Himeji: Akashika Real Estate's Career Experience Program for Middle School Students Begins with Business Card Exchange

Fostering the Future: Akashika Real Estate Hosts Middle Schoolers for 'Try a Job Week'

Akashika Real Estate Co., Ltd. (Head Office: 1-1-23 Tsuji, Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture; President: Yasuo Akashika) hosted two students from Takao Junior High School in Himeji City from Monday, June 1, 2026, to Friday, June 5, for a five-day career education program called 'Try a Job Week'.

During the program, the students experienced a wide range of company operations across departments, including housing development, on-site rental property management, and back-office functions such as accounting and public relations. On the final day, they delivered presentations on the housing exhibition sites they visited and shared PDCA-style reports on 'What I Want to Achieve in Middle School'. By providing practical opportunities for students to identify challenges and present solutions, the program deepened their understanding of work and supported the early stages of career development.

Comments from Participating Students

The two students from Takao Junior High School shared reflective feedback after the five-day program, demonstrating visible growth.

"Exchanging business cards—something I thought only adults do—was a fresh and exciting experience."

"I really enjoyed activities like changing locks and touring housing exhibition sites, things I don’t normally get to do in daily life."

"I want to apply what I learned during this 'Try a Job Week' to my future school life."

Background and Objectives of the Program

The real estate industry, which provides homes and shapes communities, is deeply connected to people’s daily lives. Akashika Real Estate aims to go beyond simple workplace observation by offering next-generation youth a firsthand experience of both the rewards and challenges of working. Through cross-departmental collaboration, the company designed a practical program that immerses students in the front lines of business operations.

The program emphasizes real-world experiences such as the sense of responsibility in supporting customers’ lifestyles and the collaborative processes involved in team-based work.

Key Activities Over the Five Days

[Business Etiquette and Foundational Learning]

- Business card exchange with all employees (as a first step into society), company introduction

[On-Site and Practical Experiences]

Rental Sales & Management: On-site photo shoots of rental properties, document preparation, lock replacement tasks

Housing Development: Site visits to land development projects and hands-on experience creating zoning plans for subdivisions

Sales & Planning: Visits to housing exhibition centers, web listing tasks for ready-built homes (photo selection and editing)

Accounting: Practice in 'satsukan' (the skill of counting banknotes)

Public Relations: Creation of internal PR materials (summarizing reflections on the experience and future goals)

[Photos: CEO talk, business card exchange with staff, web listing of ready-built homes, lock replacement at rental properties, site visit to company-developed subdivisions]

Final Presentations: Making Career Development Tangible

As a culmination of their experience, the students delivered two final presentations on the last day: one on the housing exhibition sites they visited, and another on 'What I Want to Achieve in Middle School' using the PDCA cycle.

[Housing Exhibition Site Presentation]

With cooperation from external homebuilders, students toured housing exhibition sites. Based on the information they received and their own proactive questioning, they created presentation materials and delivered thoughtful, personalized reports to company staff. Their presentations included specific scenarios such as 'how one might live in the home,' making future lifestyles easy to visualize.

[PDCA Presentation (Cultivating Independent Thinking and Action)]

At Akashika Real Estate, PDCA cycles are used daily to set and execute action plans for annual and monthly goals. For this program, the company applied this business skill to themes relevant to middle schoolers. Students set personal goals—such as academic or club activity achievements—analyzed their current challenges, and created concrete action plans. After presenting, they received feedback from employees and refined their plans. By applying real-world business thinking, students developed the ability to think and act independently. Many expressed strong motivation to continue implementing their self-created plans after the program ended.

Reflections from Akashika Real Estate

The students’ serious engagement—sometimes nervous, sometimes bright-eyed—provided great inspiration to the staff who hosted them.

Just as their hesitant first-day business card exchanges transformed into confident final presentations, the company deeply hopes that the 'ability to think and act independently' and 'insights into working life' gained over these five days will become significant catalysts for the students’ future school lives and their growth into responsible members of society.