[April Dream] "I'm sorry for being this kind of father"—A dream drawn by a local cram school director who achieved commercial publication after hitting rock bottom as an unemployed person with a chronic illness: "Changing Japanese education from the small rural town of Inae, Shiga!"

※Our company supports "April Dream," an initiative that encourages sharing dreams on April 1st. This press release is the dream of "Sogo Gakushu Kyoshitsu Bridge."

Inae-cho, Hikone City, Shiga Prefecture. In this small town where the number of children in each grade is less than 100, I operate a cram school called "Sogo Gakushu Kyoshitsu Bridge," which is attended by over 100 students.

I adhere to a unique teaching philosophy of "not over-teaching so as not to stifle student growth," and have produced numerous successful candidates for top-tier middle schools and universities, such as Nada Junior High School, Todaiji Gakuen, and Kobe College.

I am also active as a pioneer in future-oriented education, having introduced Japan's first online self-study room utilizing Zoom in 2015.

Despite being in an environment where it is difficult to build "prominent achievements" as a small, local, independent cram school, I continue to pursue commercial publication for a national audience. Behind this lies a past at rock bottom, marked by panic disorder and repeated layoffs, and a desperate desire to "leave behind proof that I lived."

And now, I hold a grand dream: "Changing Japan from Inae."

The rock-bottom days of unemployment. The wish to "live" was a desire to "leave something behind."

My dream of publishing was sparked by the birth of my first child, my eldest daughter.

Due to the effects of a chronic illness, I drifted from job to job, was fired four or five times by the age of 30, and welcomed my daughter's birth while at the rock bottom of being unemployed.

"I'm sorry you were born to a father like me... But I will work hard from now on and become a person you can be proud of..."

At the time, that was what I felt strongly.

Amidst the frustration of not being able to be proud of myself for my daughter, I began to think, "I want to leave behind some form of proof that I lived." For me at the time, the desire to "publish" was a desperate wish to "live," and it was synonymous with the strong desire to "leave behind what I thought (to leave behind for my daughter and my yet-to-be-born grandchildren what their father and grandfather had thought)."

Creating a cram school as a local infrastructure that "does not incite anxiety"

Overcoming repeated adversities, I realized my childhood dream of "raising children in my hometown" by opening a cram school in my home town of Inae.

There are no "fixed classes" at Bridge.

We adopt a thorough self-study style where "you can come to the cram school whenever you want and study whatever you want, as long as you let us know by 11:00 PM the day before."

Rather than teachers unilaterally stuffing knowledge into students, I provide an environment where students face their own lives and teach and nurture each other.

It has now become a cram school attended by a wide range of students, from preschoolers to post-graduates, but what I am aiming for as "local infrastructure" is to create "the peace of mind that all study-related matters can be completed in one place, from preschool until high school graduation."

I will never say things common in the cram school industry, such as "If you don't start now, you won't make it to your target school!!" which essentially buys into anxiety.

I face each day with the hope of being a place that can provide something similar to the "dreams" children see when they are playing sports.

Chasing the back of Mr. Tanabe of "Ringo Juku" and competing in commercial publishing with "Japanese Language"

About 16 years after my daughter's birth, I finally achieved my dream of commercial publication.

A major driving force behind my writing activities was the presence of Mr. Toru Tanabe, the representative of "Ringo Juku" (a math-specialized cram school that produces many Math Olympiad medalists), which I am franchised with.

I was strongly stimulated by Mr. Tanabe's stance of engaging in large-scale publishing activities and making his know-how public, and I decided, "I will compete with the angle of 'Japanese Language,' which is my own area of expertise and something other cram school teachers cannot do."

Following the publication of "Improving 'Answer Ability' in Japanese from Age 10," I released a new book in 2026: "A Book to Understand 'Japanese Language Ability' to Survive the AI Era: Tips for Reading Comprehension, Expression, Thinking, and AI Dialogue You Want to Acquire from Junior High and High School" (Mates Publishing).

In this modern age where AI is becoming familiar, I explain in an easy-to-understand manner from the perspective of a local educational site the powers of "reading comprehension, expression, thinking, and AI dialogue" that children truly need.

Without making excuses about being in an environment where it is difficult to build achievements, I continue my writing activities for a national audience by leveraging my strengths.

April Dream

"Changing Japan from Inae. Becoming local infrastructure."

"People might think, 'It's impossible from such a rural town, right!?' but if you say it's impossible, it's impossible. However, I believe it can be changed. That is why I decided to live in this place."

The challenge of a father whose "publishing = wanting to live (wanting to leave behind his thoughts)" has now connected to a big dream of changing Japanese education from a small town in Shiga.

I will continue to push the backs of children across the country as a cram school teacher and as an author, while delivering "dreams, not anxiety."