Not Making Disability Employment Just About Numbers: "What LORANS Wants to Keep Asking" Released

LORANS Co., Ltd. (Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Representative Director: Maki Fukuju, hereinafter "LORANS"), a "flower shop that makes people bloom" where about 70% of staff face disabilities or intractable diseases, released "What LORANS Wants to Keep Asking," a summary of its philosophy on disability employment, on its company website on July 1, 2026.

On July 1, 2026, the statutory employment rate for private companies will be raised to 2.7%. More than 60 years have passed since the enactment of the Act on Employment Promotion etc. of Persons with Disabilities, and about 50 years since the start of the statutory employment rate system. Currently, over 700,000 people with disabilities are employed. The number of employed individuals has increased for 22 consecutive years, and opportunities for people with disabilities to work have steadily expanded thanks to the efforts of many companies and supporters.

On the other hand, in recent years, discussions have expanded not only on the "numbers" of disability employment but also on the "quality of employment," focusing on "how people work."

Beyond the numbers, there is an individual's life and their aspirations for work. And above all, there is the wish to "work in a way that is true to oneself."

We want people to look at the person first, before the words and numbers of "disability employment." We want them to see a person with a name, a life, strengths, and weaknesses, rather than a label of disability.

We at LORANS aim to go beyond the concepts of obligation and social contribution, viewing disability employment as "working companions (human resources) who create the future together." To achieve this, it is increasingly necessary for companies, individuals facing disabilities, and disability welfare service providers to not work in isolation but to combine their strengths and move forward.

On July 1st, with the increase in the statutory employment rate as an opportunity, we want people to re-examine the fundamental meaning of working together. We decided to put this sentiment into words and announce it as "What LORANS Wants to Keep Asking."

Furthermore, "What LORANS Wants to Keep Asking" will be released in installments, starting with this first part, and we plan to continue posing these questions to society.

As a "flower shop that makes people bloom," LORANS will continue to strive for a society where everyone, regardless of disability, can work in a way that is true to themselves and feel the joy of being able to help others.

Click here for the full text of "What LORANS Wants to Keep Asking"

https://lorans.jp/recruit-support/#20260701

Current Situation Surrounding Disability Employment

The Act on Employment Promotion etc. of Persons with Disabilities, enacted in 1960, is a law aimed at enabling people with disabilities to work according to their abilities and aptitudes, achieve independence through their occupations, and participate in society.

More than 60 years since its enactment, the system has been reviewed over time, expanding social participation for people with disabilities. This Act establishes the "statutory employment rate," the number of people with disabilities that companies are obligated to employ.

On July 1, 2026, this statutory employment rate will be raised from 2.5% to 2.7%. This means that companies with 37.5 or more employees will have an obligation to employ people with disabilities.

However, only 46.0% of companies achieve the statutory employment rate, and among those that do not, 57.6% have not employed even one person with a disability (※2).

*1 Actual employment rate: The percentage of people with disabilities actually employed by a company or business owner out of all employees (a rate based on the number counted according to regulations, not the actual number of individuals).

*2 Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare "Results of the Survey on Employment of Persons with Disabilities for Reiwa 7 (2025)"

Companies, People with Disabilities, and Disability Welfare Service Providers are Isolated and Struggling.

LORANS believes it is time to re-examine the respective "roles" of companies, people with disabilities, and disability welfare service providers.

This is because each group is in a state of isolation and facing challenges.

Companies struggle with "what kind of work to assign to people with disabilities" and are in a trial-and-error phase regarding how to support and interact with them.

People with disabilities hesitate to take a step forward due to the limited number of job types available, are confused by excessive consideration, and struggle with not being able to envision their future.

Disability welfare service providers, even when they create excellent products, struggle with how to sell them and are concerned about not being able to provide good vocational training opportunities for people with disabilities.

Each of them is working hard and doing their best, without a doubt.

That is precisely why LORANS wants to support each of them, connecting companies, people with disabilities, and disability welfare service providers, and becoming a source of strength.

LORANS's Three Principles

1. Focus on the Person, Not the Numbers.

There are individuals with unique personalities and strengths, not just a category of "people with disabilities." Everything begins with believing in the person in front of you and considering what kind of support would allow them to utilize their abilities, for the sake of "continuing to work with you."

2. Not an Obligation, but a Working Companion and Asset.

We want disability employment to be viewed not as an obligation or social contribution, but as "working companions (assets) who will create the future together." Instead of hiding differences, we should create places where each person's unique strengths can be utilized.

3. Collaboration Between Companies and Welfare Creates New Options and Progress.

Companies possess expertise in creating employment through business power, and disability welfare possesses expertise in fostering work capabilities through support. If both join hands, disability employment will surely advance further.

LORANS's Three Actions

1. Employing Over 100 People with Disabilities

LORANS employs over 100 people with disabilities through Type A Continuous Employment Support (※3) and is growing its business. We are not doing this for social contribution, but because we want to work together with companions we wish to have by our side to strengthen the company.

2. Providing Consideration, Not Preferential Treatment

As equal working companions, we will create jobs where individuals can feel the joy of working for someone by complementing each other's weaknesses and leveraging their strengths.

3. Connecting Companies and Disability Welfare Service Providers to Operate Joint Disability Employment

We believe that by having companies and disability welfare service providers, each with their own expertise, work together on challenges that cannot be handled by a single entity, we can reduce the number of people who give up on disability employment.

*3 Type A Continuous Employment Support: A welfare service that provides employment contract opportunities for people with disabilities who have difficulty finding employment in general companies but can work with a certain level of support.

Proposal: The Option of Joint Disability Employment

"It is difficult to employ people with disabilities solely within our own company."

We have seen many small and medium-sized enterprises forced to give up on disability employment for such reasons. Facing the real voices of these SMEs, we have partnered with administrative bodies to create a system utilizing the special calculation exception system (※4), and we operate "With Diversity Limited Liability Partnership," a joint employment project where disability employment is realized by everyone, not shouldered by a single company.

Currently, it is the largest partnership of its kind in Japan, with 20 companies and 4,053 participants, leading to the creation of 219.5 disability employment positions (actual employment rate of 5.42% ※5).

This system allows us to take a small step towards disability employment. And that step will eventually lead to direct employment within one's own company.

*4 A public system in Japan that allows companies (employers) that meet certain criteria to calculate the statutory employment rate collectively for a group of companies or a joint organization, instead of each company individually meeting the requirement.

*5 As of April 1, 2026.

Comment from Maki Fukuju, Representative Director of LORANS Co., Ltd.

During my time as a student teacher, I visited a special needs school and met children who, despite facing disabilities and life expectancies, had dreams of "working." However, I was shocked by the low employment rate after graduating from special needs school and the narrow range of available occupations. "I want to create a company where people facing disabilities and intractable diseases can work in a way that is true to themselves." That desire is the origin of my founding LORANS at the age of 23.

Currently, over 100 colleagues facing disabilities and intractable diseases work with us at LORANS. The expansion of employment opportunities for people with disabilities due to the statutory employment rate system is truly gratifying. We hold respect and joy for this progress.

However, what we face daily are not numbers. Nor is it a monolithic category of "people with disabilities." They are individuals, each walking a different life path, who wish to be useful to others through their work.

"Being able to challenge various tasks through orders from companies leads to my own growth."

"I want to grow more and become someone who can inspire courage in those who feel anxious about working."

Our staff at LORANS share such powerful, future-oriented perspectives.

That is precisely why we want to keep asking.

Are we pursuing disability employment that only focuses on numbers?

Are we truly facing each individual's "desire to work"?

Are companies, individuals facing disabilities, and disability welfare service providers isolated while grappling with their own challenges?

Could Japan's disability employment advance further through greater cooperation?

Japan has the "Special Subsidiary Company System" that large corporations can utilize. There are 631 such companies nationwide, creating employment for 53,710.5 people. (Source: Results of the Survey on Employment of Persons with Disabilities for Reiwa 7 (2025)).

I believe that expanding this system to small and medium-sized enterprises with limited management resources holds the key to advancing employment. We want to consider what we, who are engaged in joint disability employment, can do to achieve this.

We hope that "What LORANS Wants to Keep Asking" will serve as an opportunity for everyone to consider what it means for "everyone to bloom," regardless of disability.

Overview of LORANS Co., Ltd.

Representative: Maki Fukuju

Location: 1F Bells Harajuku Bldg., 3-54-15 Sendagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 151-0051

Phone Number: 03-6434-0607

Capital: 10 million yen

Founding Date: February 1, 2013

Group Company: General Incorporated Association LORANS PLUS

Group Employees: 140 (of which: 100 staff employed under disability quotas)

Facilities Operated: LORANS Harajuku Main Store, LORANS HARUMI FLAG Store, LORANS MARUNOUCHI, Bloom Factory -Flower Harajuku 1, Bloom Factory -Flower Harajuku 2, Bloom Factory -Green Tennoz, LORANS House Jiyugaoka

Homepage: https://lorans.jp/

Online Shop: https://lorans.shop-pro.jp/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lorans.flower/