About Palsystem
Palsystem Consumers' Co-operative Union is a federation consisting of local co-ops and the Palsystem Insurance Consumers' Co-operative Federation, located mainly in the capital region. Based on consumer co-op's spirit of mutual help, Palsystem Consumers' Co-operative Union works with Palsystem Group's member co-ops and subsidiaries to promote essential businesses that support people’s lives, including merchandise delivery, mutual-aid and insurance, welfare services, and electric power supply.
Origin of the name
The name Palsystem derives from the English words "pal" (friend or companion) and "system" (institution or organization).
It was chosen to mean "participation of individuals in building a large-scale collaborative operation."
Overview of Palsystem
-
Date Founded
February 9th, 1990
-
Members of Group Co-ops
12
-
Group Co-ops' total revenue
268.96 billion yen
-
Union's revenue
187.33 billion yen
-
Share capital
15.87 billion yen
-
Workers
428 (excluding part-time workers)
-
Area
Miyagi, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Niigata, Yamanashi, Nagano, and Shizuoka Pref.
-
Head office
2-2-6, Okubo, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169-8527, Japan
Phone: +81(3)6233-7200 -
Total members
1.770 million members
Principles of the Palsystem
Create a spiritually rich lifestyle and a society of co-existence.
Spiritually Rich Lifestyle
This refers to a lifestyle whereby people pursue generosity and peace of mind, good quality of life as well as strong interpersonal relationships as important values, never remaining content with mere materialistic wealth.
Society of Co-existence
This refers to a society in which people help their neighbors by pursuing a symbiotic coexistence between nature and human beings, a peaceful coexistence of people that transcends regionalism and any conventions, creating an organic relationship between the present and the future.
Message from Our Leaders
Representative Director
Our world is in turmoil, which is growing deeper and deeper. Conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East, and other regions show no sign of ending, continuing to take the precious lives of numerous people. Exclusion of others from different backgrounds has become a global trend, leading to a series of social divisions fueled by hatred.
Meanwhile, climate change, as well as resulting extreme weather we often experience, has been undermining the foundation for producing agricultural, forestry, and fishery products, which are essential for our lives. In recent years, we have been witnessing unstable production in various items, making it difficult to balance demand and supply more frequently. In order to ensure sustainability, we urgently need to secure human resources and address cost challenges as well. However, we are yet to find solutions to them.
Price hikes for energy and food, deriving from these challenges, are also creating a dark cloud over our everyday lives. The prolonged inflation is squeezing our budget, with an increasing number of households struggling to put food on the table. A series of these challenges are threatening the foundation of our livelihoods, as if warning us that society is reaching a major turning point.
A capitalist society, with a focus on efficiency and profit maximization, has driven growth and technological advancements. However, it has also created disharmony including growing inequality and environmental destruction. These challenges are beyond the capacity of individuals and public support alone to overcome.
Against this backdrop, global expectations for cooperatives are rising more than ever as providers of solutions to challenges facing us through the power of mutual help. Following the success of the International Year of Cooperatives (IYC) 2025, the United Nations has adopted the proclamation of an IYC every 10 years. This is the first time in the long history of the United Nations to celebrate a specific international year on a regular basis, reflecting how remarkable this decision is.
Palsystem has pursued a sustainable society through Sanchoku, where producers and consumers connect with and support each other. Each of our activities has reminded us that the only way to protect peaceful lives of people across the world is to join hands together, mutually acknowledging and respecting differences and diversity.
In 2026, the Japanese Constitution is reaching a major milestone: the 80th anniversary of its official announcement. We are confident that outcomes through harmonious cooperation beyond national, situational, and generational borders are the key to achieving our philosophy “society of co-existence.” To this end, it is essential that we further strengthen our collaboration with all of you and build trust. We look forward to working together with you to help build a safe and comfortable society for all.
Palsystem Group's Vision for 2030
Building inclusive communities through eating, producing and supporting each other
Individual action will build sustainable communities and lead to world peace
Eating＜Food＞
We will share the importance of eating and promote safe and spiritually rich food throughout our communities.
- We will address various needs in everyday life by developing safe and reliable products to provide food and healthy living throughout the life of each individual, as well as by communicating that information properly.
- The concept of ethical consumption is that people choose products with an understanding of the issues surrounding production and distribution while emphasizing the importance of enjoying tasty food, passing the food culture on to future generations, and food education. We will promote this concept throughout our communities.
- Through collaboration with governments and various other organizations, we will address social issues surrounding food, including its safety and self-sufficiency rate.
Producing＜Agriculture, Sanchoku *＞
We will create communities together and ensure sustainable production and consumption.
- We will create new mechanisms and opportunities to support producers in various forms, in order to further strengthen relationships between co-op members and producers through promotion of their interactions and deeper mutual understanding.
- We will promote the development of attractive agriculture, forestry, fishery, and manufacturing by incorporating co-op members' wishes in our product development. We will create a mechanism that enables producers to feel proud, attracts more potential successors into production and manufacturing fields, and revitalizes local economy and communities.
- We will support the development of Japanese agriculture, forestry, fishery, and manufacturing as well as international Sanchoku* production areas through the establishment of sustainable production, processing, and distribution. We will achieve this by expanding our domestic and international collaboration with organizations and groups that develop innovative production and manufacturing.
* Sanchoku: Direct producer-market channeling based on traceability, standardization and communication.
Supporting each other＜Welfare, mutual help＞
We will promote comfortable communities for all through mutual support in everyday life.
- We will provide support in everyday life so that people can live their lives in their own ways, by enhancing our products, services, mutual aid, and welfare businesses that accommodate their needs throughout their lives.
- We will actively engage in community welfare by creating and promoting mechanisms and hubs for everyone in our communities to support each other through whatever they can contribute.
- We will build human resource networks in collaboration with governments and various community action groups. Through this effort, we will develop business and activity models of mutual support that can be utilized in solving issues such as poverty and inequalities as well as in disaster relief.
Changing＜Environment＞
We will change individual lifestyles and promote the nurturing environment for diverse forms of life.
- We will reduce plastic and other waste, CO2 emissions, and food loss through product development and improvement, thereby accelerating the shift towards more environmentally friendly consumption.
- We will cooperate with production areas and business partners to expand the environmentally sustainable agriculture, forestry, and fishery as well as to promote the shift towards environmentally friendly manufacturing and distribution facilities, thereby contributing to the better local environment.
- We will give the highest priority to the measures against global warming and urge society to change our values. Meanwhile, we will collaborate with various organizations that promote renewable energy to build a society not dependent on nuclear power generation.
Understanding each other＜Peace＞
We will promote mutual understanding and build an inclusive and peaceful society where everyone is valued.
- By paying attention to the issues surrounding all groups of people and communicating with each other, we will build an inclusive society where people respect diversity and value each other.
- We will create more opportunities to pass the importance of peace on to the next generation by learning the meaning of peace and the Constitution as well as by sharing the experiences of the atomic bombings and the war.
- Aiming to build a society without threats to peace, such as wars and nuclear weapons, or poverty, we will collaborate with other co-operatives and various other organizations within and outside Japan to promote activities and policy recommendations to end hunger, exploitation, discrimination, and violence.
