齋藤 亮次/ Ryoji Saito
Head of Academic Management and full-time social studies lecturer at Kamiyama Marugoto National Institute of Technology (KOSEN). Nationally certified career consultant (MHLW). Affiliated researcher at the Waseda University Institute for Education Research. With fieldwork experience spanning over 50 countries, he specializes in career education, inquiry-based learning, and geography education.
Affiliations
Institute for Social Vision Design (ISVD)
Editorial Team
Links
Publications
Career Counseling for High School Students: Supporting Self-Determined Pathways
In an era of diversifying pathways to higher education and the pursuit of well-being, this book explains the individualized career guidance that teachers are called upon to provide. Drawing on 20 common pitfalls, it offers concrete approaches and methods to help students make self-determined decisions about their futures.
SCHOOL SHIFT: You Embody the Future of Education
Ten practitioners present both theory and practice for the future of school education in an era of 100-year lifespans, covering school DX, inquiry-based learning, project-based learning, career education, school organizational reform, and teacher career design.
Media Coverage
What We Should Tell People Who Think 'Retirement Means Sipping Tea on the Porch'
The Hidden Problem with Schools That Teach 'Push Forward and Try Harder'
Supporting Children's Self-Determination (10-part series)
Related Articles (6)
A Nation That Underinvests in Education — Japan's Public Spending at 56% of the OECD Average and the Inequality It Perpetuates
Japan's public spending on tertiary education stands at just 56% of the OECD average, with households bearing over half the cost. As defense spending reaches roughly twice the education budget, this article examines why reframing education as social investment matters, drawing on OECD data and social investment theory.
Japan's Education Gift-Tax Exemption Is Gone: Reading the Structure Behind Educational Inequality
On March 31, 2026, Japan's lump-sum education gift-tax exemption, allowing grandparents to transfer up to ¥15 million tax-free, expired without renewal. The government itself cited "entrenchment of inequality" as a reason for abolition. This column examines who benefited over 13 years, and why ending the exemption alone cannot break the cycle of educational inequality.
The Day Digital Textbooks Became Official: Decoding Japan's 2026 Cabinet Decision
Japan's April 7, 2026 cabinet decision elevated digital textbooks from "supplementary material" to full legal status as "official textbooks." This column traces the seven-year evolution of their legal standing, maps the 2027-enforcement / 2030-classroom roadmap, and explains why Japan is moving forward precisely as Scandinavia retreats to paper and South Korea's AI textbook collapsed.
353,970 Non-Attending Students: What Japan's 12-Year High Conceals
Japan recorded 353,970 non-attending elementary and junior-high students in FY2024: the 12th consecutive all-time high. Yet the year-on-year growth rate collapsed from 24.9% at the COVID-era peak to just 2.2%, and new cases fell for the first time in nine years. The data signals a structural shift, but deep challenges remain: 136,000 students receive no professional support, and the government's target of 300 specialized schools stands at only 84.
The Reality After Japan's Digital Textbook 'Formalization': How the Three-Option System Entrenches Regional Inequality
On April 7, 2026, the Japanese government approved a bill amending the School Education Act, establishing digital textbooks as official textbooks on equal standing with print. The law takes effect in April 2027, with full application to elementary schools beginning in academic year 2030. Yet roughly one and a half months after the cabinet decision, the ground reality reveals a three-option system — paper-only, paper-and-digital combined, or digital-only — that is already structurally entrenching regional inequality. High school digital textbook coverage stands at 11.5%, compared to 99.8% for elementary and middle schools. Teacher ICT-instruction training completion rates range from 95.8% in Gifu Prefecture to 58.8% in Gunma — a 37-percentage-point gap. Abroad, South Korea's AIDT was downgraded from "textbook" to "educational material" within one semester, leaving a connection rate of 0.3–0.5% in Sejong City. Japan's formalization is a starting point, not an endpoint — and the four-year transition design will determine whether the country repeats the same mistakes.
The Blind Spots of 'Free' Private High School Tuition: How Removing the Income Cap Widens Inequality
The April 2026 removal of the income cap on high school enrollment support grants was celebrated as making private high school tuition 'completely free.' But hidden costs beyond tuition, regional disparities among prefectures, and a regressive structure ensure that the deep inequalities the policy claims to address remain largely intact.
Other Members
Researcher 02 / Director
塩見 尚大/ Naohiro Shiomi
Project designer. He facilitates communication within organizations and projects, overseeing management and direction. Known as a hub who connects people, he draws colleagues and partners into collaborative problem-solving.
Researcher 01 / Representative Director
横田 直也/ Naoya Yokota
Creative producer and strategic designer. With an integrated approach spanning concept development, strategy, and design, he leads projects from structural analysis of social issues through to solution design. He drives research projects in areas such as traffic noise and urban environments, combining data analysis with design-driven methodologies.