Sarah L. Casanova

External Director, Mitsui & Co., Ltd. 
Outside Director, Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd.

Ms. Casanova has extensive experience in marketing across multiple countries, including Japan, at a major global restaurant chain. With extensive experience as an executive and regional leader in various country subsidiaries, she demonstrated exceptional management skills as the CEO of the Japanese company from 2013 to 2019, executing growth strategies which led to significant business performance improvements. She also has experience engaging with capital markets as the executive of a publicly listed company. At Kao’s Board meetings, she has also actively provided comments and recommendations on matters such as global growth strategies, brand strategies, and dialogue with investors. In 2025, she has provided clear and constructive advice that contributed to enhancing the execution of the Company’s growth strategies, including emphasizing marketing driven by customer insights, building organizations, talent and processes aligned with strategy, and stressing the importance of prioritization and speed. We expect her to leverage this wealth of experience and high level of insight to supervise the management of the Kao Group as an independent outside director.