Tokyo PR agency Sunny Side Up Inc. will pay part of the costs for its employees to have their eggs frozen and preserved for future pregnancy, the company said Thursday.

Sunny Side Up, whose logo represents a fried egg, claims it is likely the first company in Japan to launch such an initiative. U.S.-based companies Apple Inc. and Facebook Inc. put similar measures in place last year.

"We do not mean to promote egg freezing. We recognize it's one of the options women may take to work at ease," a company official said. Freezing ova while young is considered to be a way for women to become pregnant when they get older.

Half of the company's 144 employees are women, according to the firm.

The company plans to pay 30 percent of the total costs to have eggs harvested and frozen, at approximately ¥700,000 to ¥1 million ($5,700-$8,100) per woman. Employees who qualify for the support are women who have worked for the company for three years or more.

Sunny Side Up said it plans to promote its employees becoming pregnant also by hosting doctors' study sessions on pregnancy and childbirth, and offering opportunities to help them find partners.