Last Updated: 2025.06.17
Fast Retailing Showcases its Global Refugee Support Activities at Osaka Expo
Ahead of World Refugee Day, event emphasizes key role
of the private sector in assisting displaced people worldwide
FAST RETAILING CO., LTD.
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Fast Retailing joined with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, to showcase its global refugee support activities at an event at the Osaka Expo. The event, held in advance of World Refugee Day on June 20, featured a panel discussion to celebrate the third anniversary of UNIQLO's PEACE FOR ALL charity T-shirt project, and a spotlight on UNIQLO's founding support for the Displacement Film Fund to support refugee filmmakers. A public exhibition of UNIQLO's refugee support activities will continue at the United Nations Pavilion until June 22.
Held in partnership with UNHCR, the event featured two parts. In the first part, senior spokespeople from Fast Retailing and UNHCR provided an overview of the global refugee crisis and Fast Retailing's support activities to date - including a spotlight on its latest initiative with the Displacement Film Fund. In the second part, Cannes award-winning actor and star of the film Perfect Days Koji Yakusho took to the stage to discuss his recent contribution to UNIQLO's PEACE FOR ALL T-shirt charity project.
Following the event, UNIQLO will hold an exhibition in the United Nations Pavilion at the Osaka Expo from Monday, June 16 through Sunday, June 22, 2025. The exhibition features an overview of the PEACE FOR ALL project and will offer presales of the new PEACE FOR ALL collection ahead of its official release on June 20.
Part 1: Showcase of UNHCR and Fast Retailing Group's Refugee Support Activities
Status of global refugee issues as of June 2025
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UNHCR Japan's Representative-Designate Ms. Fumiko Kashiwa announced the latest UNHCR Global Trends Report, released on June 12th. Ms. Kashiwa said, "As of the end of April 2025, the number of people displaced from their homeland reached 122.1 million. This is comparable to the population of Japan, meaning that one in 67 people globally is forced to flee due to conflict and persecution," emphasizing the need for continuous and comprehensive support.
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In a video message to participants at the event, Filippo Grandi, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, said "While UNHCR plays a pivotal role in emergency response and the protection of refugees' rights and well-being, it is governments, businesses and individuals like you who we turn to, to mobilize resources and deliver life-saving aid where needed."
Speaking at the event, Koji Yanai, Group Senior Executive Officer at Fast Retailing, said: "Fast Retailing has been working with UNHCR since 2006 to support forcibly displaced people around the world. Leveraging the resources of our global apparel business, we began by providing clothing aid donations for people displaced by conflict or disaster. Since then, we have expanded our support for refugees, developing comprehensive programs that promote self-reliance through education, vocational training, and providing employment at our stores. Most recently, we have also helped to launch a new form of refugee support, with the Displacement Film Fund."
"The private sector has a major role to play in addressing the problem of displaced people, which has reached an unparalleled level worldwide. As a global partner of UNHCR, Fast Retailing will continue to support refugees through further initiatives."
A new refugee assistance project: UNIQLO's support for the Displacement Film Fund
UNIQLO donated 100,000 euros to the Displacement Film Fund established in January 2025, as a founding partner. In his presentation, Koji Yanai explained the background and intent behind the establishment of this organization. Through support for displaced filmmakers, UNIQLO is combining its MADE FOR ALL philosophy with the power of film to bring more refugee stories to mainstream audiences, helping to build stronger awareness and empathy for displaced people.
The event was also attended by Clare Stewart, Managing Director of the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), who leads the management of the fund, and Hasan Kattan from Syria, one of the first five filmmakers selected to receive a grant through the fund. Clare Stewart said, "We started this initiative because the refugee support is an urgent in this moment and talented and experienced filmmakers are facing this situation. We see the UNIQLO partnership as being essential to this mission as the global reach of the company can really help us create greater profile for the film and filmmakers."
The selected filmmaker Hasan Kattan also shared his feelings when he heard about the Displacement Film Fund support, saying, "With everything happening in the world, it was a really heavy time, so being selected for this grant was a very important chance for me... it was like a window of hope" He also shared his thoughts on the production of the film, saying, "More people need to know what is happening to refugees around the world. For me, making a documentary film is the only way to survive, surviving through storytelling and sharing the stories of refugee lives."
Part 2: "PEACE FOR ALL" Third Anniversary Panel Discussion
This month, UNIQLO is celebrating the third anniversary of its PEACE FOR ALL charity T-shirt project, which was launched in June 2022. To mark the occasion, the second session featured a discussion with Cannes award-winning actor Koji Yakusho, star of the film Perfect Days, whose new T-shirt design for the PEACE FOR ALL project will be released on June 20.
During the talk session, Koji Yakusho shared the feelings he put into his T-shirt design, which captures a memorable scene from the film Perfect Days, in which his character delivers the line, "The future is the future, while now is now." He explained, "The line is something the protagonist, Hirayama, says to his niece, and I believe it conveys the message that rather than being troubled by the past or future, if we cherish living in this moment, our pain and worries will fade away." He also spoke about how to approach communication through acting, saying, "In order to communicate deeply and richly to the recipient, I am careful not to use too many words. Since everyone receives it differently, I believe that leaving room for the other person to think with their heart and mind enhances the quality of the conversation."
To date, a total of 43 individuals and organizations have participated in the PEACE FOR ALL project, with 7,192,387 T-shirts having been sold, contributing donations from sales of 2,157,716,100 yen (as of the end of April 2025). Donations are provided to UNHCR and other international organizations for refugee support, as well as to support people affected by poverty, discrimination, violence, conflict, and war.
Four new designs will be released on Friday, June 20, from collaborators Koji Yakusho, Ichiro Suzuki, Kashiwa Sato, and Akamai Technologies.
Preview of the UNHCR/UNIQLO PEACE FOR ALL joint exhibition at the UN Pavilion
After his session, Koji Yakusho visited the UN Pavilion to explore the exhibits on display. Looking at the PEACE FOR ALL section with great interest, he shared his impressions, saying: "I was very impressed with the exhibition that presented the current situation in a chronological order of past, present, and future. I had seen it often in the news, but I tend to forget about it in my daily life, so it was good to be reminded." He also signed his own T-shirt on display.
Fast Retailing Group's Refugee Support Activities
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2001: Donated 12,000 Air Tech jackets to refugees in Afghanistan through an NPO.
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2006: Began working with UNHCR, visiting refugee camps and providing clothing support. Global partnership agreement concluded with UNHCR in 2011.
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2011: Began hiring refugees at UNIQLO stores. In addition to 59 people employed at UNIQLO, GU, and other Group companies in Japan (as of April 2025), Fast Retailing has been supporting the employment of refugees at UNIQLO stores in the US, Germany, and other markets around the world.
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2022: Launched a self-reliance initiative for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. As of the end of 2024, 773 refugee women had received training in sewing skills. In 2024, more than 4.25 million sanitary napkins and shorts were produced by trainees.
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2022: UNIQLO launched the PEACE FOR ALL charity T-shirt project. As of April 2025, more than 7.1 million T-shirts have been sold, with donations to UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations exceeding 2.1 billion yen.
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2023: Participation in the Global Refugee Forum hosted by UNHCR, leading to the establishment of the Displacement Film Fund.
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2024: Launch of the new The Heart of LifeWear program to donate one million items of HEATTECH to people in need around the world.
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2025: Start of support for the Displacement Film Fund.
About Fast Retailing's global partnership with UNHCR
Fast Retailing began working with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency in 2006, providing clothing assistance for refugees and displaced people around the world, and making support for refugees one of the key components of its sustainability program. In 2011, to give more comprehensive support to help solve the refugee crisis, Fast Retailing became the first company based in Asia to enter a global partnership with the UNHCR. Along with sending used clothing items collected through its product recycling initiative to refugee camps, Fast Retailing provides a wide range of assistance, including refugee self-reliance programs, employing refugees in UNIQLO stores, and conducting awareness campaigns.
https://www.fastretailing.com/eng/sustainability/community/refugees.html
About UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is a global organization dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights and building a better future for people forced to flee their homes because of conflict and persecution. They lead international action to protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities and stateless people. They deliver life-saving assistance, help safeguard fundamental human rights, and develop solutions that ensure people have a safe place called home where they can build a better future. They also work to ensure that stateless people are granted a nationality. They work in over 130 countries, using their expertise to protect and care for millions.
https://www.unhcr.org/
About PEACE FOR ALL
The PEACE FOR ALL project, launched in June 2022, features T-shirts with designs expressing a wish for peace, provided voluntarily by collaborators with close ties to UNIQLO who share the goal of "taking action with a desire for world peace." All profits from sales of PEACE FOR ALL T-shirts are donated to three international humanitarian organizations (UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, Save the Children, and Plan International).
https://www.uniqlo.com/us/en/special-feature/peace-for-all
About Displacement Film Fund
The Displacement Film Fund is established to champion and fund the work of displaced filmmakers, or filmmakers with a proven track record in creating authentic storytelling on the experiences of displaced people. The pilot short film funding scheme, which was launched at IFFR 2025 by Cate Blanchett, is supported by Master Mind, UNIQLO, Droom en Daad, the Tamer Family Foundation and Amahoro Coalition as Founding Partners, the Hubert Bals Fund as Management Partner and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, as Strategic Partner.
The five filmmakers who received grants this year are Maryna Er Gorbach from Ukraine, Mo Harawe from Somalia, Hasan Kattan from Syria, Mohammad Rasoulof from Iran, Shahrbanoo Sadat from Afghanistan.
About the latest issue of 'The Power of Clothing'
UNIQLO announces the release of the latest issue of 'The Power of Clothing,' its booklet conveying the UNIQLO philosophy of enriching the lives of all people through clothing, and contributing to a sustainable society. The theme for Issue No. 28, available from Friday, June 13th, is "Filming Displacement." As a special event for World Refugee Day, the magazine will be available for a limited time at the United Nations Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai from Monday, June 16. Sequential release across 20 global markets will take place through special websites from June 13.
https://www.uniqlo.com/us/en/contents/power-of-clothing/
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