Caregiver Tsuchiya Hosts First In-House LGBTQ+ Study Session - Learn about consideration and individualized care in the nursing home from the voices of those involved -.

Tsuchiya Corporation (Head office: Ibara City, Okayama Prefecture; Representative Director: Toshiyuki Takahama; Number of employees: 2,881) is a social business enterprise that provides home nursing care for the severely disabled as well as day care services and home nursing care for the elderly throughout Japan.

On December 17, 2025, the company's Reasonable Accommodation Promotion Committee (Chair: Mikako Shiratori) held an in-house study session on gender diversity (LGBTQ+), inviting Mr. Ayumu Horikawa, President of Acalcu Inc. as a lecturer.

In this study session, which was held for the first time in the company, Mr. Horikawa, an LGBTQ+ person, explained the social situation and legal system surrounding LGBTQ+ people, while sharing his own experiences. He also spoke about specific issues in the nursing care industry and how to take them into consideration, which helped us to deepen our understanding. He also shared with us the importance of individualized care that respects each person as an individual, and suggested what we can do to protect the psychological safety of those involved through case studies and harassment issues that may occur in the field.

■Summary of the Workshop

Theme ：LGBTQ+ Study Session - What kind of consideration is required in the nursing care industry? ～ ～Advanced

Date ：December 17, 2025

Lecturer ：Mr. Ayumu Horikawa (Representative Director of Acalcu Co., Ltd.)

Participants ：All staff of Tsuchiya Co.

Venue : Online (Zoom)

Sponsor ：Committee for Promotion of Reasonable Accommodation

Background of Mr. Ayumu Horikawa

After graduating from high school, Ayumu Horikawa enlisted in the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force to remove landmines, and after his term expired, he embarked on a round-the-world trip to see the world with his own eyes. After returning to Japan, he started his own business providing comprehensive support for LGBTQ+ people. After that, he worked as a human resources manager at a universal design consulting company, and in 2020, he established Akaruku Co.

With the vision of "brightly illuminating people and organizations," he specializes in creating a workplace environment where diverse people can work comfortably, and conducts more than 100 training sessions and lectures a year, as well as serving as an advisor to other companies.

In addition, Acalcu Inc. was awarded "Gold" for the fifth consecutive year in the PRIDE Index 2025, an index for LGBTQ+ initiatives in the workplace.

■Background of the Study Session

In June 2025, Tsuchiya Group conducted an internal survey on LGBTQ+ among its employees and received responses from 488 employees. As a result, approximately 75% of the respondents answered that they had not had the opportunity to learn about LGBTQ+, highlighting the lack of knowledge and understanding as an issue.

Many respondents also said they were concerned because they did not know how to interact with LGBTQ+ people or what kind of consideration to give to them. In response to these results, the Committee invited Mr. Horikawa, CEO of Acalcu, Inc., a company that provides comprehensive support for LGBTQ+ people, as a special lecturer for the purpose of deepening understanding of LGBTQ+ people.

Outline of the study session by Mr. Horikawa on the day of the event

Mr. Ayumu Horikawa, Representative Director of Acalcu Inc.

1 Basic knowledge about LGBTQ+

Mr. Horikawa, an LGBTQ+ person, explained the social situation and living environment surrounding LGBTQ+ people in recent years. The lecture covered a wide range of topics, including the current status of the legal system surrounding LGBTQ+ people and its challenges, trends in same-sex marriage and partnerships, and the diversity of transgender people.

In particular, he explained the current guidelines for transgender people and the choices and feelings that transgender people tend to make when they feel discomfort between their physical sex and mental sex. He also referred to the "Special Law for Gender Identity Disorder" enacted in 2004, which deepened our understanding of the origins, current status, and challenges of the system.

2 Issues and Considerations in the Long-Term Care Industry

In the lecture, the difficulties that LGBTQ+ people tend to face in the nursing care industry were explained from two aspects: "hard aspects (environment and systems)" and "soft aspects (understanding and information). In particular, he explained in detail the serious impact of harassment and "outing" (the act of telling a third party about one's sexual orientation or gender identity without one's permission) caused by lack of understanding on those involved.

Furthermore, by discussing actual cases and troubles in the nursing care industry, he suggested how each staff member involved in nursing care can ensure the psychological safety of the parties concerned and what they can do to reduce their anxiety, especially with regard to physical assistance. Because there is no one right answer, the importance of considering how to be close to the person concerned and the need for an individualized care perspective were emphasized.

He also carefully explained the extremely sensitive topic of coming out (telling others about one's gender identity and sexual orientation), using Horikawa's own experiences. In addition, he explained the appropriate responses and points to keep in mind when coming out, in relation to the Power Harassment Prevention Act, which is important in the corporate world.

3 What we can do as allies

Lastly, he introduced what we can do as allies (people who understand and support sexual minorities) by giving specific examples of things we tend to say and do unconsciously and unknowingly in our daily lives, and the importance of respecting each other as individuals, regardless of whether we are LGBTQ+ or not, It was an opportunity to reflect on the importance of respecting each other as "individuals" regardless of whether one is LGBTQ+ or not, and the significance of practicing individualized care in the field of nursing care.

Comments from Mikako Shiratori, Chairperson of the Reasonable Accommodation Committee

Reasonable Accommodation Promotion Committee Chair, Mikako Shiratori

Mr. Horikawa of Acalcu Corporation was invited from outside to give a lecture on how reasonable accommodations should be made, using his expert knowledge and practical examples. Mr. Horikawa's experience was an extremely valuable lesson for us to reexamine the challenges we face every day and consider how to better respond to them.

The promotion of reasonable accommodation is an indispensable initiative to create an environment where everyone, including people with disabilities and gender diversity, can live their lives in peace and comfort. As society changes, people with diverse backgrounds work and live together in our workplaces, among our users, family members, and friends. We would like to work together with everyone to create an environment where each and every one of these people can be respected and can demonstrate their abilities.

We hope that through this training, participants will gain a new understanding of the significance of reasonable accommodation, and that this will lead to continued learning in the workplace, an attitude of respect for each individual, and the practice of specific support.

Comments from participants (excerpts and modifications)

I was able to deepen my understanding of LGBTQ+.

I had little knowledge about LGBTQ+, but I was able to hear the real voices of those involved, and it was a great learning experience.

It was a valuable opportunity for me to deepen my understanding of the issues that the LGBTQ+ people are facing in their daily lives.

It was impressive that the participants introduced specific "things that made me happy" and "words that made me happy". I would like to use this as a reference for my future involvement with LGBTQ+ people.

I felt that there are many more LGBTQ+ people around me than I had imagined.

I realized that I may have unconsciously spoken out about SOGI harassment, which made me reflect on my own actions. It was a good reminder that words and words of encouragement are important for everyone.

I have been hearing the term "LGBTQ+" more and more, but I felt that there are many aspects of it that I do not understand. I hope that by having more people have correct knowledge, we can create a society that is more comfortable for LGBTQ+ people.

It was a very valuable workshop to hear about the difficulties that sexual minorities have experienced and the responses that companies will be required to provide in the future.

I realized that I have discriminatory attitudes and thoughts toward minorities within myself. Through this study session, I deeply reflected on this issue and felt that it is an issue that I should be conscious of and improve upon. It is myself who needs to improve.

It was a time for me to reflect on the fact that I had been looking at "being different" in a peculiar way. I feel that learning about the hardships faced by the people involved gave me the opportunity to change my way of thinking. I realized that awareness can be changed by learning about them.

It was the first time for me to hear directly from the people involved. I felt that by spreading correct knowledge, society will become more comfortable for LGBTQ+ people.

Related URL

<Official website

https://tcy.co.jp/

<Official X (former Twitter)

https://x.com/tcy_honsha

＜Official YouTube channel

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCboj8uAyr_W7Vw4kT9HS7ng

Company Profile

Company name: Tsuchiya Corporation

Location ：2F Hisayasu Central Building, 192-2 Ibara-cho, Ibara-shi, Okayama

Representative Director: Toshiyuki Takahama

Establishment ：August 2020

Business description : Disability welfare service business and community life support business,

　　　　　　In-home service business based on the Long-Term Care Insurance Law,

　　　　　　Planning, holding, and operation of lectures and workshops, and training business,

　　　　　　Home-Visit Nursing Care Business