“Live as Yourself :) BE YOURSELF!” Tokyo Rainbow Pride 2018 – New Employee Suzuki Edition

Nice to meet you! I’m Suzuki, a new graduate who joined the company in April this year.
For those of you who were walking around Shibuya and Harajuku on Sunday, May 6th, did you notice anything surprising? You probably saw people walking on the roadway, exchanging cheerful greetings of “Happy Pride!!” and high-fiving with those on the sidewalk.
In fact, it was the parade held on the final day of “Tokyo Rainbow Pride 2018,” an event aimed at creating a society where sexual minorities, including LGBT individuals, can live positively!
By the way, I participated in this parade myself! For someone like me who has always been on the sidelines waving at parades, that day I felt like I was the star of the show, making it a very special day.

↑The 2018 new graduate members who helped with the Pride Festival.
By the way, the author, Suzuki, is the one wearing white pants 🙂

By the way, are you able to live as yourself?
In life, expressing yourself authentically is arguably one of the greatest sources of happiness.

After spending a day at Tokyo Rainbow Pride, I met many people who are skilled at expressing their true selves. I learned from the smiling faces of festival participants how to skillfully paint one’s unique colors on the “canvas of society.”

Each person has a unique individuality that belongs to them alone. SUNNY SIDE UP actively promotes diversity, recognizing these varied individual characteristics. As part of this commitment, we support the PR for “Tokyo Rainbow Pride” every year.

Many people participated in “Tokyo Rainbow Pride” with their own motivations—those who stopped by food stalls drawn by delicious aromas, those who gave high-fives thinking the parade looked fun, and those who wanted to create opportunities for social change.

In fact, the “Pride Festival” held on May 5th and 6th at Yoyogi Park Event Plaza, the main event of “Tokyo Rainbow Pride 2018,” attracted a total of 140,000 visitors over the two days, setting a new record for the highest attendance since the event began in 2012.

Additionally, approximately 7,000 people participated in the parade marching through Shibuya and Harajuku with rainbow flags, also setting a new record.

As more people use “Tokyo Rainbow Pride” as an opportunity to support LGBT individuals, we move closer to creating a society where LGBT people can live more comfortably.
I participated in “Tokyo Rainbow Pride” for the first time this year. How happy and beautiful our society would be if everyone could live as themselves and say to each other, “Every day is so happy!”

I have come to strongly believe in creating a society where everyone can wear the same smiles we had during the parade when we were high-fiving and saying “Happy Pride!”

To create a society where people can live as themselves, I want to overcome differences in nationality, religion, occupation, gender, thoughts, and preferences of everyone I meet, respect each person’s individuality and diversity, support one another, and have the courage to express “who I truly am.”

You change the world by being yourself.
– Yoko Ono

(SUNNY SIDE UP 2018 New Graduate Suzuki)
★Click here for Yamaguchi’s edition★