What Nijin does

NIJIN (株式会社NIJIN) is a Tokyo-based private education startup founded in April 2022 by Hoshino Tatsuro with the stated mission of solving Japan's structural education problems through system-level intervention rather than individual remediation. The company operates an integrated alternative education ecosystem targeting truant and non-attending youth (K-12), with NIJIN Academy as the flagship: an online alternative school delivered through an oVice-based metaverse campus, supplemented by a growing network of physical "real classrooms" (リアル教室) across Japan, including locations in Tokyo (Setagaya, Koto), Yokohama, Aomori, Nagoya, Fukuyama, Kawasaki, Shin-Kobe, and new openings at Osaka Nagai (May 2026) and the Tokyo Gakugei University Lab School (April 2026). Adjacent products include ニジ高 (Niji High) for correspondence high school support, the After-school Project School for project-based learning, the Jugyo Terrace teacher training platform with 1,400+ trained educators, MS Terrace for junior high teachers, the Sensei Career Coach service, the Nijiro truancy information portal, and the Hoshino Founders Program for internal venture incubation, alongside international offerings (NIJIN GLOBAL ACADEMY, Tomodachi Japan, ALL HAPPY). As of 2026, the platform serves 800+ students from 36+ prefectures, supports 300+ students in school-return or graduation outcomes, and engages 100+ corporate partners and 46+ municipal governments.

Revenue is generated primarily through recurring monthly tuition on the NIJIN Academy (student-side pricing not publicly disclosed; teacher compensation ranges ¥74,000–¥550,000/month on a job-based model), the After-school Project School (¥12,683/month metaverse-only, ¥23,683/month with physical campus access, plus ¥22,000 admission fee), Jugyo Terrace teacher training fees, corporate and municipal co-creation contracts, and advertising/content revenue from the Nijiro media portal. The go-to-market motion is community-led and content-driven: a YouTube channel by the founder, the Nijiro truancy portal, parent volunteer writers, and an online salon (NIJIN Education Lab on DMM.com) form the top and middle of the funnel, with municipal government referrals and corporate partner channels serving as bottom-of-funnel acquisition. The technology stack is intentionally light: oVice for the virtual campus, DMM.com for community, Slack for operations, and Roblox for student project work, with proprietary AI assessment and global classroom platforms in development. The company is registered with ¥10M in capital, employs approximately 120 total members, and has not disclosed external institutional funding beyond a $6,750 grant from SHIBUYA QWS in March 2025.

Name

Nijin

Legal name

株式会社NIJIN

Website

https://nijin.co.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

NIJIN is a Tokyo-based private education startup that operates an alternative education ecosystem for truant and non-attending Japanese K-12 youth through a metaverse-based virtual campus (oVice) combined with physical classrooms across Japan, serving 800+ students and partnering with 100+ corporations and 46+ municipalities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Alternative Education Services

NAICS

Elementary and Secondary Schools (6111), Educational Support Services (611710), All Other Schools and Instruction (61169)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Online Credit Recovery & Alternative Pathways (Virtual) (EDAJADAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Virtual Homeschool Programs & Online Curriculum Schools (EDAJADAJ), Virtual Test Prep & Online Supplemental Instruction (K–12) (EDAJADAI), Virtual Special Education & Related Services (IEP Delivery Online) (EDAJADAG)

Keywords

• Alternative education
• Online schooling
• Teacher training
• Truancy support
• Metaverse learning

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices12 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. NIJIN Academy Tuition (オルタナティブスクール学费): Monthly tuition fees for the alternative school serving truant youth (小中高生). Tuition ranges from ¥74,000 to ¥550,000/month depending on the combination of class advisory roles, teaching hours, and business development responsibilities undertaken by teachers.
2. NIJIN Higher School (通信制サポート校 ニジ高) Tuition: Tuition for the communication high school support program. Revenue is generated through monthly fees from enrolled high school students, with teachers operating on a job-based compensation model.
3. After-school Project School (放課後プロジェクトスクール) Tuition: Metaverse-based project learning program priced at ¥12,683/month for online participation, with real campus attendance at ¥23,683/month. Currently serving 17 students with expansion plans.
4. Teacher Training Platform - Jugyo Terrace (授業てらす): Teacher training and professional development platform generating revenue through teacher participation fees and corporate/government partnerships. Over 1,400 teachers trained, with a community of approximately 7,000 members.
5. Corporate and Government Partnerships (企業・自治体連携): Revenue from collaborative projects with over 100 corporations and multiple municipal governments. Companies and municipalities pay for co-created educational programs, student projects, and consulting services related to alternative education.
6. Hoshino Entrepreneurship Program (星野起業塾): Internal entrepreneurship program where business representatives launch new ventures within the NIJIN ecosystem. Representatives receive compensation scaling from part-time to group company leadership with equity participation at ¥1,000,000 annual salary upon ¥20M profit achievement and ¥2,000,000 upon ¥200M revenue.
7. Media Content and Information Services (にじいろ 不登校ポータルサイト): Educational media portal covering truancy, alternative schooling, and diverse learning options. Generates revenue through content partnerships and advertising with education-related brands.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

NIJIN operates a metaverse-based alternative education platform serving non-attending students in Japan through a virtual school campus built on the oVice platform, combined with 10+ physical "real classrooms" across the country. The company delivers alternative K-12 schooling (NIJIN Academy), communication-based high school support (Niji High), after-school project learning, and teacher training programs, reaching 800+ students from 36 prefectures and training 1,400+ teachers.

Product overview

NIJIN is an education startup that operates multiple interconnected educational services rather than a single product. The core offerings include NIJINアカデミー (alternative school for non-attending youth using metaverse-based online education), ニジ高 (communication high school support), and 放課後プロジェクトスクール (after-school project learning). Supporting services include 授業てらす (teacher training platform), 中学校てらす (junior high teacher community), 先生キャリア Coach (teacher career services), にじいろ (truancy information media), and 星野求精 (internal startup program). International offerings include NIJIN GLOBAL ACADEMY, ともだちじゃぱん (Japanese language school), and NIJIN ACADEMY ALL HAPPY (world school). The company serves over 800 students nationally with hybrid online/offline learning through metaverse virtual campuses and physical real-school locations across Japan.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• NIJINアカデミー: オルタナティブスクール小中一貫校 for students who cannot attend regular school
• ニジ高 / NIJIN高等学院
• NIJIN GLOBAL ACADEMY
• 放課後プロジェクトスクール
• 授業てらす
• 中学校てらす
• にじいろ

Products and services

• NIJIN Academy (NIJINアカデミー) An alternative K-9 (elementary and junior high) school for non-attending youth in Japan, combining metaverse-based online classes with periodic in-person sessions at physical real classrooms. Designed for students who cannot attend traditional school, with 1-on-1 dedicated support, monthly tuition-based enrollment, and curriculum covering academic subjects, project learning, and corporate co-creation activities.
• Niji High School (ニジ高 / NIJIN Higher School) A support school for students enrolled in communication-based (correspondence) high schools, addressing isolation, lack of dialogue, and career anxiety. Provides a community and specialized support for students pursuing alternative educational pathways with monthly fees and a job-based compensation model for supporting teachers.
• After-school Project School (放課後プロジェクトスクール) A project-based after-school learning program for elementary and middle school students, combining metaverse and real-world experiences. Students engage in presentations, art, entrepreneurship, IT, and problem-discovery projects while connecting with companies and local communities. Online participation priced at ¥12,683/month and real campus attendance at ¥23,683/month; currently serving 17 students.
• Jugyo Terrace (授業てらす) A teacher training and professional development platform connecting teachers nationwide to improve classroom instruction. Provides seminars, classroom observation opportunities, and a community for teachers to share practices. Over 1,400 teachers have participated; targets a community of approximately 7,000 teacher members.
• Junior High School Terrace (中学校てらす) A community platform specifically for junior high school teachers to discuss, learn, and practice ways to make schools happier for students and teachers. Operates as a national network of junior high school educators.
• Sensei Career Coach (先生キャリアコーチ) A career transition support service for teachers in Japan, helping them find new career paths within or outside of education. Targeted at educators exploring alternative or supplementary career options.
• Nijiro (にじいろ) A media portal site covering truancy, alternative schooling, and diverse learning options. Provides expert columns, parent testimonials, student stories, and learning option guides for families dealing with school non-attendance. Generates revenue through content partnerships and advertising with education-related brands.
• NIJIN GLOBAL ACADEMY An online international school offering global education programs for students seeking international curricula outside Japan's standard school system. Serves international students via online delivery, with a Cambridge IGCSE-aligned curriculum.
• Tomodachi Japan (ともだちじゃぱん) An online Japanese language school providing Japanese language instruction for international students, delivered as part of NIJIN's international education portfolio.
• NIJIN ACADEMY ALL HAPPY An online world school offering global educational experiences for students worldwide as part of NIJIN's international expansion of its alternative education model.
• NIJIN Education Lab (NIJIN教育ラボ) An online salon hosted on the DMM.com lounge platform connecting education professionals, parents, and NIJIN community members for education discussions, learning, and community-building.

Quantifiable outcome

• 800+ students enrolled from 36+ prefectures in under 3 years since founding (September 2023)
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

23 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• TOPPAN Holdings (TOPPANホールディングス株式会社)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTOPPAN Holdings collaborates with NIJIN on educational content development and corporate social responsibility programs involving students.
• Kao Corporation (花王株式会社)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKao partners with NIJIN on student wellness and lifestyle education programs, contributing product development expertise and corporate resources.
• oVice (oVice株式会社)coreTechnology or IntegrationoVice provides the virtual event/spatial platform underlying NIJIN Academy's metaverse campus, enabling nationwide student and teacher interaction in a virtual environment.
• DMM.com (合同会社DMM.com)coreTechnology or IntegrationDMM.com provides the online salon platform (NIJIN教育ラボ) and broader technology infrastructure partnership supporting NIJIN's community-building efforts.
• Roblox CorpcoreTechnology or IntegrationRoblox serves as a learning platform within NIJIN Academy, where students develop projects and games as part of their educational curriculum (e.g., Minecraft/Fortnite circles).
• BYD Japan (株式会社BYD)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBYD partners with NIJIN on student projects involving technology and sustainability education.
• Softbank (ソフトバンク株式会社)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSoftbank collaborates with NIJIN on digital education initiatives and technology-enhanced learning programs.
• Panasonic (パナソニック株式会社)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPanasonic partners with NIJIN for student projects involving electronics, technology education, and innovation programs.
• JR East Startup (JR東日本スタートアップ株式会社)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJR East Startup collaborates with NIJIN on railway-themed student research circles and transportation-related educational projects.
• LITALICO (株式会社LITALICO)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLITALICO employees (such as いっささん) work in parallel with NIJIN. LITALICO Wonder online classes and NIJIN coordinate on student projects, creating cross-platform learning experiences.
• Mitsui Sumitomo Card (株式会社三井住友カード)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMitsui Sumitomo Card collaborates on financial literacy education programs and payment solutions for NIJIN's services.
• JICA (独立行政法人国際協力機構)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJICA partnership enables international verification of NIJIN's global education infrastructure model. Representative Hoshino is a former JICA overseas volunteer (Guatemala), creating deep institutional ties for developing country education programs.
• Tokyo Gakugei University (東京学芸大学)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partnership for joint research and the on-campus lab school (NIJIN Academy東京学芸大学内ラボ校). University faculty collaborate on curriculum development and educational research.
• Niigata University (新潟大学)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partnership for educational research collaboration and potential student pathways.
• Osaka Metropolitan University (大阪公立大学)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partnership for educational research collaboration and student development programs.
• UTAR (マレーシア ユタ大学)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational academic partnership with Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (Malaysia) for cross-border educational programs and student exchanges.
• Nisai Group / Nisai JapanminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Nisai Group for international online education collaboration and potential market development.
• Fukuoka City Government (福岡市)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMunicipal partnership providing truancy support services and alternative education options for Fukuoka city residents. One of 46+ municipal partnerships.
• Kawasaki City Government (川崎市)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMunicipal partnership including NIJIN Academy Musashi-Shinjo campus, providing alternative schooling options for truant youth in Kawasaki city.
• Fukuyama City Government (福山市)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMunicipal partnership for the NIJIN Academy Fukuyama Class, specifically targeting isolated homebound youth. Led by municipality liaison こばはるさん, students from this program successfully transitioned to communication high schools.
• Tokyo Metropolitan Government (東京都)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTokyo metropolitan government partnership for alternative education programs serving the capital's truant youth population.
• Tachikawa DICE (立川ダイス)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProfessional basketball team collaborated with NIJIN Academy on student event planning and sports education programs. Students planned and executed a game-watching event and operations volunteer experience with the team.
• Various educational publishers and mediaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnerships with publishers including Meiji Tosho (明治図書出版), Asahi Gakusei Shimbun (朝日学生新聞社), Kodansha (光村図書出版), Gakuto Shuppan (教育同人社), Popura Sha (株式会社ポプラ社) for curriculum content and educational materials.

Scale indicators16 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Broad incumbents

• Kumon (公文教育研究会):
• Try Group (トライグループ): Try Group is a large Japanese tutoring and education services company with classroom instruction, online tutoring, and alternative education offerings. Try's scale, brand, and blended online/offline model position it as a relevant incumbent in the K-12 supplemental learning space where NIJIN's After-school Project School also competes.
• Gakken Holdings (学研ホールディングス): Gakken is a major Japanese education conglomerate spanning K-12 publishing, classroom materials, tutoring, and senior learning services. As a broad incumbent, Gakken has the curriculum, distribution, and brand depth that NIJIN aims to complement in the alternative-education segment rather than compete with across traditional classrooms.
• Benesse Corporation (ベネッセホールディングス): Benesse is one of Japan's largest education groups (進研ゼミ, こどもちゃれんじ, etc.) with deep reach into Japanese households and schools. As an incumbent with established parent-brand trust and K-12 curriculum, Benesse represents the dominant traditional player whose offline distribution scale NIJIN's community-led, online-first model is structured to bypass.
• Kadokawa Dwango (N High School / N高等学校): Kadokawa Dwango operates N High School (N高等学校) and S High School, Japan's largest online correspondence high schools with tens of thousands of students. Both serve alternative-pathway high schoolers, but Kadokawa operates at vastly larger scale with a fully accredited, MEXT-recognized correspondence program — making it both a benchmark and a competitive incumbent to NIJIN's ニジ高 product.

Direct peers

• LITALICO: LITALICO is a Tokyo-listed Japanese education and human resources company focused on developmental disability support (LITALICO Wonder) and career transitions. NIJIN explicitly partners with LITALICO, and LITALICO staff like Issa-san co-lead NIJIN's Tokyo Gakugei University Lab School. Both serve neurodiverse and alternative-pathway learners with personalized support models.
• Tokyo Shure Gakuen (東京シューレ): Tokyo Shure is Japan's largest free school (フリースクール) network, founded in 1985 in Machida, Tokyo, with multiple regional campuses serving truant and non-attending youth. Both organizations target the same truant-youth segment in Japan but with different operating models (Tokyo Shure's offline network vs. NIJIN's metaverse + physical hybrid).
• Ritsumeikan Mori's Gakuen / Ritsumeikan University Correspondence Course: Ritsumeikan University operates one of Japan's long-standing correspondence high school programs with a strong alternative education reputation, including outdoor experiential learning. As a private correspondence institution with established university articulation, it represents a more mature alternative-pathway peer against which NIJIN's ニジ高 competes for the same demographic.

Emerging players

• Prenda: Prenda is a US-based microschool platform that operates small, in-person learning pods led by trained community guides, blending online curriculum with local facilitation. Prenda's hybrid local-guide + online-content model is structurally similar to NIJIN's real classroom + metaverse campus architecture, making it a useful emerging peer for benchmarking hybrid scaling economics.
• Outschool: Outschool is a US-based online marketplace for small-group classes for kids, with thousands of instructors offering project-based and enrichment courses on a live online format. Outschool is structurally comparable to NIJIN's After-school Project School in delivery model (live online group classes) but operates at much larger scale and primarily in the enrichment rather than truancy-support segment.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@hoshinotatsuro

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Nijin