Leadership

The moment I understood the transformative power of education was not in a classroom — it was when I stepped outside of Japan for the first time.

While studying mechanical engineering at Waseda University, I pursued language study in London, professional experience in India, and research in the United States. As a recipient of Japan's prestigious MEXT "Tobitate! Study Abroad Japan" scholarship — a nationally competitive programme selecting Japan's most promising young scholars — I joined Rice University as a visiting researcher on a NASA spacecraft project. The experience was formative, but not primarily because of the research itself. It was the realisation that there are entire worlds of opportunity that become accessible only when you cross the barriers of language and culture.

I went on to organise career fairs at Harvard University and Imperial College London, connecting Japanese companies with internationally educated talent. Through that work, I encountered a recurring challenge: the gap between Japan's growing demand for globally capable professionals and the educational pathways that produce them. In 2019, while still in graduate school at Waseda, I founded what would become ELT Education to bridge that gap.

Starting with online English education built on a strategic partnership with ELT School of English — a London-based language institution established in 1984 — we have since expanded into corporate global talent development, consulting for international and boarding schools, and supporting Japanese educational institutions in their internationalisation and digital transformation.

Working with schools across Japan and internationally, I have come to appreciate a simple truth: every great school is shaped by leaders with a clear vision. ELT Education exists to be a trusted partner to those leaders — not simply offering advice, but building, implementing, and embedding change alongside them. That is how we work, and why we do what we do.