the company and its employees. The new policy resulted in the resignation of some staff. Eventually, Rakuten decided to provide free English classes, offered time to study, and made clear that learning English was a part of employees' job. In light of Japan ranking 14th globally with "moderate proficiency" in the global English Proficiency Index behind South Korea and ahead of Portugal it also introduced difficulty in hiring staff with both Japanese and English skills. While claiming it a success in 2012 it was not until 2015 that the average employee score on the Test of English for International Communication, or TOEIC, had reached 802.6 out of a possible 990 points. A score above 800 indicates advanced proficiency. TOEIC does face criticism, though, concerning its validity. An example of official meetings held in English is "Asakai". It is a morning company-wide meeting that started on Saturdays but is now on Monday mornings at 8:00 am (JST). Criticism In March 2014, the UK-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) named the company as the world's biggest online retailer of whale meat and elephant ivory, calling on the company to stop selling the items. As a result of this, in April 2014, Rakuten announced that it was ending all online sales of whale and dolphin meat by the end of the month. In July 2017, Rakuten announced that it was also banning ivory sales on its sites. Recent recognition/awards Best Operator 5G Innovation Ground-breaking Virtualization Initiative Forbes Top 100 Digital Companies 2019 Forbes Top Regarded Companies 2019 Linkedin Best companies to work for in Japan 2019 Forbes World’s Most Innovative Companies 2017 See also Japan Open Tennis Championships Rakuten Monkeys Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles Vissel Kobe Yukihiro Matsumoto FC Barcelona References External links Official Japanese website Japanese companies established in 1997 2000 initial public offerings Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Internet properties established in 1997 Japanese brands Multinational companies headquartered in Japan Retail companies based in Tokyo Retail companies established in 1997 Internet technology companies of Japan