

FoundedApril 1971

Established

September 1978

Capital2,030 million yen

Description ofDevelopment, production and sales of children’s apparel and family-related

business

items; cultural activities including publishing, education and parenting
supportOffices

Office headquarters: Osaka
Regional office: Tokyo
Overseas subsidiaries: France, USA, United Kingdom

Key Group

MIKI HOUSE CO., LTD.

companies

MIKI HOUSE TRADE CO., LTD.
MIKI HOUSE KOSODATE SOKEN CO., LTD.
MIKI HOUSE & SHOGAKUKAN PRODUCTION CO., LTD.
MIKI HOUSE FRANCE S.A.R.L.
MIKI HOUSE Americas, Inc.

MIKI HOUSE U.K. Ltd.
MIKI HOUSE (CHENGDU) TRADING CO., LTD.
Business result

Sales: 20,711 million yen (Fiscal year ended February 2020)

Employees

610 (as of April 2020)*All information and data used in this Statement are based on that obtained by the end of February 2021.
3. Supply Chain
Most of the factories involved in the Miki House Group products are located in Japan, China and Vietnam.
There are 225 such factories as of February 2021.
Miki Shoko started tracking its supply chain in 2017, with the ultimate goal in the future being tounderstand not only product manufacturing factories (Tier 1 supplier factories), but also Tier 2 supplierfactories and raw material suppliers.
The number of factories identified in the supplier self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ) conducted as
human rights due diligence in August 2019 was 151, with 23,624 workers. A further breakdown of thisfigure identified 3,860 workers in Japan, 10,881 in China, 8,324 in Vietnam, 900 in Myanmar and 352 inThailand.
4. Policies Related to Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking
Miki Shoko has adopted the following list of policies since 2018, updating them as required based on input
from external stakeholders. These policies also serve to supplement the company's compliance program andhave been approved by the President and CEO as Group-wide policies relating to modern slavery for theMiki House Group.
-

miki_shoko_policy_on_human_rights_for_suppliers.pdf (mikihouse.com)-

miki_shoko_code_of_conduct_for_suppliers.pdf (mikihouse.com)-

miki_shoko_csr_procurement_policy.pdf (mikihouse.com)-

miki_shoko_policy_on_migrant_worker_for_suppliers.pdf (mikihouse.com)

In January 2020, the above “Policy on Human Rights for Suppliers” and “Code of Conduct for Suppliers”
were revised and “Policy on Migrant Worker for Suppliers” was established so as to ensure that thestandards we require of our suppliers are adapted to applicable laws and the Modern Slavery Acts.

The purpose of this was to request that suppliers, as business partners, understand the concept of theModern Slavery Acts and can identify, prevent, and minimize the risk of human rights violations.
5. Human Rights Due Diligence for Modern Slavery and Risk Management
The following is a list of actions taken in FY2020 to address the abovementioned modern slavery risks
identified in this Statement for FY2019.
Endorsement of Foreign Workers Roundtable and Tokyo Declaration 2020
In FY2019, Miki Shoko participated in the Corporate Subcommittee of the Foreign Workers Roundtable
and, with other participant corporations, discussed the responsible acceptance of foreign workers. This
resulted in the announcement of the “Tokyo Declaration on the Responsible Acceptance of Foreign
Workers in Japan” (hereafter referred to as Tokyo Declaration 2020) in April 2020. This Declaration
outlines 13 requirements for foreign workers in Japan to be able to work in a better environment. While
taking into account Japan’s various systems, this Declaration aims to comply as much as possible with theDhaka Principles, the international norms on the responsible recruitment of migrant workers, as well as
norms and guidelines of other international institutions, such as the International Organization ofMigration (IOM) and the International Labor Organization (ILO).
Miki Shoko announced its support for Tokyo Declaration 2020 in April 2020, and the Miki House Groupintends to work with other companies, the government, and NPOs/NGOs to realize the content of thisDeclaration.
Participation in Japan Platform for Migrant Workers towards Responsible and Inclusive Society
Since October 2020, Miki Shoko has been participating in “Japan Platform for Migrant Workers towards
Responsible and Inclusive Society” (JP MIRAI), which was organized by the Japan International
Cooperation Agency (hereafter referred to as JICA). JP MIRAI is a platform that brings together variousstakeholders, including local governments, NPOs, academic experts, lawyers, and corporations to explore
and provide fundamental solutions to foreign labor issues. The idea here is to understand problems related
to foreign workers in factories in Japan, especially the system of modern slavery caused by fees paid byforeign workers, and to work together to improve the working and living conditions of foreign workers,
thereby contributing to the promotion of a multicultural society in Japan. Utilizing this platform, participant
companies and organizations will collaborate from their respective standpoints to further promotecollaboration in providing information, making policy proposals and surveys, communicating with foreignworkers, and conducting public relations and awareness campaigns.
Efforts to Resolve the Issue of Fees Paid by Technical Intern Trainees from Overseas
From March 2021, Miki Shoko will participate in the “Foreign Workers Initiative” organized by an NGO.

We plan to work with participating corporations to understand the actual situation surrounding the problemof fees paid by technical intern trainees from overseas and to discuss solutions to this problem, which isconsidered bonded labor under Modern Slavery Acts.
6. Covid-19 Impact, Risk and Response
In 2020, we considered that Covid-19 would have an impact on the supply chain, especially on vulnerable
workers (migrant workers and foreign technical intern trainees), and that ongoing communication would
be essential.
Under these circumstances, a survey was conducted in July 2020 on factories employing foreign technicalintern trainees in Japan in order to understand the impact of a full-scale spread of Covid-19.
(Number of factories providing a response: 28 (16 business partners))-Infections among employees, impact on employment, operational status: No different than normal-

Infection prevention measures: Adjusting work shifts and providing disinfectants at all times-Other concerns: Future order volume, procurement of raw materials

In FY2021, the most pressing issue is to continue to monitor the impact of Covid-19 on the employment ofvulnerable workers, especially foreign technical intern trainees, and to take measures to maintainemployment. Miki Shoko will secure production orders from factories as much as possible and continue toconduct online interviews and surveys in order to gain a full understanding of the impact and implicationsof Covid-19.
7. Grievance Mechanism/Reporting System
Establishment of Grievance Mechanism Covering Factories
This grievance mechanism enables workers to report to a third-party institution, an external NGO, via email
or a smartphone application.
January 2020
Conducted briefing sessions with business partners, announced the introduction of a grievance mechanism,
and requested business partners to sign a letter of consent
Participating companies: 75

All companies provided consent

January 2021
Implementation of grievance mechanism: 172 factories
Actual consultations: 1 case
Consultation content: One Japanese employee at a factory in Japan; consultation related to recognition of
overtime and a resolution was reached.

8. Training and Education
In FY2020, executive officers and responsible department manager-level staff participated in the Corporate
Subcommittee of the Foreign Workers Roundtable organized by an external NGO, where they focused ongathering information, including that related to trends at other companies, and exchanging opinions on
modern slavery.
This Statement was used to promote an understanding among management and employees of the risks ofhuman rights violations within the Miki House Group's supply chain.
In the future, we will consider introducing online training using web tools and so on, and these will also be
provided to overseas suppliers.
9. Roadmap for Mitigating Modern Slavery Risk
Miki Shoko has identified the following as priorities to work on from FY2021.
⑴

Provide educational opportunities on the risk of modern slavery (including the use of online tools
such as e-Learning)⑵-Provide training to factories-Provide training to the Miki House Group employees

Set monitoring priority levels
Based on SAQ results and top 20 factories supplying manufactured products

⑶Engage with factories•Follow up after audit (status of improvement of issues)This Modern Slavery Statement was approved by Miki Shoko’s Board of Directors on August 23, 2021.

Akio Mitsukawa
Executive Director/General Manager of President’s Office