Junior High School Students' Work Awareness Changes: "Working is Enjoyable" Increases by 1.9 Points After Vocational Experience

The "Oshigoto Narikiri Demae Dojo" is an in-school vocational experience program designed to address challenges in traditional workplace experiences, such as securing host companies and ensuring consistent learning quality. It offers hands-on lessons by professionals across 75 different occupations within schools. Initially launched as an alternative during the COVID-19 pandemic, it now serves as an introductory career education program for first-year junior high students, preparing them for subsequent workplace experiences. The program has accumulated over 30,000 participants from 217 schools since its inception. It has received the "Tokyo Children's Smile Movement Award Grand Prize" (2023) and the "Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry Career Education Award of Excellence." In 2025, 4,396 students from 35 schools participated. Student satisfaction was 98% (81% very satisfied, 17% satisfied), and teacher satisfaction was 100% (86% very satisfied, 14% satisfied). The project plans to expand its reach to more schools and recruit additional instructors.