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LANGUAGE/言語
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1. Initiatives for the Educational Business
Initiatives for the Educational Business
The KADOKAWA Group runs educational businesses for students to learn about diversity and how to interact with local communities while also offering the opportunity to receive practical and professional education to even more people.
Providing Educational Content and Learning Services
[N High School and S High School]
DWANGO Co., Ltd. provides proprietary educational content and learning services to N High School and S High School (N/S High Schools) operated by Kadokawa Dwango Educational Institute. Using interactive educational services designed for the Internet era as well as experiential learning services utilizing VR, students at N High School and S High School study curricula daily to earn a high school diploma using computers, smartphones, tablets, VR goggles, and other digital tools. The number of students has increased markedly since N High School opened in 2016. Together with S High School which opened in April 2021, they offer educational opportunities to 30,648 students nationwide as of the end of September 2024. Furthermore, preparations are under way to open R High School, the third N High School Group institution, in Kiryu City, Gunma in April 2025. In addition, Commuter Course campuses will be expanded to 100 locations nationwide.
In N and S High School, students devote their free time to what they want to learn, as they can study efficiently whenever and wherever they want. In addition to university entrance exam support, programing, and language study, the schools offer educational programs to experience actual agriculture and fishing across Japan, study abroad programs, other extracurricular programs, and activities to study esports, investing, and starting businesses from former professional athletes and experts so that students can learn about collective strengths while also valuing their own autonomy.
The schools have also prepared opportunities for enabling people to learn how to contribute to diversity and the local community through projects proposing plans to solve social issues in cooperation with local governments, companies, universities, non-profit organizations, and specialists across Japan. These projects include talks by expert guests based on themes such as careers for people who are a part of a LGBTQ+ minority and diversity & inclusion, the operation of a booth at Tokyo Biennale 2023 for the creation and communication of sustainable urban lifestyles and culture, a program enabling people to experience sustainable lifestyles through farmwork in Nishiaizumachi, Fukushima, and other activities.
In 2022, N High School was included in the top three schools providing advanced education in the Innovation division of World’s Best School Prizes organized by T4 Education, a British organization for educational support. N High School has been recognized as one of the world’s top schools for three consecutive years, being included in T4 Education’s selection of the world’s 100 best schools in 2020 and 2021.
[ZEN University]
Scheduled to open in April 2025, ZEN University uses the most advanced IT technologies to provide opportunities to enroll in and learn at the university to all people. The Faculty of Social Informatics, the only faculty at ZEN University, enables students to acquire the literacy necessary for working in the dramatically changing the Age of AI by completing their studies without leaning towards specific academic fields. The university also has many different program activities, such as fieldwork in cooperation with local communities and businesses and international exchange activities, enabling students to cultivate practical skills for working in society.
DWANGO Co., Ltd. makes videos of ZEN University’s on-demand classes. By the time the university opens, 6,480 videos will have been completed. Videos of the classes will be viewable on the ZEN Study online learning system (https://www.nnn.ed.nico/).
School Operating Business
Since its establishment in 1965, Vantan Inc. has been running vocational schools to train professionals in creative fields. Inviting active professionals in their fields as instructors, Vantan Inc. operates 29 vocational schools in a wide range of fields such as fashion, hair and make-up, beauty, graphic design, film and digital media, game design, e-sports, animation, confectionery, cooking, programming, entertainment content creators and social media influence, providing hands-on training close to the workspace to develop human resources with the ability to work immediately, and has produced approximately 210,000 graduates to date. Vantan Inc. has the High School Division*1 which enables students to obtain a high school diploma, the Vocational Division, which is designed for students 18 years and older, the University Division, which enables students to obtain a university degree,*2 and the Career College, which is designed for working professionals and university students.
In April 2024, Vantan Inc. opened schools: KADOKAWA SCHOOL OF MANGA and KADOKAWA SCHOOL OF ANIME, specializing in digital comics and animation, and VANTAN SHIBUYA BEAUTY ACADEMY, where students can acquire specialized beauty skills and a university degree.*2 In addition, two new schools will open in April 2025: VANTAN ART ACADEMY and VANTAN INTERNATIONAL CULINARY ARTS ACADEMY, where students can earn a university degree while learning specialized skills.*2
In addition to holding 16 classes on SDGs in FY2020, Vantan had a project with a major clothing brand in FY2021 where Vantan’s students proposed borderless fashion and exhibited collections not tied to gender, age, or nationality. In FY2022, Vantan operated GENKAI BURGER, a hamburger shop where students are involved in the entire process from designing menus to shop operation and devising measures to attract customers. GENKAI CAFE, an upmarket frappe shop, opened in the same year and uses Geisha coffee, the world’s highest ranked variety of coffee. The company is committed to social issues through educational activities and runs unique, practice-oriented classes.
*1 A high school diploma is awarded by the partner online high school, Kadokawa Dwango Educational Institute's S High School.
*2 A university degree is awarded by partner online institutions.
