Benesse Corporation was founded in Okayama in 1955 as Fukutake Publishing Co., Ltd. At the outset, the company produced and sold books and student handbooks for junior high school students. Carrying on the deep interest in education of our founder, in 1990 the company developed the corporate philosophy of Benesse ("live well"), expanding the scope of operations from education to include lifestyle, nursing care, and other areas. In fall of 2009, we transitioned to a holding company structure, and Benesse Corporation now functions as one member of the Benesse Group, focusing on the education and lifestyle-related products fields. Amid recent trends of aging demographics, increasing use of IT and the march of globalization, we will continue to respond to our customers' increasingly diverse needs.

In order to respond to these types of changes, Benesse Corporation is working hard to resolve customers' problems and provide products and services that customers can feel safe and secure about using. In the education business, we are offering increasingly individualized content for the Japanese market, while at the same time promoting the business overseas, particularly in China. Meanwhile, in the lifestyle-related products business, we also continue to provide products and services to support women at all stages of life and children as they develop, through our magazines, web and mail-order sales businesses.

In 2010, Benesse Corporation celebrated the 55th anniversary of its founding. Going forward we will strive for further growth, supporting the desires of children, women and families around the world to improve and grow as we seek to become a company whose existence is indispensable to society.

We ask for your continued support in this endeavor.

Benesse Corporation
Representative Director and President
Tamotsu Fukushima