1. Initiatives for the Educational Business | Social | INVESTOR RELATIONS

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
School Operating Business

Providing Educational Content and Learning Services

[N High School, S High School, and R High School]

DWANGO Co., Ltd. offers its original educational content and services for learning to N High School, S High School and R High School (hereinafter, the “N High School Group”) 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 Group 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, offering educational opportunities to 36,371 students nationwide (as of the end of March 2026).
In addition, Commuter Course campuses will be expanded to 105 locations nationwide (as of April 2026).

In N High School Group, 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 work experience 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.
In April 2024, a dedicated AI chat system was introduced with the use of ChatGPT-4, intended for students in the General Course. Providing a business-level chat system with the high security and high performance of ChatGPT contributes to greater efficiency in daily learning and extracurricular activities and offers experiences needed in society.
In the residential, experiential learning program, students work with Yamagata University’s assistant professor on activities such as developing ideas for AI utilization in agriculture and the use of AI for communicating knowledge about wood through forestry experience in Nagato City, Yamaguchi.
Opportunities to learn about diversity and contributions to communities are available through a project for proposing plans to resolve social issues in collaboration with local municipalities, companies, universities, NPOs and specialists all over Japan.

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]

Opened in April 2025, ZEN University is a fully online undergraduate university based in Japan. By using the most advanced IT technologies, it provides opportunities for all people to pursue higher education. As of 2026, the second year since opening, approximately 7,000 students are studying at ZEN University across all 47 prefectures of Japan and overseas.

The Faculty of Social Informatics, the only faculty at ZEN University, enables students to acquire the literacy necessary for working in this age of change by completing their studies without leaning towards specific academic fields. ZEN University has built a flexible learning environment in which students can independently choose their own curriculum from more than 270 courses designed to meet diverse needs, and invites leading experts active at the forefront of their respective industries to serve as faculty members.
Although ZEN University is an online university, it also emphasizes in-person learning. The university also has many different program activities, such as fieldwork with extended stay in cooperation with local communities and businesses, studying abroad, and international exchange activities, enabling students to cultivate practical skills for working in society.
In online learning activities, it is essential to maintain students’ motivation to learn and thoroughly manage their progress. ZEN University has introduced a “three-advisor system” consisting of class coaches, academic advisors, and career advisors, creating a framework to provide multifaceted, individualized support for each student’s learning and student life.

DWANGO Co., Ltd. makes videos of ZEN University’s on-demand classes. By the time the university opened, 6,480 videos had been made. A total of 12,400 videos will be completed by the end of Academic Year 2026.
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 15 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 215,000 graduates to date (as of April 2026). 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.

The KADOKAWA SCHOOL OF MANGA and the KADOKAWA SCHOOL OF ANIME opened in 2024. They specialize in digital cartoons and anime. The VANTAN ART ACADEMY and the VANTAN INTERNATIONAL CULINARY ARTS ACADEMY opened in 2025. Students can earn a university degree while acquiring specialized skills. (*2)
In April 2026, Mr. Ryogo Matsumaru, who is extensively active as a riddle-solving creator, became the honorary director of Vantan Game Academy, and a new course called the Riddle-Solving Creator Course supervised by Mr. Matsumaru was established.
Vantan also launched the Vantan Music Academy Powered by Universal Music in partnership with Universal Music LLC, the Japanese subsidiary of Universal Music Group. Designed to meet the needs of the digital era, the academy prepares students for today’s evolving music industry. Its Special Advisor is Mr. Tomoyasu Hotei, an internationally acclaimed artist who continues to perform at the forefront of the global music scene.

The VANTAN Foreign Language / Hotel and Tourism Academy, a new school built around Japan’s Working Holiday Program, is also scheduled to open. The curriculum combines study with paid work overseas, allowing students to use their earnings to offset part of their study-abroad expenses. This approach enables students to gain practical international experience while reducing the financial burden of studying abroad. Campuses are scheduled to open in Tokyo and Osaka in April 2027, followed by Nagoya in April 2028.

*1 A high school diploma is awarded by the partner S High School
*2 A university degree is awarded by an affiliated partner university