Tokai University Kofu High School and Yokohama Small Factory President Conduct Direct Lessons in "Comprehensive Inquiry Time"

Threehigh Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture; Representative Director: Makoto Ozawa; hereinafter "Threehigh"), which manufactures and sells industrial heaters, has partnered with Tokai University Kofu High School (Kofu City, Yamanashi Prefecture; Principal: Hideo Yamaki; hereinafter "Tokai Kofu High School") to commence "Comprehensive Inquiry Time" focusing on solving corporate management challenges starting April 2026.

In this initiative, students will propose a future vision for Threehigh, taking into account the company's stakeholders and its relationship with society. On May 29, the final session, students will present their proposals to Threehigh's president, and excellent ideas will be considered for realization.

Industrial heaters manufactured and sold by Threehigh. Locations and applications where Threehigh's industrial heaters are used.

Overview of the Initiative

Tokai Kofu High School, with the slogan "Extend Human Potential," aims to foster four key strengths—"flexible thinking, cooperative ability, experimental spirit, and perseverance"—based on the founding principles of Tokai University. Central to this is the "Gachi-TOKAI Project ~ Inquiry Learning Connected to Society ~," a practical learning program where students proactively discover issues and derive solutions in collaboration with companies and NPO organizations.

"Comprehensive Inquiry Time" is an interdisciplinary learning introduced in high schools from the 2022 academic year. To cultivate entrepreneurship, learning connected to the real world is essential. However, creating continuous collaborative lessons between educational institutions and companies is difficult, and many schools are still exploring options. Tokai Kofu High School faced similar challenges and, after searching widely for partners both within and outside the prefecture, found a successful collaboration with Threehigh, which has a track record of inquiry-based learning partnerships with high schools in Kanagawa Prefecture.

Threehigh is a small factory with 44 employees headquartered in Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture, supplying industrial heaters to over 7,000 companies, mainly in the food manufacturing and semiconductor industries. In 2024, it established its first branch outside the prefecture in Sapporo and is also expanding overseas, primarily in East Asia. A distinguishing feature is its customized product development based on individual customer needs. Threehigh's innovative thinking as a manufacturing company and its proactive community contribution activities were deemed suitable for an inquiry-based learning subject company.

In these lessons, 222 second-year students in the 2026 academic year will be tasked with "Propose to the President! - Thinking about Threehigh's Future -." They will consider "how Threehigh should be in the future" from the perspective of one of the four stakeholders that Threehigh values: (1) Suppliers/Customers, (2) Employees, (3) Local Community, and (4) Future/Earth. During the five lessons, Threehigh's representative and employees will visit the school multiple times to advise students on their proposal process. The final presentation will provide an opportunity to present directly to President Ozawa, allowing students to experience a decision-making setting close to the real world. Furthermore, this initiative will not be limited to a single year; it plans for continuous collaboration over several years, including using Threehigh as a subject company for first-year students' lessons from autumn onward.

We hope this initiative receives recognition from many educators and small and medium-sized enterprises, and that it contributes to making "Comprehensive Inquiry Time" more meaningful for high school students.

Comment from Hideo Yamaki, Principal, Tokai University Kofu High School

Our school promotes learning connected to society through inquiry-based learning, aiming to develop "autonomy, action, and creativity." What is required in the coming era is not just the quantity of knowledge, but the ability to formulate questions, think, judge, and act independently. However, traditional lessons primarily focused on learning correct answers, and experiences dealing with open-ended questions were not sufficient.

Threehigh, a Yokohama-based company with which we are now collaborating, is a manufacturing company that develops custom-made products according to customer needs while expanding overseas, and has been actively contributing to the local community for over 10 years. By receiving direct guidance from President Ozawa on their flexible innovative thinking and how they build relationships with the local community, we believe students' imagination, societal perspective, and career image for the future will greatly expand, leading to this partnership.

We hope this provides an opportunity for many people to learn widely about our school's initiatives and Threehigh's business activities.

School Name: Tokai University Kofu High School
Principal: Hideo Yamaki
Location: 1-1 Kanetake-cho, Kofu City, Yamanashi Prefecture
Established: April 1, 1946
Number of Students: 705 (as of April 2026)
Official Website: https://www.kofu.tokai.ed.jp/

Comment from Makoto Ozawa, Representative Director, Threehigh Co., Ltd.

Since its establishment in 1990, Threehigh has primarily engaged in the manufacturing and sales of industrial electric heaters. With "Thinking about things, thinking about people" as its management philosophy, it aims to "warm up..."