Cluster to Hold Free Online Webinar for Educators on July 31: "Is Virtual a Touchpoint with the Real World? Learning from Teaching Practices in Distance Learning and Metaverse Engineering Departments"

Cluster, Inc. (Headquarters: Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Naoto Kato; hereinafter referred to as "Cluster") will hold its fourth online free webinar for educators on Friday, July 31, 2026, from 7:00 PM.

This webinar is part of a series regularly held to promote the use of "cluster" in educational settings. For this fourth session, we are pleased to welcome Mr. Shunsuke Sakurai, a teacher at Japan Aviation High School's Distance Learning Program, which launched Japan's first metaverse engineering department for high schools in April 2024, as our main speaker. Through two years of practice in the metaverse engineering department, he will share insights that can be immediately applied in educational settings, such as how students have changed and grown, and specific examples of lesson design that fuse digital and analog elements. The content will provide concrete hints even for those who "don't know where to start."

Advance registration is required. Please feel free to register using the application form below.

▶https://forms.gle/WwHap8SuAZxzZQP38

Webinar Overview

Date and Time: Friday, July 31, 2026, 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM (scheduled)

Format: Online (Google Meet)

Participation Fee: Free

Target Audience:

- School teachers and educators

- Those interested in the educational use of the metaverse

- Those who want to learn about practical examples from other schools

Speakers:

- Shunsuke Sakurai (Assistant Principal, Japan Aviation High School Distance Learning Program, Metaverse Engineering Department)

- MC: Shunji Irie (Cluster, Inc. cluster Education Coordinator)

Organizer: Cluster, Inc.

Application URL: https://forms.gle/WwHap8SuAZxzZQP38

Background

While interest in DX and metaverse utilization in education is growing, many voices express concerns such as "I don't know where to start" and "I can't visualize its application." Cluster has been holding regular webinars for educators since September 2025, and participant surveys have shown a particularly high demand for "learning about actual use cases in educational settings."

In response to the increasing need for distance and remote education, the fourth session has been planned as an opportunity to share insights from Mr. Sakurai, who has accumulated practical experience in combining "metaverse spaces x real-world learning."

Program (Scheduled)

1 Speaker Self-Introductions

2 What is the Metaverse Engineering Department? (Background, objectives, types of students enrolled)

3 Actual Initiatives and Lesson Examples (Digital x Analog Learning Design)

6 Message to Those Considering Metaverse Utilization in the Future

7 Q&A (Pre-submitted questions and questions during the session)

Speaker Introduction

Shunsuke Sakurai

Assistant Principal, Metaverse Engineering Department, Japan Aviation High School Distance Learning Program (Commonly known as: "Shunshun-sensei")

Leveraging 38 years of IT experience, 25 years in education, and 17 years in consulting, he is engaged in educational activities daily with the motto "Educational activities that receive 'likes' from the future" to create a society where unique individuality can be preserved. In April 2024, he launched Japan's first metaverse engineering department for high schools and continues to work as a high school teacher. He is active nationwide, primarily based in Yamanashi and Yokohama. Currently, there are a total of 45 students in the metaverse engineering department enrolled from 15 prefectures (as of the end of April 2026).

Shunji Irie

Cluster, Inc. cluster Education Coordinator

After graduating from university, he worked as a mathematics teacher at a high school before serving as a manager in a human resources service business for educational institutions and a scholastic ability test business for junior high school students. Currently, as the person in charge of cluster for Education, he coordinates educational programs utilizing the metaverse for schools and educational institutions.

Related Links

- cluster for Education Official Website: https://www.educator.cluster.mu/

- Official Website for Cluster's Support Solution for School Refusal: https://www.educator.cluster.mu/futoukousien

Cluster, Inc. is a technology company that develops and operates Japan's largest metaverse platform, with the vision of "Creating the OS for co-creation spaces that connect all people, things, and technologies." Centered around its proprietary large-scale concurrent connection infrastructure, it provides co-creation space infrastructure that fuses real and virtual. Adopted in diverse industries such as manufacturing, construction, education, international conferences, and entertainment, it supports multiple devices including smartphones, PCs, and VR. It builds real-time spaces capable of accommodating up to 100,000 concurrent users and has a track record of numerous IP content and large-scale events. It continues to grow as a BtoB platform that achieves both commercial use and scalability, with high reliability and extensibility.

Furthermore, it operates an in-house research institute to promote R&D in areas such as user behavior analysis, virtual AI agents, and automated 3D content creation using AI. It actively engages in joint research and demonstration experiments with external research institutions and universities, accelerating the evolution of metaverse technology.

By fusing technology and creativity, Cluster continues to build the next generation of social infrastructure, pioneering the future of virtual experiences.

https://corp.cluster.mu/

▼Owned media where you can learn about the forefront of Cluster, Inc.'s B2B business

https://metaversebiznews.cluster.mu/