Matsudo Junior High Students Launch Learning Connected to the World

On June 26, 2026, NPO Nakayoshi Gakuen Project held a "Learning Connected to the World" lecture at Matsudo City Kogane Junior High School.

The "Learning Connected to the World" lecture held at Kogane Junior High School.

This lecture was part of the "Matsudo Connects to the World Learning Project," which is being developed with a grant from the "Matsudo City Citizen Activity Grant" this fiscal year. Elementary, junior high, and high schools in Matsudo City will share what they have learned in their regular classes and extracurricular activities with the world, and connect with overseas educational sites to promote local international understanding education, peace education, and multicultural coexistence.

The project will implement a unified program that includes input on the current state of the world through lectures, idea generation by students, material creation, on-site implementation overseas, feedback from the field, and presentation of results. The materials show a flow of Phase 1 "Information Input through Lectures," Phase 2 "Student Idea Generation," Phase 3 "Educational Practice and Online Exchange in the Field," and Phase 4 "Reflection and Research Presentation."

Nakayoshi Gakuen's CoRe Loop

Sharing Learning from Matsudo City Schools to the World

Prior to the lecture at Kogane Junior High School, the Nakayoshi Gakuen Project held a similar lecture for first-year students at Kogane High School. Starting with Kogane High School and Kogane Junior High School, elementary, junior high, and high schools in Matsudo City will engage in activities to connect their school learning with children around the world this fiscal year.

The "Matsudo Connects to the World Learning Project" is an initiative that aims to deliver lectures on international understanding and peace education at elementary and junior high schools and free schools in Matsudo City, and to utilize teaching materials created by students in educational settings in South Sudan and other countries. The project plan aims to hold lectures at 3 to 5 elementary and junior high schools and free schools in the city, with over 500 people participating in inquiry-based learning, and to utilize over 50 teaching materials created by students in educational settings in two or more countries.

Nakayoshi Gakuen's activities in NepalNakayoshi Gakuen's activities in Rwanda

At the lecture at Kogane Junior High School, Yuichi Nakamura, representative of the Nakayoshi Gakuen Project, introduced his activities in education support, peacebuilding, disaster relief, and vocational training in various Asian and African countries. He emphasized the importance of understanding global issues not as "events in a faraway country" but as realities connected to their own learning.

Not just "knowing." CoRe Loop for Practicing Learning in the World

The "Learning Connected to the World" program developed by the Nakayoshi Gakuen Project goes beyond mere lectures and international understanding classes.

The CoRe Loop, introduced on the official website, is a cyclical educational model that delivers learning and creations born in Japanese schools to educational sites around the world, implements them locally, and returns the reactions to Japanese children. The program outline indicates that through lectures, students learn about the current state of the world and foster a sense of ownership, thinking "Maybe I can do something too."

Through this mechanism, students can gain experience where their "studies" support the learning and lives of someone in the world. The Nakayoshi Gakuen Project has collaborated with schools and municipalities across Japan, including Miyoshi City in Hiroshima Prefecture, Anpachi Town in Gifu Prefecture, Iki City in Nagasaki Prefecture, and Kakogawa City in Hyogo Prefecture, to deliver the results of local learning and inquiry-based learning to educational sites overseas. The materials for Matsudo City also introduce case studies with Mirasaka Gakuen, Yui Elementary School, Tsutsuki Elementary School, and the Kakogawa City Board of Education.

"Teaching materials" created by Japanese students are utilized in the CoRe Loop around the world.

From Matsudo Children to Participants in World Peace from Their Communities

Matsudo City is a region where multicultural coexistence and international understanding education are important issues. The project plan for this grant highlights the challenge that while there is an increasing number of children with foreign connections and young people interested in international society, opportunities to learn about the current state of the world and peacebuilding are limited in schools.

This project addresses that challenge by creating an experience for Matsudo children to learn, think, create teaching materials, and deliver them to the world. The objective of the project is to promote multicultural coexistence and international cooperation from the local community and foster the ability to act proactively as citizens who will lead the future, by having elementary and junior high school students in Matsudo City learn about international understanding and peacebuilding, create their own teaching materials, and deliver them to the world.

In the future, schools in Matsudo City, including Kogane Junior High School and Kogane High School, plan to produce picture books, karuta, videos, and other teaching materials based on what they learn in their regular classes and extracurricular activities, and deliver them to educational sites around the world through the Nakayoshi Gakuen Project's overseas network.

Learning born in Matsudo classrooms connects to the learning of children around the world, including South Sudan, Rwanda, Nepal, and Cambodia. And the voices and reactions from the field deepen the learning of Matsudo children once again.

This fiscal year, the Nakayoshi Gakuen Project will fully launch new educational practices from its home base in Matsudo to the world.

Various teaching materials from all over Japan contribute to educational support worldwide.

About the Nakayoshi Gakuen Project

NPO Nakayoshi Gakuen Project began its activities in 2007 and became an NPO in 2019. It is involved in education support, disaster relief, vocational training, and peacebuilding in 9 countries in Asia and Africa. The materials introduce networks with Cambodia, Nepal, Myanmar, East Timor, Syria, Rwanda, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Kenya, and others.

It has also presented its activities both domestically and internationally, including at the United Nations, UNHCR, ACUNS, UNESCO, and international conferences at Windsor Castle in the UK.

At Windsor Castle, UK.

Representative's Comment

Yuichi Nakamura, Representative, NPO Nakayoshi Gakuen Project

The Nakayoshi Gakuen Project has delivered learning born in schools across Japan to educational sites around the world. By connecting what children learn in class, the culture they cherish in their communities, and their wishes for peace to the learning of children overseas, I realize that Japanese education has the power to change the world.

I am very pleased to be able to start the "Matsudo Connects to the World Learning Project" from Kogane High School and Kogane Junior High School, with the support of Matsudo City, my hometown. Children in Matsudo will think about global issues as their own and deliver their learning to the world. This experience transforms international understanding from something in textbooks into international cooperation in their lives.

From Matsudo to the world. This fiscal year, together with the children, we will create a new model of local peace education and multicultural coexistence.

Representative Yuichi Nakamura, who has extensive experience speaking at the United Nations.

Secretary-General's Comment

Rie Nakamura, Secretary-General, NPO Nakayoshi Gakuen Project

Nakayoshi Gakuen has witnessed many moments where children's learning in schools across Japan has led to smiles for children around the world. The experience of something they created crossing oceans and being useful for someone's learning becomes a great confidence builder for children.

This time, we will expand this initiative from Matsudo City, our hometown. The classes and extracurricular activities that take place daily in Matsudo schools have a great power to connect with the world. We want to make this a year where children, teachers, and everyone in the community can experience firsthand how their local learning can lead to world peace.

Secretary-General Rie Nakamura, who works as a female leader in various countries around the world.

Project Overview

Project Name: Matsudo Connects to the World Learning Project Implementing Organization: NPO Nakayoshi Gakuen Project Implementation Details: International understanding and peace education lectures, inquiry-based learning, material creation, utilization in overseas educational settings, online exchange, and results presentation at elementary, junior high, and high schools in Matsudo City. Target Audience: Children, teachers, staff, parents, and community stakeholders in Matsudo City. Future Development: Material creation at schools in the city, practical lessons at overseas schools, online exchange, and results reporting meetings. Official Website: https://nakayoshigakuen.org/coreloop