Hitotsubashi University Japanese Studies in English Lecture Series 2018


Theme: Diverse Lives

"LGBT and Work - Changing Japanese Workplaces"

http://www.soc.hit-u.ac.jp/glp/posts/2018-07-20180713lecture.html <http://www.soc.hit-u.ac.jp/glp/posts/2018-07-20180713lecture.html>


<http://www.soc.hit-u.ac.jp/glp/posts/2018-07-20180713lecture.html>

Date: July 13 (Friday)


Time: 15:30-17:00


Venue: Mercury Hall, Mercury Tower 7F, East campus, Hitotsubashi University



On July 13, we will be holding an event about LGBT and work in Japan. Following the two presentations we will have a discussion about the issue. The event will be followed by a free dinner reception which all are welcome to join.


*Why is it so important for enterprises to work on LGBT human rights?*
/Kento Hoshi, CEO, JobRainbow/

Recently, the term "LGBT" is becoming widely recognized in Japan as the topic becomes more frequently dealt with in the media. In Tokyo Rainbow Pride 2018, the largest LGBT fesitval in Japan, many renowned enterprises such as Google and Nomura Securities participated as sponsors, making a public appeal about their policies and efforts concerning LGBT. Why is it so important for enterprises to work on LGBT human rights? Kento Hoshi, CEO of JobRainbow Co., Ltd will answer this question.


*Transcending Barriers In Work and Culture*
/Selina Provias/

"The nail that sticks out gets hammered down" is an expression that can easily sum up one of Japan's main society-driven values. Individuality is not something that is encouraged, particularly in a traditional Japanese work environment where employees are expected to put the interests of their company before their own. How can one individual change a company's policies without being labelled as that proverbial nail that sticks out? In this talk, I will describe my own experience in changing my company's HR policy to be LGBT-friendly, and how it's possible to live in harmony with society without having to compromise on one's identity.


*Speakers: *

*Kento Hoshi*
CEO of JobRainbow, a social enterprise founded to "make a society in which every LGBT person can work as they are." Selected by "Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2018: The Social Entrepreneurs Bringing Positive Change To Asia" and "Masayoshi Son Foundation."Featured in media such as the New York Times, Asahi Newspaper, Fuji Television, and TV Tokyo. Graduated from the University of Tokyo, Education faculty in Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies.



*Selina Provias*
A graduate in Psychology from the University of Kent of Dutch and Greek descent, Selina Provias moved from London to Tokyo in the wake of the East Japan Earthquake of 2011, first working as an English teacher, and then as a writer of English textbooks and learning materials for the Eikaiwa industry. In September 2015, no longer wanting to continue presenting herself as someone she knew she wasn't, Selina decided to finally begin her medical and social transition from male to female.