We asked Satoshi Sakamoto, a co-creation partner who currently runs an education business company, about the appeal of "any" that will be passed on to the next generation.
- What is the vision of Kogakusha, which Mr. Sakamoto runs?
Kogakusha's vision is to produce as many people as possible who can continue to study happily in society, and by doing so, society will become more peaceful and better.
-Why are you working on a business that aims to produce as many people as possible who can go out into society and continue to learn happily? Is there a reason why you decided to spread it to society?
When I started Kogakusha at the age of 26, for example, if I wanted to do something about a child who failed at school or was having trouble at school, everyone had no choice but to do something as a volunteer. I didn't know what to do, so I made a place to belong, nothing more and nothing less. But that alone doesn't make people grow. After all, I thought that I needed stimulation and learning in some way. I thought that I needed a place where I could learn first, and I came up with the idea of creating a business in order to sustain this. It started from a really small place, and now it's finally taking shape, the number of people is increasing, and it's spreading.
ーWhy did you feel that there were people who were frustrated at school or who felt that life was difficult?
At that time, the economic bubble had burst, and among the children I was teaching and the children I was involved with, there were children whose families were separated. Some children couldn't go to school because if they went to school, they would find out that the family had split up.
But those are the kids who are fine. If they stopped going to school because of this, it was obvious that they would be cut off from the general course to enter society at that time. At the time, I thought it would be a waste if I didn't send these children out into society. Also, I thought it would be interesting to create a system that would allow them to successfully return to society after they have fallen out of the framework of school. Kogakusha is a place for children who have failed school to learn what is necessary in society. What you need to do when you go out into the world is different from what you learn at school, so I want you to learn such soft skills here. After that, some of them go on to university, while others join our company as interns.
ーWhy did you feel that there were people who were frustrated at school or who felt that life was difficult?
At that time, the economic bubble had burst, and among the children I was teaching and the children I was involved with, there were children whose families were separated. Some children couldn't go to school because if they went to school, they would find out that the family had split up.
But those are the kids who are fine. If they stopped going to school because of this, it was obvious that they would be cut off from the general course to enter society at that time. At the time, I thought it would be a waste if I didn't send these children out into society. Also, I thought it would be interesting to create a system that would allow them to successfully return to society after they have fallen out of the framework of school. Kogakusha is a place for children who have failed school to learn what is necessary in society. What you need to do when you go out into the world is different from what you learn at school, so I want you to learn such soft skills here. After that, some of them go on to university, while others join our company as interns.
ーWhy did you feel that there were people who were frustrated at school or who felt that life was difficult?
At that time, the economic bubble had burst, and among the children I was teaching and the children I was involved with, there were children whose families were separated. Some children couldn't go to school because if they went to school, they would find out that the family had split up.
But those are the kids who are fine. If they stopped going to school because of this, it was obvious that they would be cut off from the general course to enter society at that time. At the time, I thought it would be a waste if I didn't send these children out into society. Also, I thought it would be interesting to create a system that would allow them to successfully return to society after they have fallen out of the framework of school. Kogakusha is a place for children who have failed school to learn what is necessary in society. What you need to do when you go out into the world is different from what you learn at school, so I want you to learn such soft skills here. After that, some of them go on to university, while others join our company as interns.
ーWhy did you feel that there were people who were frustrated at school or who felt that life was difficult?
At that time, the economic bubble had burst, and among the children I was teaching and the children I was involved with, there were children whose families were separated. Some children couldn't go to school because if they went to school, they would find out that the family had split up.
But those are the kids who are fine. If they stopped going to school because of this, it was obvious that they would be cut off from the general course to enter society at that time. At the time, I thought it would be a waste if I didn't send these children out into society. Also, I thought it would be interesting to create a system that would allow them to successfully return to society after they have fallen out of the framework of school. Kogakusha is a place for children who have failed school to learn what is necessary in society. What you need to do when you go out into the world is different from what you learn at school, so I want you to learn such soft skills here. After that, some of them go on to university, while others join our company as interns.