Message from the President & CEO
Realizing a Cohesive Society and Evolving into a Lifetime Partner
The “3Rs” of Our Corporate Brand Essence “Love Your Possibilities”
Takahisa Takahara
President & CEO
Unicharm Corporation
Unicharm has launched Project Renaissance, our 13th Medium-Term Management Plan covering the five-year period from fiscal 2026—the year of our 65th anniversary—to fiscal 2030. Project Renaissance is based on the “3Rs” of “renaissance,” “rebirth,” and “resonance.” “Renaissance” represents a return to human-centered management through the integration of AI and human intuition. “Rebirth” embodies our aim to go beyond manufacturing and dominate emerging markets. “Resonance” represents our commitment to maximize co-created value with customers and society. In other words, Project Renaissance is the embodiment of our corporate brand essence “Love Your Possibilities.” Under the new medium-term management plan, we are committed to steadily achieving net sales of \1.5 trillion, core operating income rate of 17%, and ROE of 17% by fiscal 2030.
Pursuing Absolute Value Through Kyo-sei Life Vision 2035
Under Project Renaissance, we will not only aim to increase relative value, which compares net sales, operating income, market share, and other values to those of similar companies, but also pursue absolute value—the kind of value that makes customers feel that Unicharm products and services are an essential part of their lives.
In October 2020, we announced our medium- to long-term ESG goals, Kyo-sei Life Vision 2030—For a Diverse, Inclusive, and Sustainable World—and have since worked to achieve absolute value that is unique to Unicharm by helping resolve social and environmental issues through our business activities. While the details of these efforts are provided in the subsequent sections of this report, I am pleased to say that we achieved meaningful results over the five-year period through fiscal 2025.
To further accelerate our progress, we have reviewed our initiatives to date, and in light of changes in the business environment, revised key themes, indicators, and targets for the formulation of Kyo-sei Life Vision 2035, which we announced in October 2025. We will actively proceed with Kyo-sei Life Vision 2035 from fiscal 2026, in pursuit of even greater absolute value.
Contributing to the Social Implementation of a Circular Economy Through RefF
The backbone of our environmental initiatives under Kyo-sei Life Vision 2035 and the key to creating absolute value is our RefF horizontal recycling project for used disposable diapers.
This project uses our proprietary ozone treatment technology to restore the pulp recovered from used disposable diapers to a quality equivalent to unused raw materials. It represents a major initiative to shift from the conventional “use and dispose” style to a new social custom of “use and recycle.” Needless to say, we cannot carry out this initiative alone. Since 2016, Unicharm has been working together with Shibushi City and Osaki Town, Kagoshima Prefecture, as well as So Recycle Center LLC, a company contracted by both municipalities to handle waste disposal. In 2022, we launched Lifree Side Leak Prevention Tape-on RefF, disposable diapers that incorporate recycled pulp from this project as part of raw materials. In 2024, we expanded this product lineup to include baby care and pet care products.
Furthermore, this initiative is expanding outside the Company, with partner companies using the recycled material in toilet paper and shipping pallets. Going forward, we will deepen collaboration with companies in different industries and local governments with a view to realizing a society where recycling is a part of everyday life.
Developing into a Company That Supports Women’s Well-Being
Unicharm aims to be a lifetime partner that connects closely with its customers throughout their lives. We believe that developing into a company that supports women’s well-being is an important first step in becoming such a partner for customers around the world.
As part of this effort, we are rapidly developing new business projects using digital transformation (DX). The menstrual and health management app Sofy Be developed by the Marketing by DX (MDX) Division, established in 2023, predicts menstrual cycles and hormonal changes simply by inputting menstrual dates. The app has made significant advancements, including the addition of a function that displays typical physical and emotional changes that occur during each phase of the hormonal cycle. Furthermore, data obtained through this app regarding various user concerns, such as leakage and shifting, is analyzed in detail to enhance the development of next-generation products and services.
We are rapidly introducing new services that integrate digital and physical elements, such as Sofy Omamori Insurance Medical Support for Women,*1 a small-amount, short-term insurance that covers not only general illnesses and injuries, but also female-specific conditions and fertility-related activities.*2
Unicharm’s efforts to support women’s well-being are not limited to Japan and other developed countries. In the East African nation of Kenya, we collaborated with Toyota Tsusho Corporation and CFAO Kenya Limited to begin local production of sanitary pads in January 2025. Developed to meet the needs of local consumers, we offer SOFY Long Lasting sanitary pads at affordable prices by procuring some of the raw materials locally, enabling more women to use clean sanitary pads.
Through these initiatives, we aim to develop into a company that supports the well-being of all women throughout their lives.
*1 Insurance underwriter: Aflac Small-amount Short-term Insurance Company Limited
*2 Refers to acquiring knowledge, discussing with family members, monitoring one’s physical condition, and receiving fertility treatment, among other activities people often engage in when trying to conceive a child
“Renaissance”: Co-Creation with AI
The key to achieving “renaissance”—a return to human-centered management—lies in the autonomy of each employee. At Unicharm, we foster this autonomy through the Observation–Orientation–Decision–Action (OODA) Loop methodology.
With the OODA Loop methodology, we quickly grasp unexpected changes by observing current business conditions and appropriately orient ourselves to the situation and reach a decision, and then quickly take action. This cycle is repeated while constantly reviewing approaches and continuously making fundamental changes. In 2026, we plan to evolve this into OODA Loop with AI, an approach that integrates AI into the OODA Loop methodology. The data and advice generated by AI will be interpreted using human intuition and on-site wisdom, enabling more advanced decision-making.
We believe this kind of co-creation between humans and AI is what renaissance is all about in today’s world. Using OODA Loop with AI, we will further accelerate the speed at which we provide absolute value unique to Unicharm. We hope you look forward to the Unicharm Group’s continuous efforts to take on new challenges.
May 2026
Takahisa Takahara
President & CEO
Unicharm Corporation