Rakuten Pride shines bright in 2024

This year’s Pride celebrations were bigger and brighter than ever at Rakuten, with a dynamic slate of employee events, special initiatives and opportunities for education. Below are some of the exciting Pride Month 2024 highlights from across the Rakuten Group.

Tokyo Rainbow Pride 2024: A celebration in technicolor

A total of 270,000 people attended Tokyo Rainbow Pride 2024, the country’s largest annual LGBTQ+ celebration. As usual, Rakuten’s DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging) Group in Japan and R-Pride, the employee resource group supporting LGBTQ+ employees and allies, showed up in full force, collaborating this time around with Rakuten Beauty to introduce its Inclusive Salon Project, and Rakuten Travel to gather user voices on the inclusivity of their services.

For the parade, 120 Rakuten employees and members of leadership marched through the streets of Tokyo decked out in matching Rakuten Pride logo t-shirts. In true Rakuten style, the company’s R-Pride members and allies showed off their support and spread good vibes throughout the Spring weekend.

Throughout the event, Rakuten’s R-Pride members and employee volunteers took the opportunity to survey eventgoers to gather insights on how Rakuten can improve its services for the LGBTQ+ community. The team brought back their popular branded photo booth, encouraging attendees to show their pride with Rakuten and displayed informative cards at the Rakuten booth to showcase how the company’s services are becoming more inclusive for the LGBTQ+ community in Japan.

Rakuten also held internal Pride Month celebrations during the month of June, with wide ranging activities and initiatives that anyone could join. One of the month’s highlights was a guest speaker session with Mio Yoshimura from freee K.K. and Tokyo Rainbow Pride. Mio discussed the importance of leveraging diversity for team success, and was later joined by Rakuten’s Chief Data Officer Ting Cai to share insights on creating more inclusive workplaces.

Rakutenians celebrate Pride around the globe

Rakuten’s Pride celebrations are not just limited to Japan. Rakuten Taiwan joined Taiwan’s annual Pride parade last fall, highlighting LGBTQ+ community’s visibility and showing off Rakuten’s inclusive ecosystem in the city of Taipei.

Across U.S. offices, the company celebrated Pride with a series of memorable internal events. Under the theme “Youth of the Nation,” Rakuten International hosted a panel discussion that highlighted dialogues from Rakuten employees who are parents of LGBTQIA+ youth to gain insights into their journey and how they are affirming the identities of their children.

Additionally, Rakuten International held a documentary screening on transgender youth resilience, featuring the film’s director Megan Stowe, and organized other engaging activities such as a virtual game show that featured Pride Month trivia.

Rakuten’s global presence underscores the company’s commitment to supporting LGBTQ+ communities worldwide in the hopes of making the organization a better advocate for diversity and inclusion.

Rakuten India hosts Run with Pride 2024

Rakuten India participated in Pride 2024 this year by hosting its annual fun run event, Run with Pride, reaffirming Rakuten India’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.

This year’s event welcomed over 1,000 enthusiastic participants, including Rakuten employees, their families, friends and external participants from various companies, who gathered at Cubbon Park next to the company’s Bengaluru headquarters to celebrate inclusivity and community spirit.

The event was a resounding success, attracting twice as many participants as the previous year. The run included 3km, 5km, and 10km courses, and plenty of space to cheer on runners, to ensure that everyone, regardless of fitness level, could participate and show their support.

In addition to Rakuten employees, the event welcomed external participation from various companies in Bengaluru, building a strong sense of community and solidarity with the local LGBTQIA+ community.

Keeping the momentum for change

While Rakuten has made strides in Japan and around the globe to increase visibility and acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community, there’s still work to be done. These activities are just some of the many initiatives Rakuten undertakes to foster a diverse and inclusive workplace all year round. The company is dedicated to countering prejudice and pushing for a more equal society. With a long history of empowering inclusion and diversity, Rakuten is dedicated to creating an environment where everyone feels welcome and respected.