Koji Yanai may hold a senior position in one of the world’s largest retail groups, but he's no run-of-the-mill grey-suited businessman. The 47-year-old is sharp and spry, with projects going far beyond the usual reaches of the corporate world. For starters, he is an acclaimed producer, having worked on an Oscar-nominated film.
Perfect Days, which centres on a public toilet cleaner in Japan, features another passion project of Yanai’s: The Tokyo Toilet. The group senior executive officer at Fast Retailing had embarked on the project to construct high-quality public restrooms throughout the Shibuya ward, replacing previously outdated or inaccessible structures.
That people-centric ideology is something Yanai has also brought to his work at Fast Retailing, where he is focused heavily on expanding the group’s efforts at giving back where it matters.
His approach, as he shared in Fast Retailing’s integrated report for 2023, is to “respond to increasingly discerning observations and demands from customers and help create a brand that exudes a sense of kindness and security”.
Since joining Fast Retailing in 2012, Yanai has risen through the ranks to his current position; he also sits on the board of directors, having been appointed along with his elder brother Kazumi in 2018. Their father, Tadashi, is the founder of Fast Retailing and the richest man in Japan, according to Forbes.
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Lending a hand
Among others, Yanai has leaned into the group’s support for refugees, including speaking at the Global Refugee Forum in Geneva last year. Japan was one of five co-convenor countries behind the forum, alongside Colombia, France, Jordan and Uganda.
Fast Retailing’s journey of refugee support began in 2001; five years later, it embarked on a partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to provide assistance to those displaced from their homes by conflicts and disasters.
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As part of this collaboration, the group collects pre-loved clothing from customers for donation to refugees and internally displaced persons. For those who leave their homes with little more than the clothes on their backs, such donations are especially critical.
“After we started working with UNHCR, we realised the importance of the clothing itself,” Yanai tells Options. “Everyone needs to wear something for everyday life, so demand for clothing is huge in refugee camps.” Fast Retailing has thus ramped up its collection drives, donating some four million items in FY2023 alone for a total of over 54 million pieces donated as at end-August 2023.
Besides donations, Fast Retailing also employs refugees in its companies, including Uniqlo, its sister brand GU and the Innovation Factory, a subsidiary focused on creating knitwear. In Japan, 60 refugees have been hired by the group, with others employed in countries such as the US and Germany.
One such beneficiary of Fast Retailing’s refugee employment programme is Khadiza Begum, a Rohingya refugee who arrived in Japan in 2006. She subsequently got a job in Uniqlo, and went on to pursue other endeavours, including setting up the Harmony Sisters Network, a Rohingya- and minority-focused non-profit organisation.
Begum was present at a Fast Retailing event in Tokyo to mark this year’s World Refugee Day (WRD) on June 19. At the same event, Yanai presented a new initiative with Support21, a social welfare organisation, to provide guidance for child refugees in the capital and help them build a new life in Japan.
With displaced persons entering from Afghanistan, Ukraine and elsewhere, Japan is set to see a growing number of refugees, many of whom will require support in resettlement; about half of them will be women and children. In 2023, Japan granted a record-high 303 people refugee status, with an additional 1,005 allowed to stay on humanitarian grounds.
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Keeping things going
Addressing the audience at the WRD event, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said efforts by companies such as Fast Retailing have “helped shape a world where refugees can again hope”. “This is what we need today, of all days,” he added, calling for greater collective action by governments, businesses and civil society to support the cause.
Concurring, Yanai highlighted that the private sector has “a major role to play in addressing the problem of the increasing number of displaced people around the world”. He added: “As a global partner of UNHCR, Fast Retailing will continue to support refugees through further contributions in the future.”
Speaking to Options after the event, Yanai notes that since the start of Fast Retailing’s collaboration with UNHCR, the number of refugees worldwide has grown from between 30 million and 40 million to some 120 million today. “The number of refugees is getting bigger and bigger every year; the situation is getting worse, so we need to contribute more to help them.”
Still, it is not always easy for players in the private sector to keep the good going, especially given volatility in business performance, he admits. “I think it’s difficult, especially in the private sector, because we need to make a profit if we want to continue our support.”
To ensure the work Fast Retailing does for refugees can be sustained, continued development of the business itself is key, he adds. “The more we can grow, the more we can help them.”
In 2022, Uniqlo launched the Peace for All project, working with collaborators from various fields to design T-shirts with a message of peace and hope, as an extension of the group’s efforts to support those in need.
Yanai points out that the project is a “good practice” that sits at the intersection of growth and giving. “Some customers are just buying a well-designed T-shirt… but that purchase will lead to the support of refugees.”
To date, some four million T-shirts from the line have been sold globally, with 41 collaborators including designer Jonathan Anderson, novelist Haruki Murakami and artist Kaws.
Asked about his favourite designs from the Peace for All project, Yanai says he has “many favourites”, then playfully gestures to his own outfit; under his sleek polo shirt is a white T-shirt by anatomist Takeshi Yoro, featuring an orange tabby cat and the words “Hope means we can change”.
At the WRD event, Uniqlo also unveiled three new designs by photographer Saul Leiter, artist-designer Tokujin Yoshioka and artist Han Meilin.
Japanese actress Haruka Ayase, who has also designed a Peace for All T-shirt, hosted an activity with local schoolchildren later in the day, speaking on the impact of the clothes donated by Fast Retailing.
A video screened during the activity showed one of Ayase’s donated items, a vest, reaching a Ukrainian refugee hairdresser, who offered to cut her hair if she were to visit. Addressing the audience in Japanese, Ayase said she was “glad that the power of clothing could make someone smile”.
Uplifting and inspiring
For Yanai, giving back is more than the sum of its parts. He shares that the totality of Fast Retailing’s refugee work — from collecting and donating clothes to ensuring refugees have a place to work and grow — is most deeply felt when he sees its outcomes. “When I see our clothes being worn by the refugees, that moment makes me very happy, and very proud of our company.”
He adds that underlying each of Fast Retailing’s efforts to support refugees is a commitment to leveraging its strengths. “I believe each company has its own advantage,” says Yanai, adding that companies seeking to do good should identify such points and determine how they can be best applied to various causes. “In Fast Retailing’s case, we are in the apparel business, so we should utilise the power of clothing to help refugees.”
While the idea of giving back may seem straightforward on paper, rolling up one’s sleeves and getting down to the ground to understand beneficiaries better is another area companies ought to consider. In some cases, needs may not always be straightforward, Yanai notes.
He recounts an April trip to Bangladesh, where refugees who had been resettled there lacked documentation and bank accounts. “So even if the situation were settled, and they were allowed to work… they would not be able to save money,” he says. “The fundamental infrastructure should be organised as soon as possible; otherwise, no one will [be able to] survive. That’s a huge challenge.”
Something else Yanai noticed on the trip was that nearly everyone he met had a smartphone. “When I visited them, they recognised me as an Uniqlo officer, but they also recognised me as a movie producer,” he says. He adds that some even told him they were working on documentaries and wanted to work with him.
Such conversations have left a deep impression on Yanai. While he was initially surprised by the state of the refugees’ living conditions when he first arrived in Bangladesh, his shock quickly turned to awe as he realised how committed they were to getting their lives back on track, even after having left their homes under difficult circumstances.
“I was impressed by their resilience,” Yanai says, pointing out that some have even become journalists in their own right, taking photographs of their surroundings to report on the situation in refugee camps. Seeing their determination, strength and bravery in the face of adversity keeps him energised as he seeks to bring Fast Retailing’s giving journey to greater heights. “I think their attitude and behaviour is so inspiring,” he says.
