Hinata Junior High School, Kenchiku Chiku Architects, and KOKUYO Collaborate to Launch Demonstration Experiment for Learning Environments Realizing "Learning of the Future"

KOKUYO Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Osaka City / President: Hidenobu Kuroda) will collaborate with Moirai Gakuen Hinata Junior High School (Minamisaku-gun, Nagano Prefecture, Chairman: Yuichi Nakamasu) and Kenchiku Chiku Architects (Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Representative Director: Kiminori Mochizuki) to launch a joint demonstration experiment for learning environments that realize learning for a new era in the new school building of Hinata Junior High School, starting in mid-April.

From left: "Library," "Grand Corridor," "Staff Room"

1. Background of the Initiative
In recent years, learning styles have rapidly diversified in educational settings due to the spread of inquiry-based learning and Project-Based Learning (PBL). However, in traditional, uniform classroom environments, it is difficult to flexibly choose and change one's location for diverse activities such as individual focused work or group presentations. There is a challenge where spaces cannot accommodate various learning scenes, and locations restrict activities.
Therefore, KOKUYO, in collaboration with Hinata Junior High School and Kenchiku Chiku Architects, will begin a demonstration experiment to record and analyze children's activities and space utilization. Through this initiative, which will disseminate consolidated knowledge and continuously reflect it in school settings, we aim to realize learning environments that balance "individually optimized learning" and "collaborative learning."

2. Overview of the Initiative
Hinata Junior High School, operated by Moirai Gakuen, Japan's first Ieana Plan (*) school, practices education that fosters independence and coexistence. In the new school building, "education (activity)," "architecture (container)," and "furniture (function)" collaborate to create a new learning environment that children can actively use and transform.
This initiative is positioned not as completing the school building, but as "an endless creation of space that grows while being used," continuously observing and verifying how children actually choose spaces, interact, and deepen their learning.
(*) An open model educational concept that emphasizes dialogue and collaboration, fostering independence and coexistence through learning and living in mixed-age classrooms.

3. Main Learning Environments Subject to the Demonstration Experiment
(1) "Grand Corridor" that generates information dissemination and spontaneous dialogue
A movable partition, "Any Wall," is installed in the main corridor of the school building, allowing children to partition the space themselves and display the results of their inquiry-based learning. We will observe how layout changes for exhibitions contribute to interaction and dialogue with other grades.
(2) "Library" that accommodates everything from quiet study to dynamic learning
It is not just a place for research, but flexibly accommodates diverse learning such as presentations and group discussions. By introducing caster chairs "Any Chair" and lightweight sofas "Any Sofa," we will verify the transformation of space configuration by the children.
(3) "Staff Room" open to society
At the entrance of the staff room, a lounge space is set up where children, parents, and external visitors can naturally stop by and have flat communication with teachers and staff. We will monitor the stimulation of interaction among various people involved with the school.

4. Roles and Comments of Each Party
[Space/Furniture] KOKUYO Co., Ltd. Global Workplace Business Headquarters TCM Headquarters
KOKUYO supports school space creation with the concept of "Creating Schools Full of Excitement" to build school environments where children's intellectual curiosity overflows and they can look forward to the future. This time, we considered how furniture could support the "seamless transition between individual optimization and collaboration," which is essential for learning in the new era, and provided furniture to Hinata Junior High School. We will contribute to the establishment of new standards for Japan's educational environment by utilizing the knowledge (evidence) gained through this demonstration experiment to solve the space creation challenges faced by schools nationwide.

[Education] Moirai Gakuen Hinata Junior High School Principal Koichi Aoyama
We believe that a school is not a completed space, but an environment that grows with the children. At Hinata Junior High School, under the Ieana Plan education where children of different ages learn together, each individual has questions and deepens their learning through dialogue with peers. The space created through collaboration with Kenchiku Chiku Architects and KOKUYO is not a classroom with a predetermined use, but a "learning space with room for interpretation" that children themselves imbue with meaning and recreate through their activities. We are very much looking forward to seeing how the children will utilize this space and create new learning landscapes.

[Architecture] Kenchiku Chiku Architects Representative Director Kiminori Mochizuki
This school building was designed as a "base" that generously accommodates the diverse activities of children, in line with Moirai Gakuen's educational philosophy. This architecture, serving as a receptacle, is completed when KOKUYO's movable and functional furniture is introduced, and further, when the children themselves skillfully use and adapt it. For example, the space changes daily as children consider the arrangement of desks and chairs themselves or create their own favorite bookshelves using "Any Wall." We expect this space to foster each child's creativity and autonomy and to grow richly as a place of learning. We want to observe and verify together what kind of changes and growth will emerge.

* The information contained in this document is current as of the date of announcement. It is subject to change without notice. Please be forewarned.
* Company names, service names, and product names mentioned are registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective companies.

[Contact Information] KOKUYO Customer Service
https://www.kokuyo.co.jp/support/