Japan Financial Education Support Organization Holds Financial Education Workshop for Junior and Senior High School Students, "The Road to the 4th FES Contest in Okayama City, Okayama Prefecture," in Collaboration with IPU, the University of the Pacific.

The Japan Financial Education Support Organization (Joint Representative Directors: Risa Hirai, Nana Abe; Location: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; hereinafter referred to as "the Organization") will hold a financial education workshop for junior and senior high school students, "The Road to the 4th FES Contest in Okayama City, Okayama Prefecture," in collaboration with IPU, the University of the Pacific.

This project is a regional collaboration initiative that combines the Organization's goal of "financial education that broadens life choices" with the "problem-solving practical education for local issues" undertaken by the Department of Contemporary Management, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration at IPU, the University of the Pacific.

Based at the IPU, the University of the Pacific Okayama Station Front Global Campus, we aim to create a new financial education model where university students, junior and senior high school students, and the local community learn together.

Furthermore, this workshop was made possible through the efforts of Associate Professor Junichi Oike of the Department of Contemporary Management, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration at IPU, the University of the Pacific, who also serves as a faculty ambassador for the Organization.

Associate Professor Oike specializes in commercial education and regional collaboration, and is also engaged in research and practice related to product development and regional revitalization.

The Organization has delivered financial education as "learning to think, communicate, and act" in collaboration with schools, municipalities, companies, and universities. This time, the first workshop in Okayama City will be held at the IPU, the University of the Pacific Okayama Station Front Global Campus, which is located in front of Okayama Station and has the concept of "connection," aiming to create a new model that connects the community and young people.

In this workshop, junior and senior high school students will challenge themselves to think about money and express themselves in their own words through the creation of application works for the Organization's financial education video contest, "FES Contest®." This is a practical program that deepens understanding by communicating learned content to others, rather than ending financial education as passive learning.

In addition, students from Associate Professor Junichi Oike's seminar at IPU, the University of the Pacific, will participate as operational support, assisting junior and senior high school students with group work and video production. By having university students and junior and senior high school students learn from each other across generations, a new learning cycle will be created within the community.

Junior and senior high school students experience financial education where they "learn by teaching" with university students as their companions.

IPU, the University of the Pacific, Oike Seminar Students

In this workshop, junior and senior high school students will challenge themselves to plan and produce financial education videos as application works for the FES Contest®, with the theme of "The 8 Powers of Money."

In addition to mini-lectures on financial education, participants will develop their ability to organize learned content themselves and communicate it clearly to others through opinion exchanges, group work, and video planning.

On the day of the event, students from Associate Professor Junichi Oike's seminar at IPU, the University of the Pacific, will support the group work and production activities of junior and senior high school students. For university students, this will also be a place to gain practical learning while interacting with junior and senior high school students in the community.

Image of Workshop Implementation

About FES Contest®

The FES Contest® is a nationwide contest where junior and senior high school students produce and distribute financial education videos for elementary school students, with the concept that "junior and senior high school students' works become everyone's 'opportunity to learn about money.'" It is held with the support of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the Financial Services Agency, the Consumer Affairs Agency, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

Furthermore, related workshops for the FES Contest were highly evaluated in fiscal year 2024 by the Mitsubishi Mirai Ikusei Foundation as "more advanced, distinctive, and effective 'programs that drive the engine of the heart' conducted by educational providers, etc.," receiving the Grand Prix in its division.

In fiscal year 2025, the initiative was recognized for its practice of child-centered learning and received the "Tokyo Metropolitan Government Children's Smile Movement Award" Excellence Award as an initiative contributing to the realization of a "child-first" society.

This year, the FES Contest will hold regional competitions in 11 prefectures. The Organization's "FES Contest University Student Executive Committee" will plan, manage, and conduct the award ceremonies for both regional and national competitions. This committee, organized around the FES Contest, has become an inter-university community and is currently engaged in unique activities such as product planning.

Workshop Overview

Name: The Road to the 4th FES Contest in Okayama City, Okayama Prefecture

Date: August 6, 2026 (Thu) 14:00-16:30

Venue: IPU, the University of the Pacific Okayama Station Front Global Campus

2-2-1 Shimoishii, Kita-ku, Okayama City, Okayama Prefecture

Organizer: Japan Financial Education Support Organization

Cooperation: IPU, the University of the Pacific

Target Audience: Junior high school and high school students

Content: - Mini-lecture on financial education - Group work - Video planning and production - FES Contest® application work production, etc.

Reference: The Road to the 4th FES Contest Workshop in Okayama City, Okayama Prefecture

Comment from Mariko Yamamoto, Director of the Regional Collaboration Center, IPU, the University of the Pacific

The IPU Regional Collaboration Center will fully support the challenge of junior and senior high school students who aim to learn and communicate the essence of money through this event.

Our university students will also provide full support as companions in video production, drawing out the participants' free ideas.

We hope that this valuable opportunity, where children take the lead in active learning and the university and community work hand in hand to foster growth, will be a sure step towards opening up the future.

We sincerely look forward to your participation.

Comment from Associate Professor Junichi Oike, IPU, the University of the Pacific

I deepened my exchange with Ms. Risa Hirai, Joint Representative Director of our Organization, through our shared experience as recipients of the Next Education Award, and we have long held a common aspiration for "proactive and practical education through output."

I am honored that a workshop at our university has been realized as a joint project with the Organization, for which I serve as a faculty ambassador.

In our seminar, we have practiced product development in collaboration with the local community and high schools; learning about economics and the mechanisms of money forms the foundation for understanding regional issues as one's own.

At the Okayama Station Front Global Campus, a "connecting" hub open to the community, university students will work alongside junior and senior high school students to challenge financial education where they "learn by teaching." Through this initiative, I greatly anticipate the creation of a new learning cycle connecting the community, the university, and junior and senior high school students.

Inquiries regarding this matter:

Japan Financial Education Support Organization

Joint Representative Directors: Risa Hirai, Nana Abe

2-11-7-B106 Kanda-Surugadai, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo

Phone: 03-6674-1435

Established: December 28, 2022

Official Website: https://faincation.com/

Email: info@faincation.com