Our Policy and Strategy
TOMY’s founder, Eiichiro Tomiyama, was a passionate proponent of developing toys for all, and directing corporate management to benefit society at large. We still uphold those principles today. TOMY's initiative for accessible-design toys that children with visual or hearing disabilities can also fully enjoy has been widely recognized and adopted throughout the toy industry. The TOMY Group is determined to keep promoting universal design toys and create products and services that anyone of any age, gender, ability or disability can enjoy.
Management Structure
The TOMY Group started off by developing special toys for children with visual disabilities in 1980. We then went on to propose and provide accessible-design toys that enable all children, including those with visual and hearing disabilities, to play together. Today, that initiative has been adopted as a standard across the whole industry.
The TOMY Group department responsible for promoting corporate citizenship works together with individual planning and development managers to promote our universal design, and also serves as our main point of contact with the Japan Toy Association’s Accessible Toy Promotion Committee.
Key Initiatives
Accessible-design Toys
Our universal design toys, which children with visual and hearing disabilities can also play with, are known as accessible-design toys. As a manufacturer driving the promotion of accessible-design toys in the industry, the TOMY Group strives to create a wide variety of such toys. In fiscal 2019, we compiled our knowledge of accessible-design toys into a handbook, which we subsequently used to improve understanding of the concept across the company.
Designated marks printed on packages make it easy to identify the accessible-design toys at regular toy shops. Toys with a Guide Dog Mark are accessible for children with visual disabilities, and toys with a Rabbit Mark are enjoyable for children with hearing disabilities. To put these marks on packages, the toys must be reviewed and approved as accessible by the Japan Toy Association’s Accessible Toy Promotion Committee. Since 2013, the TOMY Group has received accessible-design certification for approximately 100 types of products each year. In today’s world, with its greater opportunities for a diverse range of children to play together, the need for toys that have been adapted to facilitate group play is likely to grow more than ever. We are very keen to create opportunities through toy play for children to learn to accept and respect each other, and enjoy doing things together.
© TOMY
Guide Dog Mark
The Guide Dog Mark indicates accessible-design toys that can also be enjoyed by children with visual disabilities.
Sounds and textures are crucial features for children with visual disabilities. Toys with such features incorporated from planning and development stages are designated as accessible-design toys, which are approved to bear the Guide Dog Mark.
The Japan Toy Association, the accreditation authority, encourages approved toy manufacturers to print the mark on toy packages.
Rabbit Mark
The Rabbit Mark indicates accessible-design toys that can also be enjoyed by children with hearing disabilities.
Toys with strong sound features that have been adapted for children with hearing disabilities to enjoy are designated as accessible-design toys, which are approved to bear the Rabbit Mark.
The Japan Toy Association, the accreditation authority, encourages approved toy manufacturers to print the mark on toy packages.
Click here to learn more
about Accessible Design Toys
that children with visual or hearing
disabilities can fully enjoy.
Fostering a Culture of Universal Design Thinking
In 2022, TOMY began training "UD Leaders" who proactively learn about universal design and apply the knowledge and skills they gain to the development of Asobi. By continuing to promote the acquisition of Universal Design Coordinator certification, we aim to create products and services that can be enjoyed by even more children.
FY2024 & FY2025 Results
FY2024- Won two Awards for Excellence in the Accessible-Design Toy Category of the Japan Toy Awards 2024(“Let’s Drive TOMICA! Steering Driver” and “Disney Princess Sparkle Scan Register”)
- Universal Design Coordinators* (cumulative total since FY2022)
20 certified at Class Pre-2
169 certified at Class 3 (an increase of 36 from the previous fiscal year) - Won the Grand Prize and an Award for Excellence in the Accessible-Design Toy Category at the Japan Toy Awards 2025
FY2025 Initiatives by UD Leaders
Here we introduce the main initiatives highlighting the achievements of UD Leaders in FY2025. Note that this content compiles external evaluations and professional commentary provided by the NPO JITSUKEN Real User Research Institute, based on improvement initiatives and results achieved through UD Leader activities.
Toy Story Ponjan
●Features Tailored to the Different Needs of Different Players
- To allow players to enjoy the game tactually without relying on their eyesight, the tiles feature embossed markings and Braille, and the scoring-chips are designed with different shapes for each type.
- The color scheme is designed to make the tiles easily distinguishable, allowing users with different color vision characteristics to enjoy playing together.
- By designing the tiles to be easy to identify by either sight or touch, it becomes a family game that friends and families can enjoy together regardless of differences in vision.
●Features Designed for “Ease of Tidying Up”
- Incorporating ideas for “ease of tidying up” – such as storing tiles and scoring-chips on the back of the game board or splitting and stacking the board for storage – it is designed to help children learn tidying habits while having fun.
© Just Play, LLC
© Just Play, LLC
Product Assembly Instruction Videos
●Features Tailored to the Different Needs of Different Viewers
- We took into consideration a variety of user needs, including those who have difficulty reading text, those who find 3D structures hard to visualize from printed instructions, and those who struggle to see attachment points and are prone to assembly mistakes.
- By visualizing the assembly steps and describing each part in clear spoken words, these support videos prevent assembly mistakes while sharing the fun and appeal of the product.
Licca-chan Dress-Up Outfits
●Features Tailored to the Different Needs of Different Users
- By directly observing users with visual disabilities at play, we identified the key points in dress-up play that prove challenging without sight.
- By exploring easy-to-change outfit designs – such as sleeveless cuts and full-opening garments using hook-and-loop fasteners – we implemented improvements that support users with visual disabilities as well as those with limited fine motor skills.
Disney princess Kitchen
●Features Tailored to the Different Needs of Different Players
- This pretend-play toy incorporates tactile cues to explore shapes of toy foods, alongside auditory cues with cooking sound effects, music, and character voices, as well as visual information to enjoy lights of various colors that react to actions.
- Thoughtful design ensures that plated play food and cake decorations stay securely in place, even when users with visual disabilities explore them by touch.
●Enables Diverse Ways to Play
- Even users who cannot yet safely handle real kitchen tools can freely enjoy kitchen activities in pretend play – imitating family members while building the imagination to try cooking all kinds of dishes.
●Fosters Communication
- Through Asobi that involves cooking together and serving dishes to one another, the toy is also expected to foster communication among players.
Initiatives from the Perspective of Toy Manufacturing (Anticipating Future Developments)
●Features Designed with Diversity in Mind
- To create a better working environment for toy producers, we analyze diversity among production floor staff to drive targeted workplace improvements.
- As an initiative aimed at creating a better environment for everyone involved with toys, further progress and expansion are eagerly anticipated.
Japan Toy Awards 2025: Accessible-Design Toy Category
We won the Grand Prize and an Award for Excellence in the Accessible-Design Toy Category at the Japan Toy Awards 2025, sponsored by the Japan Toy Association.
Grand Prize
Licca House “Talking Auto-Lock,
Two-story Grand Maison”
Excellence Award
Pikachu! Talking Word Scanner
Addition of Tactile Marks on All Electronic Toys
We have decided to add Tactile Marks for switches, etc., to all electronic toys of the TOMY Group, both in Japan and overseas, to make them easier to operate for people with visual disabilities from 2024.
Voice Catalog
These catalogs are primarily for children with impaired sight who find it difficult to see the pictures of the toys. The corner is designed to convey the fun of toys by explaining toy’s movements and shape through spoken words and toy sounds.
