Career Ownership Management Award 2026 Grand Prix and Top Excellence Awards in 5 Categories Announced

This news release is announced by Persol Career Co., Ltd., the operating secretariat, on behalf of the "Career Ownership Management Award Executive Committee."

In the "Career Ownership Management Award 2026" (hereinafter, this Award; Judging Committee Chairman: Kunio Ito, Director of CFO Education and Research Center, Hitotsubashi University; Executive Committee Chairman: Kennosuke Tanaka, Professor, Faculty of Career Design and Graduate School, Hosei University), we are pleased to announce that the Grand Prix and the Top Excellence Awards in 5 categories have been determined from among the 17 finalists for fiscal year 2026, after a rigorous evaluation of the submitted companies' initiatives based on evaluation criteria and incorporating the unique perspectives of each judge. Together with the 17 Encouragement Awards and 33 Excellence Awards (33 companies and 1 organization) announced in April this year, the award categories for a total of 68 companies and organizations for fiscal year 2026, which are promoting the maximization of human capital and realizing the sustainable co-growth of individuals and companies, have been officially confirmed to honor and disseminate their activities to the world.

This year, companies with 1,000 or more employees were judged in the "Large Corporations Division," companies with fewer than 1,000 employees in the "Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Division," and practical/exploratory communities of companies and individuals in the "Cross-Border Communities Division," and the award-winning companies were selected as follows:

"Career Ownership Management Award 2026" Grand Prix

Large Corporations Division

CCI Group Co., Ltd.

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Division

Rejil Co., Ltd.

"Career Ownership Management Award 2026" Top Excellence Award: HR Transformation Category

Large Corporations Division

Doronko Kai Group

(Representative corporate body: Social Welfare Corporation Doronko Kai)

YKK AP Inc.

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Division

No applicable companies

"Career Ownership Management Award 2026" Top Excellence Award: Corporate Culture Transformation Category

Large Corporations Division

SCSK Corporation

Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd.

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Division

Sobajima Seikan Co., Ltd.

Papua New Guinea Kaisan Co., Ltd.

"Career Ownership Management Award 2026" Top Excellence Award: Management Transformation Category

Large Corporations Division

SHIFT Inc.

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Division

Matsumoto Kosan Co., Ltd.

"Career Ownership Management Award 2026" Top Excellence Award: Career Transformation Category

Large Corporations Division

Shizuoka Financial Group, Inc.

NTT DOCOMO, Inc.

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Division

Gaiapress Co., Ltd.

Rankup Co., Ltd.

"Career Ownership Management Award 2026" Top Excellence Award: Human Resource Acquisition and Development Transformation

Large Corporations Division

Asahi Kasei Corporation

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Division

Nakagawa Co., Ltd.

Nacht Co., Ltd.

"Career Ownership Management Award 2026" List of Excellence Award Companies (33 companies/1 organization)

Large Corporations Division (16 companies)

EY ShinNihon LLC

NTT DATA Corporation

NTT DOCOMO Business Engineering Corporation

Orient Corporation

Onward Holdings Co., Ltd.

Calbee, Inc.

CUC Group

(Representative corporate body: CUC Co., Ltd.)

Daihatsu Motor Co., Ltd.

TSUMURA & CO.

Nitori Holdings Co., Ltd.

Japan Tobacco Inc.

Nippon Paint Group (Representative corporate body: Nippon Paint Automotive Coatings Co., Ltd.)

Hakuhodo DY Holdings Inc.

BizReach, Inc.

Macnica, Inc.

Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co., Ltd.

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Division (17 companies)

Itsumo Co., Ltd.

Event21 Co., Ltd.

Tax Accountant Corporation Withrun

SK Word Co., Ltd.

KADODE Co., Ltd.

Cocorico Co., Ltd.

Sonic Garden Inc.

Plus Value Co., Ltd.

Certified NPO Florence

Re-i Co., Ltd.

Re-grit Partners Co., Ltd.

RELATIONS Co., Ltd.

YKA Co., Ltd.

Cross-Border Communities Division (1 organization)

General Incorporated Association Protean Career Association

"Career Ownership Management Award 2026" List of Encouragement Award Companies (17 companies)

Large Corporations Division (4 companies)

Aim Services Co., Ltd.

Kanai Holdings Co., Ltd.

Kikkoman Corporation

Sanko Gakuen Educational Corporation

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Division (13 companies)

Ash Co., Ltd.

Incudata Inc.

InGage Co., Ltd.

Interspace Co., Ltd.

Social Welfare Corporation Karube no Sato Welfare Association

Grant Co., Ltd.

Green Field Over Co., Ltd.

Seeds Assistance

National Archives of Japan

SHO-SAN Co., Ltd.

DAC Holdings Co., Ltd.

Tomorrow Gate Co., Ltd.

Toyo Re