[50th Anniversary] Wao Corporation AI-ifies Nokaicenter's Scoring Expertise. Jointly develops AI automatic scoring system for Japanese language descriptive questions, "AI Go Answer," with subsidiary Waotech, patent pending!

Wao Corporation (Headquarters: Osaka, Japan; President and CEO: Hideo Ikemori) and its subsidiary, Waotech Inc. (Headquarters: Osaka, Japan; CEO: Hideo Ikemori), have jointly developed the AI automatic scoring system for Japanese language descriptive questions, "AI Go Answer."

"AI Go Answer" is a new AI automatic scoring system that aims to reproduce "human-like Japanese language scoring," going beyond simple correct/incorrect judgments. It achieves this by combining OCR technology for reading handwritten answers with the scoring and deduction expertise cultivated over many years by the Japanese language instructors at Nokaicenter in their exam preparation guidance. This technology is currently patent pending.

Wao Corporation, celebrating its 50th anniversary, has been developing educational businesses in all 47 prefectures of Japan, upholding the educational philosophy of "fostering individuals who possess high aspirations, learn independently, think for themselves, and act on their own judgment." This development represents a new challenge for the education industry, realized by combining the insights from educational frontline experience with Waotech's technological development capabilities.

## Background of Development
In educational settings, particularly cram schools and schools, scoring descriptive answers in Japanese language remains a significant burden. Descriptive questions cannot be processed with simple correct/incorrect judgments like multiple-choice questions; they require a multifaceted evaluation of the answer's content, completeness of elements, logical flow, and appropriateness of expression.

Therefore, scoring demands high expertise and considerable time. Moreover, as the number of answer sheets increases, "scoring discrepancies" due to scorer fatigue or judgment fluctuations are more likely to occur. Especially in junior high and high school entrance examinations, a difference of a few points can often determine success or failure, making scoring reproducibility and fairness crucial themes directly linked to educational quality.

Since its establishment in 1976, Nokaicenter has provided educational services that adapt to changing times while upholding its educational philosophy, supporting academic improvement and success in target school admissions through its strong teaching and guidance capabilities. Nokaicenter instructors emphasize fostering children's learning attitudes and academic abilities through "lessons that convey the joy of learning," and in doing so, they have accumulated unique practical knowledge in scoring and correcting Japanese language descriptive answers.

Meanwhile, Waotech Inc., a subsidiary of Wao Corporation established in September 2023, operates IT-related educational services and human resource development. With the mission "Power to the people by tech," it promotes value creation by combining education and technology.

Against this backdrop, both companies jointly developed "AI Go Answer" to evolve educational settings from "educational sites where scoring consumes time" to "educational sites where guidance can be strengthened based on scoring results."

## What is "AI Go Answer"?
"AI Go Answer" is an AI automatic scoring system that supports the scoring of Japanese language descriptive questions.

It uses OCR to read handwritten answers, and AI analyzes their content. Furthermore, by incorporating the scoring and deduction expertise of Nokaicenter instructors, it aims to reproduce "human-like scoring judgments" required in actual entrance examinations and mock tests, going beyond mere keyword matching or partial matching.

Traditionally, descriptive scoring has been a time-consuming and labor-intensive task, heavily reliant on experienced instructors and teachers. "AI Go Answer" not only streamlines this scoring process but is also designed to utilize scoring results as data to connect to subsequent lessons and individualized guidance.

## Key Features of "AI Go Answer"
### 1. Supports OCR reading of handwritten answers
"AI Go Answer" uses OCR to read handwritten descriptive content on paper answer sheets and converts it into scorable data. Since it is based on the actual answer sheets and operational flows used in educational settings, a key feature is its ability to be introduced in a way that is highly compatible with existing examination and mock test operations.

### 2. AI-powered scoring expertise from Nokaicenter's Japanese language instructors
The greatest feature of this system is that the scoring expertise cultivated in the field of cram schools is directly implemented in the AI. Based on the knowledge accumulated by Nokaicenter's Japanese language instructors over many years of exam preparation guidance, it aims to reproduce the judgment processes performed by actual scorers, such as:
- Appropriately evaluating content equivalent to the model answer
- Deducting points if some elements are missing
- Considering content or logic as valid for evaluation even if expressions differ

### 3. Reduces scoring discrepancies and enhances evaluation reproducibility
Human scoring can be subject to fluctuations in evaluation due to factors such as physical condition, experience differences, scoring order, and the number of answer sheets. "AI Go Answer" performs consistent scoring based on set criteria, allowing it to always return the same evaluation for the same answer. This contributes to standardizing scoring quality, ensuring fairness, and improving explainability to parents and examinees.

### 4. Transforms scoring from an "end" to "the next guidance"
"AI Go Answer" is not just a tool that returns scores. It visualizes where points were deducted and which elements were missing, and it is designed to organize this information for instructors and teachers to utilize in subsequent lessons and individual guidance.
In other words, it is a mechanism that not only "reduces the labor of scoring tasks" but also realizes "from scoring to guidance."

### 5. Proprietary technology with patent pending
This technology, which combines OCR reading technology with Japanese language descriptive scoring expertise to reproduce human-like scoring judgments, is currently patent pending. Development is proceeding as a highly unique system that integrates field knowledge and AI technology, with an emphasis on its ability to withstand practical operation in educational settings.

### Value of Introduction for the Education Industry, Cram Schools, and Schools
"AI Go Answer" offers significant value, especially to educational institutions and providers facing challenges such as:
- Descriptive scoring takes a lot of time, placing a heavy burden on instructors and teachers.
- Scoring criteria and strictness tend to vary by branch and by person in charge.
- Want to strengthen descriptive guidance, but scoring effort is a bottleneck.
- Want to accumulate scoring results as data and utilize them for lesson improvement and learning improvement.
- Want to maintain and standardize scoring quality even amidst labor shortages.

For cram school managers and school administrators, scoring is not just a task. It is a "management issue" that affects the allocation of instructor time, the reliability of explanations to parents, the standardization of teaching quality, the competitiveness of descriptive question preparation, and ultimately, the profitability of school operations.
"AI Go Answer" not only streamlines this scoring process but also contributes to strengthening the competitiveness of educational institutions by transforming scoring into a valuable instructional asset.

### Future Development
Wao Corporation and Waotech will first support the advancement and efficiency of Japanese language descriptive scoring in cram schools and schools. In the future, beyond scoring support, they plan to develop the system into a mechanism that elevates the quality of education itself by utilizing accumulated answer data for learning analysis, material development, and lesson improvement.

In addition to providing it to cram schools and schools, they also aim to build new educational infrastructure in the descriptive scoring field by considering collaborations with existing scoring system providers and education-related companies.

### Representative Comment
Hideo Ikemori
CEO, Waotech Inc.
President and CEO, Wao Corporation

Scoring descriptive Japanese language questions is a task close to the essence of education, yet it is also a very heavy burden for those on the front lines.
We don't simply want to replace scoring itself; we want to strengthen the "next guidance" that comes after scoring.

"AI Go Answer" is a system developed to reduce the burden on educational settings while improving the quality of guidance. By combining the knowledge accumulated over many years by Nokaicenter's Japanese language instructors with Waotech's technological development capabilities, we have finally been able to bring it closer to a truly usable form in the field.

What is needed for the future of education is not just efficiency, but essential DX rooted in the field.
Through "AI Go Answer," we aim to transform scoring from a "consuming task" into a "valuable instructional asset."

### Product Overview
- **Product Name**: AI Go Answer
- **Product Category**: AI Automatic Scoring System for Japanese Language Descriptive Questions
- **Main Functions**:
- OCR reading of handwritten answers
- AI scoring of Japanese language descriptive answers
- Evaluation based on deduction criteria
- Analysis of scoring results and utilization for guidance
- Adjustment of scoring criteria (including changes to scoring criteria per school)
- **Target**: Cram schools, schools, scoring system providers, etc.
- **Remarks**: Patent pending

Official Website

Keywords: Wao Corporation, Waotech, Nokaicenter, Japanese language, descriptive questions, automatic scoring, browser app, SaaS, AI, AI Go Answer