We identified our materialities by first consulting international guidelines, identifying and organizing issues, and creating a long list. We then evaluated the items on the long list along the two axes of "importance to society" and "importance to HITOWA," and checked how each aligned with our Group slogan, "Using the power of people to help mankind as we advance into the future," to narrow down the list of candidates. The Sustainability Committee then engaged in discussions and deliberations to identify and select materialities.

STEP 1 Identifying Social Issues and Creating a Long List

In defining our materialities, we referred to our Group's own business plans; international frameworks such as GRI Standards, ISO 26000, SASB, and IIRC; and issues recognized by the Japanese government and economic organizations in order to identify social issues. From this pool of possible social issues, we created a long list of social issues that needed to be addressed.

STEP 2 Mapping Items on the Long List

We mapped the social issues in our long list along the two axes of "importance to society" and "importance to HITOWA."

Mapping the Materialities Identified and Examined by the HITOWA Group

STEP 3 Narrowing Down the List to a Short List of High Priority Items and Determining Candidate Materialities

We evaluated how the items on the long list aligned with the Group slogan of "Using the power of people to help mankind as we advance into the future" to create a list of candidate materialities.

STEP 4 Discussion and Deliberation by the Sustainability Committee and Selection and Finalization of the Materialities

Following discussions and deliberations by the Sustainability Committee, the HITOWA Group's materialities were selected and finalized in July 2022.