Edo

What Edo does

株式会社Edo (Edo Inc.) is a Hida City, Gifu Prefecture-based educational services and regional development company founded in 2019 by two co-founders (Sekiguchi as Representative Director and Aiwashi as Vice President). The company operates an integrated ecosystem of nine interconnected business lines spanning education-focused project management (most prominently the Hida City Gakuen Concept / 飛騨市学園構想 municipal initiative), inquiry-based learning design and accompaniment for schools, the Edo New School direct-to-consumer inquiry school for elementary through high school students, corporate training using tools like the SDGs card game, restaurant and cafe operations (Doyana / 食堂喫茶どやな), a guesthouse (EDOhouse), a corporate hometown-tax intermediation platform (Kyouikuda / キョウイクダ), and a culinary residency program (Chef in Residence). Edo serves four primary customer segments: regional schools and students (its largest segment), municipal governments and education boards, corporate clients seeking innovative training, and individual consumers participating in Edo New School and cafe/guesthouse programs. Active programs have been documented across at least seven municipalities including Hida City, Takayama City, Kamikawa Town (Hokkaido), Memuro Town (Hokkaido), Kaneyama Town (Yamagata), Mizunami City, and Joetsu City.

Edo's core technology asset is AI Guruin (AIぐりん), a conversational AI tutoring agent designed for inquiry-based learning that guides student thinking rather than providing correct answers. The system supports text and voice interaction, features customizable character creation, and is loaded with region-specific information about local human resources, cultural assets, and natural environments to reduce teacher workload. AI Guruin was co-developed with Itoki (joint launch May 2024) and integrates Ricoh's AI agent technology (announced November 2024); the product is currently in demonstration experiments across three municipalities including Hida City, with commercial service launch planned for April 2026.

Edo's revenue mechanics are diversified across streams: municipal project management contracts (教育特化型プロジェクトマネージメント事業, including school club transition support), school-direct inquiry learning design services (探究学習デザイン事業), tuition from Edo New School at 500 yen per session for trial courses, corporate training engagements (e.g., a 3-day Hida City program for NID), restaurant and cafe retail sales, guesthouse accommodation, corporate hometown-tax intermediation fees, and emerging AI agent licensing. The company is bootstrapped through May 2026 when it secured its first disclosed external funding from the Hida-Takayama Sustainable Fund (with Hidashin Innovation Partners involvement). Edo has been recognized with the Platinum Award Chairman's Special Prize (2026), The Relay Awards 2025, and the Toyota Foundation 2022 Domestic Grant.

Name

Edo

Legal name

株式会社Edo

Website

https://educationdo.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Short description

株式会社Edo is a Hida City-based education and regional development company founded in 2019 that operates nine integrated business lines — inquiry learning design, Edo New School, municipal project management, corporate training, AI tutoring (AI Guruin), a cafe/guesthouse, and hometown-tax intermediation — serving schools, municipal governments, and corporate clients across multiple Japanese prefectures.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Education Services (Inquiry-Based Learning)

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Services (611), All Other Schools and Instruction (61169), Professional and Management Development Training (61143)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

K–12 Instructional Design & Curriculum Development Services (EDAGAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Advanced Project-Based Learning & Portfolio Mentoring (STEM/arts portfolios, maker projects) (EDANAKAI), Instructional Delivery & Pedagogy (School-Led) (EDAJAFAB), Integrated Tutoring + Learning Content Platforms (Curriculum + Tutors) (EDANAGAL)

Keywords

• Inquiry-based learning
• Education project management
• Corporate training programs
• AI tutoring agent
• Regional community development

Headquarters

HQ city

Hida

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. 探究学習デザイン事業: Inquiry learning design services providing program development and accompaniment support for schools and municipalities implementing student inquiry projects. Revenue generated through project contracts with local governments and schools.
2. 小中高生向け探究スクール事業 (Edo New School): Tuition-fee-based inquiry school for middle and high school students, with seasonal programs and ongoing enrollment courses. Revenue from participant fees.
3. 企業向け研修事業: Corporate training programs conducted in Hida City or at client locations, utilizing SDGs card games, design thinking workshops, and regional immersion programs. Revenue through B2B training contracts.
4. 教育特化型プロジェクトマネージャー事業: Project management services for education-focused municipal initiatives, such as 飛騨市学園構想. Revenue from municipal委托 contracts.
5. 食堂喫茶運営事業: Restaurant and café operations (食堂喫茶どやな) generating food and beverage revenue from customers. Also hosts special limited-time restaurants (Chef in Residence).
6. AIエージェント開発事業: Development and licensing of AI tutoring agent technology to schools and municipalities. Revenue from technology development contracts and future service licensing.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Edo designs and delivers inquiry-based education programs and regional community development projects through nine interconnected business lines: education project management for municipalities, inquiry-learning design consulting, the Edo New School inquiry school, corporate training, the AI Gurin generative-AI tutoring agent, a school cafeteria and café (Doyana), a guesthouse (EDOhouse), corporate hometown-tax donation brokerage (Kyouikuda), and a Chef in Residence program. The portfolio is anchored by a long-term partnership with the Hida City municipal government and combines place-based learning with proprietary AI-enabled tutoring.

Product overview

Edo operates a diversified portfolio of nine interconnected businesses centered on education and regional community development in Hida City, Gifu Prefecture. The core offerings span education-focused project management (Hida City Gakuen Concept), inquiry-based learning design services for schools, and Edo New School — a physical inquiry school program for elementary through high school students offering courses such as the North Star Course, Regional Quest Course, and My Quest Course. Complementary businesses include corporate training programs (using tools like the SDGs de Regional Creation card game), a restaurant and cafe (Doyana), a guesthouse (Edo House), an AI agent development initiative producing the AI tutor 'AIぐりん,' a corporate hometown tax donation mediation service called 'Kyouikuda,' and a Chef in Residence culinary residency program. These offerings are designed to function as an integrated ecosystem: the restaurant and cafe serve as community gathering spaces, the guesthouse accommodates program participants and chefs, the AI agent supports student inquiry learning, and the corporate training and tax donation programs provide financial and educational infrastructure for regional development.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Edo New School (探究スクール): Inquiry-based learning school for middle and high school students, with courses including Regional Quest, My Quest, North Star Search, and My Love Inquiry.
• Edo探究よろず屋
• 食堂喫茶どやな
• EDOhouse (ゲストハウス)
• AIぐりん (AI Gurin)
• ｷｮｳｲｸﾀﾞ (Kyouikuda)
• Chef in Residence

Products and services

• Education Project Management (教育プロジェクトマネジメント) End-to-end project management of municipal and institutional education initiatives, delivered primarily to local governments and education bureaus. Edo takes responsibility for planning, coordination, and delivery of multi-stakeholder education programs, anchored by a long-term partnership with Hida City.
• Inquiry Learning Design — Edo Inquiry Yorozuya (探究学習デザイン)

Quantifiable outcome

• Student teams successfully delivered presentations to school and community audiences, with disaster prevention pamphlets adopted by local neighborhood associations for distribution
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered supporting, core and flagship.

• 株式会社リコー (Ricoh)supportingTechnology or Integration · 1 November 2024Ricoh provided AI agent technology for the AIぐりん tutoring system developed by Edo and Itoki. Ricoh's AI agent technology was integrated into Edo's inquiry learning support platform to enable personalized student guidance, interest stimulation, and connection to regional resources.
• 株式会社イトーキ (Itoki)coreTechnology or Integration · 1 May 2024Edo and Itoki jointly launched a metaverse and AI learning environment development project in May 2024. Itoki serves as a co-development partner for AIぐりん, providing expertise in learning environment design and physical/digital space integration. The partnership aims to create AI-enhanced inquiry learning tools for regional schools.
• 国立乗鞍青少年交流の家 (National Nunobori Youth Exchange House)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner facility for the regional inquiry program (ちいぷろ！) serving as the base for high school student programs. The facility hosts the kickoff and overnight sessions where students engage with regional adults and develop their inquiry themes.
• 株式会社エヌアイデイ (NID)supportingImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerNID commissioned Edo to design and deliver a 3-day corporate training program in Hida City focused on career perspective and organizational future planning using regional immersion methodology.
• issue+designcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEdo has collaborated with issue+design since 2020 on the disaster prevention education project (風水害飛騨PJT). issue+design developed the イシューマップ (Issue Map) tool and 風水害24 disaster simulation card game used in Edo's school programs.
• 飛騨市防災会普及部 (Hida City Disaster Prevention Council)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerOrganizational partner for corporate disaster prevention training programs. The council coordinates with local businesses to deliver wind and flood disaster preparedness training using Edo's 風水害24 simulation program.
• 飛騨市教育局 (Hida City Board of Education)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary government partner for the 飛騨市学園構想, a multi-year education reform initiative spanning early childhood through higher education. Edo serves as project manager for this flagship municipal education initiative.
• 飛騨市食品安全推進課 (Hida City Food and Drink Promotion Division)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerMunicipal department that co-hosts the Chef in Residence restaurant program and student restaurant events. The division supports local food producers and restaurant culture development through collaborative events with Edo.
• 名古屋辻学園調理專門学校 (Nagoya Tsuji Culinary Institute)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerCulinary school partner for the student restaurant program held at Edo's 食堂喫茶どやな. Third consecutive year of collaboration in 2025, where students delivered Chinese cuisine courses using Hida ingredients paired with local sake.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• 探究学舎 (Tanku Gakusha): Tokyo-based inquiry-based learning school operator offering project-based courses for K-12 students. Directly comparable to Edo New School in pedagogy (inquiry/project-based learning) and customer base (middle/high school students and families), though Edo differentiates with stronger regional community integration and an AI tutoring layer.
• すららネット (Surala Net): Publicly-listed Japanese AI-driven adaptive learning platform serving K-12 students with personalized curricula. Directly comparable to AI Gurin as an AI tutoring product for Japanese schools, though Surala focuses on drill-based adaptive learning versus Edo's inquiry-learning dialogue approach.
• atama plus: AI-powered personalized learning platform for Japanese cram schools (juku) with significant venture backing. Comparable to AI Gurin in deploying AI tutors to K-12 learners and schools, and represents the well-capitalized incumbent that Edo's AI business must differentiate against.
• COMPASS (Qubena): AI tutoring platform for K-12 schools in Japan, backed by SoftBank. Directly comparable to AI Gurin in delivering AI tutors to Japanese schools; represents a much larger and better-funded competitor that Edo must position against for the same school-district buyers.

Broad incumbents

• 学研ホールディングス (Gakken): Major Japanese educational publisher and learning services operator spanning K-12 content, classroom programs, and Gakken Classroom franchise. Comparable as a broad K-12 content and learning service incumbent; relevant counterpoint for Edo's inquiry-learning design services and school-partnership GTM.
• N高等学校 (N High School by Kadokawa Dwango): Large online high school serving tens of thousands of students with project-based and self-directed learning tracks. Comparable as a Japanese K-12 alternative education provider with similar inquiry/self-directed learning philosophy, though operating at vastly larger scale and as a fully online, credentialed school.
• ベネッセホールディングス (Benesse): Japan's largest private education services group (Shinkenzemi, Berlitz, etc.). Broad incumbent offering K-12 educational content, tutoring, and increasingly digital/AI learning services across Japan; competes with Edo across multiple lines (curriculum design, AI tutoring, inquiry programs) but at much larger scale and with more standardized offerings.

Emerging players

• issue+design: Tokyo-based social design firm developing Issue Map and disaster simulation card game tools, with whom Edo has collaborated since 2020. Comparable as a small, mission-driven Japanese education/design company serving schools and municipalities, and a useful benchmark for the social-enterprise-style operations model Edo pursues.
• ライフイズテック (Life is Tech): Tokyo-based education company delivering programming/STEM camps and school programs for middle/high school students across Japan. Comparable as a supplemental K-12 program operator serving Japanese schools and families, with overlap in corporate training and EdTech product development for K-12.

Others

• NPO法人ETIC. Japanese non-profit supporting youth-led social entrepreneurship and regional revitalization programs across Japan. Comparable as an ecosystem player in Japan's regional youth-development and education space, and a relevant adjacency for Edo's inquiry-learning and community-development positioning, though operates as an NPO rather than a commercial company.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/educationdo
• Instagraminstagram.com/edonewschool_hida

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors2 records

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 Edo