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)
School Pools Are Disappearing — How Fiscal Gaps Between Municipalities Become Gaps in Learning to Swim
Japan's schools hold 23,411 outdoor pools (Japan Sports Agency, FY2024), and per school the number has fallen from 0.87 to 0.83 at elementary schools and 0.65 to 0.63 at junior high schools, survey after survey. The response to aging and record heat splits into rebuilding, outsourcing, and classroom lessons, and that split turns on municipal finances. This reads how the shared base of learning to swim shifts toward what households can afford, and asks what to keep in public education.
What Divides Japan's Teacher Shortage Is the Prefecture: A 4.4x Recruitment Gap and 43 Worsening Local Governments
Japan's MEXT FY2025 Teacher Shortage Survey reports 3,827 unfilled positions nationwide, yet the real story is not the total. Across 68 reporting entities, 43 worsened, 23 improved, and only 8 reported zero shortage. The recruitment ratio for elementary teachers ranges from 4.8x in Kochi to 1.1x in Akita — a 4.4-fold gap. Japan's teacher shortage has entered a phase of locked-in regional disparity.
When Private Afterschool Care Costs Exceed Take-Home Pay — The Market Mechanics of Japan's Child Penalty
Japan's public afterschool clubs leave 16,330 children on waitlists nationwide, 3,360 in Tokyo alone. Private alternatives cost ¥50,000–100,000 per child per month — exceeding take-home pay for multi-child households. This column reads the institutional silos and market sorting that turn the so-called "child penalty" into a structural phenomenon.
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.
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.