Japan's demographics are changing, with fewer babies born, an increasing number of elderly and a shift from extended to nuclear families. This, together with the progress towards an information society, is driving social changes that affect family ties and relationships between parents and their children, and greatly alter the environment in which people raise and educate their children. Benesse has always worked to identify social issues and concerns, and then resolve these problems through core business activities that help each individual to “live well.”
Benesse offers products and services that help customers address the challenges they face at each stage of their lives. In fiscal 2007, we worked to develop businesses that address social issues such as an aging society, declining educational motivation among students, and the labor shortage in Japan's nursing care industry.
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| “Tamahiyo Akachan Kerotto Switch” (baby mood switch), a product developed jointly with TOMY Company, Ltd. using Benesse's “Tamahiyo” characters |
The “Tamahiyo Happiness Enhancement” project centers on Benesse's “Tamahiyo” series of pregnancy-, childbirth- and childcare-related magazines: Tamago Club, Hiyoko Club and Kokko Club. The project aims to create a society in which people are more aware of the joys of raising children. Based on feedback from mothers, we are working to popularize a “maternity mark” for women in the early months of pregnancy, and are collaborating with other companies to develop related products and services.
In 2008, Benesse commemorated the 20th anniversary of its “Kodomo Challenge” correspondence courses by conducting the “Oyako Mirai” project (literally: “parent-child future”), which takes its name from an abbreviation of the Japanese words stating the project's theme: “how to make the most of a child's early years to help develop a strong future relationship between parent and child.” Beginning in the spring of 2008, an “Oyako Mirai Caravan” is travelling to sites in all 47 prefectures of Japan, and holding participatory events which help to reinforce the importance of issues such as “life” and “the environment.”
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| Nature games organized as part of the Oyako Mirai Caravan |
Teaching parents and children the importance of nature and the environment using show-and-tell stories |
The “Shimajiro Van” |
The “home and school learning encouragement project” seeks to support elementary school education using the know-how Benesse has accumulated through its “Shinkenzemi Elementary School Course” correspondence courses, which have been used by over 1.66 million elementary school students (as of April 2008). By providing this know-how to teachers and schools, and by encouraging better communication between schools and parents through distribution of free pamphlets to the homes of elementary school pupils, Benesse hopes to support the educational efforts of teachers, parents and students alike. As of June 2008, over 1 million parents have received these free pamphlets via their child's teacher.
Increasing disparity in learning aptitude and declining motivation to study have become major sources of concern. In March 2008, Benesse launched a new era in supplementary education with its “Shinkenzemi Junior High School Course + i” correspondence course, which merges traditional correspondence courses with the internet to create a more effective and enjoyable method of learning.
As part of our Shinkenzemi Junior High School Course and Shinkenzemi Courses for Students at Elite Combined Private Junior and Senior High Schools, we have introduced a project to consider the problem of bullying, and compiled pamphlets with views on the issue collected from children of the same age group. We have distributed these pamphlets to 700,000 enrollees in our Shinkenzemi correspondence courses, and to another 40,000 students directly through their junior high schools. There has been a very favorable reaction to this project.
In fiscal 2007, we launched an industry-academia collaboration with the Benesse Department of Educational Advanced Technology at University of Tokyo to study and develop a mobile method of learning that busy IT workers can use to improve their English comprehension skills whenever they have a spare moment. The lessons are in the form of a podcast* offered free of charge.
*A podcast is an audio file provided over the internet, which can be downloaded and listened to on a mobile digital audio player.
In Autumn 2007, Benesse made changes to its magazine “bizmom,” which was launched in 2005 with the aim of helping working mothers to enjoy their numerous roles – work, raising children and personal life. The magazine includes articles addressing the issues women face in trying to balance work and child-raising responsibilities, as well as an expanded range of articles on other facets of life, such as travel and food.
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| “Aria,” a fee-based nursing home for senior citizens |
Japan's nursing care industry and senior citizens in general face a number of structural and environmental challenges. Benesse Style Care is adjusting its personnel policies and business model in an effort to address these problems.
