Message from Chairman

This year, SUGI Pharmacy is celebrating the major milestone of the 50th anniversary of its founding. We started our business as a single “family pharmacy” in Nishio City, Aichi Prefecture, and we are now taking bold steps both in Japan and overseas toward achieving our Total Healthcare Strategy. We have continued to expand both the geographic scope of our stores and the scope of our businesses, with companies such as the Hanshin Dispensing Pharmacy Group, Hikari Pharma, and NIHONDO joining our Group one after another and an increasing number of partner companies involved in our overseas expansion.
Our remarkable progress has been underpinned by the spirit of “immutability and fluidity,” that is, the attitude of championing what should remain unwavering while flexibly embracing new changes. The starting point for the SUGI Pharmacy Group’s emphasis on “immutability” is its dedication to and behavior of respecting each customer in front of our eyes. Now, intended beneficiaries of our dedication and behavior include not only our customers but also our employees, business partners, and all other stakeholders.
Meanwhile, our readiness for “fluidity” is embodied by the Mid-Term Management Plan. This plan guides us to adapt flexibly to the rapidly changing times and make changes to what needs to be evolved without hesitation with a view to taking a further leap from a company with sales of one trillion yen.
Achieving continuous “sound” growth while maintaining a good balance between “immutability” and “fluidity” is an essential requirement for the SUGI Pharmacy Group to expand its business, without chasing growth for growth’s sake, while supporting healthcare infrastructure in local communities and addressing social issues. I believe that my most important role lies in continuing to emphasize the importance of this spirit to all employees.

For the Group to create a sustainable future toward our next milestone—the 100th anniversary, I also have the important responsibility to identify management risks from a medium- to long-term perspective and further reinforce our corporate governance system.
In the current age of increasingly rapid spread of information through social media and other means, which may have an immediate and massive impact on the credibility of a company, extremely high importance is placed on corporate governance and response to risks.
To address this situation, we have strengthened our monitoring system in which outside directors and auditors play a central role and deepened our cooperation with external audit agencies to enhance our mechanisms for proactively identifying and addressing potential risks from a third-party perspective. We will also upgrade our internal audit functions to prevent or promptly address on-site problems and materialized risks.
Furthermore, as a company entrusted with important customer information, we are fully committed to continuing to improve our systems for information management, security, and compliance. At the same time, we will tackle our issues of materiality head-on, such as addressing climate change and implementing disaster countermeasures, thereby building a solid management foundation that allows us to respond to any changes.