Partnering with Kokuyo Co., Ltd. and Kenchiku-chiku Co., Ltd. to Launch a Demonstration Experiment on Learning Environments realizing both 'Individually Optimized Learning' and 'Collaborative Learning'
Ohinata Secondary School will begin a joint demonstration experiment in mid-April 2026 with Kokuyo and an architectural firm. They will introduce flexible space design and furniture in their new building to verify environments that support Jenaplan education.
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- 📰 Published: April 15, 2026 at 20:41
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Morai Gakuen Educational Corporation's Ohinata Secondary School (Minamisaku District, Nagano Prefecture / Chairman: Yuichi Nakasho) will partner with Kokuyo Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Osaka / President: Hidekuni Kuroda, hereafter Kokuyo) and Kenchiku-chiku Co., Ltd. (Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo / CEO: Koki Mochizuki, hereafter Kenchiku-chiku) to launch a joint demonstration experiment of a learning environment realizing proactive, interactive, and collaborative learning for children at the new school building of Ohinata Secondary School starting mid-April 2026.
1. Background
At the Jenaplan School operated by Morai Gakuen, based on the Jenaplan concept, the goal is to foster the holistic growth of children through proactive and collaborative learning, with an emphasis on independence and coexistence. This concept aligns with the educational direction advocated by MEXT to comprehensively enhance 'individually optimized learning' and 'collaborative learning'. To realize this type of education, not only the content of learning but also the state of the learning environment supporting it is crucial. To build an environment that enables proactive, interactive, and deep learning, a spatial design is required that allows flexible choice of places according to diverse learning activities, such as spaces for individual concentration, areas for small-group collaboration, and spaces enabling large-group dialogues and presentations.
2. Overview of the Initiative
Under this background, in the new school building of Ohinata Secondary School opening in April 2026, we aimed to create a learning environment where diverse children can easily concentrate individually while simultaneously allowing dialogues, collaboration, and presentations to unfold dynamically. This is achieved through flexible space design by Kenchiku-chiku and the introduction of functional furniture by Kokuyo. Concurrently, Morai Gakuen will start a demonstration experiment in collaboration with Kokuyo and Kenchiku-chiku to continuously record and analyze students' learning activities and actual usage of the space and furniture. This experiment will visualize the relationship between learning content and space, reflect the findings in the design and operation of school spaces, and disseminate them widely.
Through this initiative, we seek to explore environment creation that can flexibly adapt to diverse learning and contribute to establishing a learning space model that realizes both 'individually optimized learning' and 'collaborative learning'.
3. Main Learning Environments Targeted for the Experiment
(1) The Grand Corridor Generating Information Dissemination and Incidental Dialogue
The 70-meter grand corridor, the main traffic flow of the school building, is equipped with desks and chairs on casters, as well as movable partitions to divide spaces or exhibit results of exploratory learning. We will observe how children's proactive layout changes contribute to daily learning, interaction, and dialogue.
(2) The 'Library' Capable of Everything from Research Learning to Presentations
Designed as a space accommodating not only research but also group discussions and presentations, introducing chairs and sofas on casters. We will verify how children learn and how the spatial configuration transforms.
(3) The Open 'Staff Room'
A lounge space is set up within part of the staff room where children, parents, and external visitors can drop by naturally to have flat communication with teachers and staff. We will monitor the induction of interaction among various people involved with the school.
4. Comments from Each Company
Koichi Aoyama, Principal of Ohinata Secondary School, Morai Gakuen
"We believe a school is not a completed space, but an environment that grows together with the children. At Ohinata Secondary School, under Jenaplan education where children of different ages learn together, each individual has questions and deepens learning through dialogue with peers. This space, born from the collaboration with Kenchiku-chiku and Kokuyo, is not a classroom with a pre-determined usage, but a 'learning space with margin' where children themselves find meaning through activities and remake it. I am very much looking forward to seeing how the children will master this space and create new landscapes of learning."
TCM Division, Workplace Business Headquarters, Kokuyo Co., Ltd.
"To build school environments overflowing with children's intellectual curiosity where they can feel excited about the future, Kokuyo supports the creation of school spaces under the concept of 'Creating Schools Full of Waku-Waku (Excitement)'. This time, we thought about how the power of furniture could support the 'seamless transition between individual optimization and collaboration' essential for new-era learning, and provided furniture to Ohinata Secondary School. We will utilize the insights (evidence) gained through this experiment to solve spatial design challenges faced by schools nationwide and contribute to building a new standard for Japan's educational environment."
Koki Mochizuki, CEO of Kenchiku-chiku Co., Ltd.
"This school building is...
1. Background
At the Jenaplan School operated by Morai Gakuen, based on the Jenaplan concept, the goal is to foster the holistic growth of children through proactive and collaborative learning, with an emphasis on independence and coexistence. This concept aligns with the educational direction advocated by MEXT to comprehensively enhance 'individually optimized learning' and 'collaborative learning'. To realize this type of education, not only the content of learning but also the state of the learning environment supporting it is crucial. To build an environment that enables proactive, interactive, and deep learning, a spatial design is required that allows flexible choice of places according to diverse learning activities, such as spaces for individual concentration, areas for small-group collaboration, and spaces enabling large-group dialogues and presentations.
2. Overview of the Initiative
Under this background, in the new school building of Ohinata Secondary School opening in April 2026, we aimed to create a learning environment where diverse children can easily concentrate individually while simultaneously allowing dialogues, collaboration, and presentations to unfold dynamically. This is achieved through flexible space design by Kenchiku-chiku and the introduction of functional furniture by Kokuyo. Concurrently, Morai Gakuen will start a demonstration experiment in collaboration with Kokuyo and Kenchiku-chiku to continuously record and analyze students' learning activities and actual usage of the space and furniture. This experiment will visualize the relationship between learning content and space, reflect the findings in the design and operation of school spaces, and disseminate them widely.
Through this initiative, we seek to explore environment creation that can flexibly adapt to diverse learning and contribute to establishing a learning space model that realizes both 'individually optimized learning' and 'collaborative learning'.
3. Main Learning Environments Targeted for the Experiment
(1) The Grand Corridor Generating Information Dissemination and Incidental Dialogue
The 70-meter grand corridor, the main traffic flow of the school building, is equipped with desks and chairs on casters, as well as movable partitions to divide spaces or exhibit results of exploratory learning. We will observe how children's proactive layout changes contribute to daily learning, interaction, and dialogue.
(2) The 'Library' Capable of Everything from Research Learning to Presentations
Designed as a space accommodating not only research but also group discussions and presentations, introducing chairs and sofas on casters. We will verify how children learn and how the spatial configuration transforms.
(3) The Open 'Staff Room'
A lounge space is set up within part of the staff room where children, parents, and external visitors can drop by naturally to have flat communication with teachers and staff. We will monitor the induction of interaction among various people involved with the school.
4. Comments from Each Company
Koichi Aoyama, Principal of Ohinata Secondary School, Morai Gakuen
"We believe a school is not a completed space, but an environment that grows together with the children. At Ohinata Secondary School, under Jenaplan education where children of different ages learn together, each individual has questions and deepens learning through dialogue with peers. This space, born from the collaboration with Kenchiku-chiku and Kokuyo, is not a classroom with a pre-determined usage, but a 'learning space with margin' where children themselves find meaning through activities and remake it. I am very much looking forward to seeing how the children will master this space and create new landscapes of learning."
TCM Division, Workplace Business Headquarters, Kokuyo Co., Ltd.
"To build school environments overflowing with children's intellectual curiosity where they can feel excited about the future, Kokuyo supports the creation of school spaces under the concept of 'Creating Schools Full of Waku-Waku (Excitement)'. This time, we thought about how the power of furniture could support the 'seamless transition between individual optimization and collaboration' essential for new-era learning, and provided furniture to Ohinata Secondary School. We will utilize the insights (evidence) gained through this experiment to solve spatial design challenges faced by schools nationwide and contribute to building a new standard for Japan's educational environment."
Koki Mochizuki, CEO of Kenchiku-chiku Co., Ltd.
"This school building is...