Message from External Directors

Two years ago, in 2022, I was appointed as External Director and Audit and Supervisory Committee Member, and at the General Meeting of Shareholders in 2024, I was appointed as Chairperson of the Audit and Supervisory Committee. I would like to reaffirm my awareness of the role of the Audit and Supervisory Committee and fulfill the responsibilities of my position. To this end, I would like to gain a deeper understanding of our business, organization, and culture, and conduct solid monitoring and auditing that does not miss the mark. In addition, the three external Audit and Supervisory Committee members, including myself, will strive to make the Audit and Supervisory Committee even more capable of making recommendations to improve our corporate strength and performance based on our own knowledge and experience. Having attended the Board of Directors meetings, I feel that under the leadership of Chairman Jitsumori, both Internal and External Directors express their opinions, and these opinions are respected. Specifically, I believe that our Board of Directors has the basis for a free and vigorous exchange of opinions, in which each Director’s comments are accepted and any differences are discussed. I hope that we will continue to promote discussions in this atmosphere as we have in the past. I have learned a lot about EIZO over the past two years. I believe that we are now in a period of stability, having completed a period of expansion that included entry into new markets, steady growth in each market, and successful M&A. New businesses and products are steadily entering a period of stability, centering on the development of our core businesses in the Healthcare and V&S video markets, and concrete synergies between businesses are also emerging. My impression is that the overall business model is becoming more stable. Therefore, rather than implementing major reforms for growth, I see this as a time to stabilize the good points of the current situation and prepare for the next growth period. In the future, in addition to the positive and stable growth of existing businesses, it will be necessary to discuss next-generation businesses, for example, what we will be doing ten years from now and where we will be heading. As a company with strong technological capabilities, I hope that we can use our technological capabilities as a weapon to come up with new ideas for future growth. The impression I got from the 8th Mid-Term Business Plan was that it has a clear message, which is very easy to understand. I believe that the plan is designed to effectively develop our company’s strengths. First of all, if we can establish a business model that leverages our strengths based on the strategies outlined in this Mid-term Business Plan, and if we can think about the future together, we will become a more attractive and robust company.

Regarding our sustainability and community engagement efforts, we follow a well-established process where initiatives thoroughly discussed by the Sustainability Committee are presented to the Board of Directors for approval. I believe these efforts align well with the standards expected of a publicly listed company. We are also progressing toward our goal of increasing the representation of female employees in management and executive positions. This is a key area for growth, and we will continue to advance in measured stages. To support this initiative, we recognize the need to provide flexible working conditions, particularly for those balancing responsibilities related to childbirth and child-rearing. We are exploring numerous strategies to enhance support for female employees, while also encouraging greater flexibility for male employees, fostering a culture of adaptable work arrangements. With the new management structure introduced in April, as External Directors, we are considering further ways to enhance our free and open corporate culture. During Board of Directors meetings, which include participation from all Operating Officers as observers, we aim to encourage more bottom-up discussions. EIZO has a history of bold reforms that have driven corporate growth, and we hope to continue engaging in conversations that extend beyond our current business model. Effective crisis management is a vital component of corporate governance. While EIZO has a solid track record with no major past incidents, it is essential to ensure readiness to respond swiftly should a situation arise. Even when an issue is resolved, it can pose a long-term risk, making it vital to maintain a robust compliance and risk management framework. To mitigate long-term risks, we will continue to assess and enhance these systems, including regular monitoring and oversight of our overseas group companies, to ensure they operate with the same level of diligence. We remain committed to providing ongoing feedback to further strengthen these essential functions. In the last fiscal year, we significantly increased dividends to strengthen shareholder returns, reflecting a broader strategic approach to improving ROE. While addressing ROE and PBR targets remains important, our immediate focus is on enhancing business performance and profitability, particularly given market conditions in Europe. We will continue to set clear targets and time frames for these initiatives, driving discussions on how best to achieve our financial objectives.

In the two years since I became a member of our Board of Directors in 2022, I have been learning every day. By receiving the agenda materials in advance of the Board of Directors meeting, and by having all the minutes and materials of the management meetings available to me, I was able to better understand the overall direction of the management, such as what discussions took place within the company before the agenda items were discussed at the Board of Directors meeting and what direction we plan to take in the future. Particularly from the perspective of gender equality and diversity, I have gained a great deal of understanding over the past two years, including a briefing from the Senior Manager of Human Resources on our efforts to promote women’s participation in the workforce. We have many talented female employees who are on the verge of becoming Managers. I think it is very important to find ways to help them grow in the future. Specifically, it is important for these women to have a positive attitude, and it is also important for their immediate supervisors to exercise leadership in talking to them about the future of the company, and firmly communicate to them what kind of Managers we want them to become. And I believe that the basis for this is having close communication in the workplace. I have experienced it myself. The atmosphere in the workplace where everyone tries to solve one person’s problems together while supporting each other, such as by following up when one person is discouraged, gives peace of mind and courage to female employees who have doubts or concerns about their place in the company. I really hope that this kind of atmosphere will take root in each department and that the company will become a place where many female employees can thrive. I feel that we are a company that follows our own plan for global expansion, and we are committed to putting in place a solid system while utilizing public institutions such as JETRO. Should there be any more regional developments, I would like to extend my support based on the experience and network from my previous position at JETRO. In terms of sustainability, we are also constructing a new technology building that is environmentally friendly, and I feel that we are an environmentally advanced company. Our initial response to the Noto Peninsula earthquake was excellent, and I believe that we are a company that contributes to the local community in many ways, such as by donating our monitors to schools in the affected areas.