FY2026 Corporate Learning Academy Course (held June 12, 2026)～ An experiential class to expand your career options by seeing, hearing about, and experiencing work in Kurashiki

What kinds of companies are in the town where we live, and what kinds of people work there?

Middle and high school students have surprisingly few opportunities to learn about local companies. Even when companies are covered in class, opportunities to interact directly with them are limited.

Kurashiki City holds the Company Learning Academy Program, a hands-on class in which local companies visit middle and high schools and directly share what makes their work appealing.

I covered a session held on Friday, June 12, 2026, at Okayama Prefectural Kurashiki Kojoike High School. Here is a look at the day.

What Is the “Company Learning Academy Program”?

The Company Learning Academy Program is a hands-on class held at middle and high schools in Kurashiki City and Hayashima Town.

Local companies serve as instructors, introducing middle and high school students to the appeal of a wide variety of jobs. A major feature is that the program goes beyond classroom lectures: students can interact with adults working in the field and experience actual work.

It is held as part of the Kurashiki City Career Education Promotion Project.

Kurashiki City Career Education Promotion Project
To foster an understanding of careers and work rules from a young age, specialists such as labor and social security attorneys and career consultants are dispatched to middle and high schools to teach students about work and workplace rules in “basic courses.” The project also holds the “Company Learning Academy Program,” in which local companies visit schools and students experience actual work, so they can learn about the strengths and appeal of local companies and be encouraged to find work locally in the future.

Source: Kurashiki City official website
Creating — Investing in People — Kurashiki City Career Education Promotion Project

Twenty-three sessions are scheduled for fiscal 2026.

I covered the Company Learning Academy Program held at Kurashiki Kojoike High School on Friday, June 12. The participating companies and organizations that day were as follows:

• Mizushima Kyodo Hospital
• Soushinkai Co., Ltd.
• Furuichi Co., Ltd.
• Yoshiiya BASE Co., Ltd.
• Eguchi Denki Co., Ltd.
• Ishida Komuten Co., Ltd.
• Shin Nichiro Co., Ltd.
• Kurashiki Kako Co., Ltd.
• Akioka Co., Ltd.
• KANKO GAKUSEIFUKU CO., LTD.
• Startup Lab
• MPM Lab.
• Mizushima Kodomo Shokudo Misora
• Mizushima Foundation
• Mizushima Shinkin Bank

The Day’s Events

The Company Learning Academy Program is for first-year high school students. Students can attend two classes that interest them.

Since I was there, I took the opportunity to visit several booths.

Mizushima Kyodo Hospital

In its class, Mizushima Kyodo Hospital explained in an easy-to-understand, play-like format how patients are helped.

Using a patient named Kojoike as an example, they carefully explained the kinds of care provided at the hospital, profession by profession.

When people think of those who work in hospitals, they may picture doctors and nurses. But of course, they are not the only ones involved in patient care; hospitals bring together a wide range of medical professionals, including pharmacists, registered dietitians, and dental hygienists.

It was clear that they work together as a team, drawing on their respective areas of expertise to support patients.

The class taught students that many different professions are involved in a hospital, and about the roles each one plays.

Soushinkai Co., Ltd.

Soushinkai Co., Ltd. operates programs in areas such as support for children and people with disabilities, caregiving, and community development. It supports healthy lives for people of all generations, from birth to age 100.

The class was held in the gymnasium and divided into the following three booths:

• Using and pushing a wheelchair
• Vision training
• Learning about occupational therapists

There was a lively buzz at the wheelchair experience booth. Some students, trying out a wheelchair for the first time, exclaimed, “Amazing!” while others pushing the chairs struggled, saying, “It’s hard to turn a corner!”

At the vision training booth, which helps improve visual skills, students were playing rock-paper-scissors loudly. It seemed they had to deliberately lose to the staff by choosing their move after seeing the staff’s.

This series of exercises, in which students process visual information in their minds and move their bodies immediately, is said to benefit people of all ages, from preventing the need for care to promoting children’s development.

At the booth where students could learn about occupational therapists, staff carefully explained their work and working environments. It was clear that occupational therapists are indispensable in welfare and caregiving settings.

The class balanced hands-on learning with listening, and the students seemed to enjoy taking part.

Kurashiki Kako Co., Ltd.

In the classroom of Kurashiki Kako, students learned about the seismic isolation structures of buildings through a craft activity using paper.

Using paper, plastic bottle caps, and other materials, students built four types of structural models. They worked together in groups to make neat models.

Once they were finished, a staff member explained, “There are three main technologies for preventing shaking: vibration control, seismic isolation, and earthquake resistance.” Students shook the models in front of them to learn about the characteristics of each type of vibration.

“There are also features to prevent shaking in the school building you’re in,” the instructor said. The students all looked out the window at once. On the school building’s wall, they could see diagonal braces that appeared to reinforce it.

It was clear that various measures to reduce shaking are used in places close to us.

We may not often think about “shaking” in our daily lives. But by reducing the small vibrations in cars and buildings, we can live comfortably and with peace of mind.

Kurashiki Kako is the unsung hero supporting our lives by suppressing the vibrations hidden in everyday life. It was a class where students could easily learn about the vibration-related challenges companies are tackling and the measures they are taking.

<Manufacturing (Casting)> Akioka Co., Ltd.

In a class by Akioka Co., Ltd., which supports a wide range of manufacturing through casting technology, students experienced the process of making castings.

To make a mold, they firmly pack dense sand, cover it with a wooden lid, and turn it over. Once they carefully remove the lid so the sand does not spill, the mold is complete. It looks easy at first glance, but making a mold that does not crumble seems to take quite a bit of skill.

Next, they pour molten metal into the mold. Pouring in exactly the right amount is harder than expected, and sometimes it overflows. The students are concentrating as they tackle this delicate task.

When the instructor tells them, “You’re doing a great job,” the students look pleased.

Finally, they check the quality of the finished castings.

Bells of the same shape and size are lined up across the table. They all look identical, but when struck with a hammer, they produce very different sounds, from high-pitched tones to somewhat lower ones.

The students look surprised and strike them repeatedly to hear the sounds.

Even if the appearance is perfect, what matters in the end is quality. The students learned that casting requires meticulous skill. The chance to experience and learn about the challenges and attention to detail involved in manufacturing may be one of the highlights of the Corporate Learning Academy program.

<Textile Industry> KANKO GAKUSEIFUKU CO., LTD.

At KANKO GAKUSEIFUKU CO., LTD., one of Japan’s leading school uniform manufacturers, students took part in a hands-on class in which they designed uniforms for the future, after warming up with a quiz about the company.

If I could make a school uniform any way I wanted, I would probably think about the design first. In reality, however, uniforms must be tailored to each school while taking into account functionality, services after purchase, and factors related to the local community and resources.

The students split into groups and thought about the uniforms they would like to wear. One group suggested, “Parents might appreciate uniforms that are easy to wash!” bringing up a parent’s perspective.

Including every feature would make the uniforms expensive, so the key is to strike the right balance. The groups exchanged ideas as they designed their own original school uniforms.

The class showed how the company’s attention to detail is packed into the school uniforms students wear every day.

<Business (Entrepreneurship)> Startup Lab

We also observed a Startup Lab class taught by members of Okayama University’s Entrepreneurship Club. The three speakers are current university students who are also business owners.

After learning about the process of starting a business, students worked in groups to come up with new business ideas in a practical exercise.

Step one in coming up with a business idea is to start by imagining things like “what I truly want to do” or “what kind of world I’d like to live in.”

Next, in step two, they look for their own strengths, such as areas they excel in or things they love more than anyone else.

Finally, by combining their imagination with their strengths and considering whose problems they can solve and how, they can create a new business.

For first-year high school students, starting a business may be difficult to imagine as a career. But hearing from students with firsthand experience starting businesses conveyed the appeal of turning “I wish this existed” into reality.

The high school students who took the Startup Lab class may one day, when they are adults, find entrepreneurship emerging as an option for them.

It’s exciting to imagine a future where new businesses emerge in the region.

From the Writer

The hands-on lessons prepared by the companies were full of learning opportunities that even I, an adult writer, wanted to take part in, and the high school students enjoyed the classes as they learned.

I think it was a valuable opportunity for the students not only to learn about the companies, but also to discover what makes each job rewarding and challenging, and the roles they play in society.

The Corporate Learning Academy program is also scheduled to be held in fiscal 2027.

I hope that the Corporate Learning Academy will help broaden the future options available to junior high and high school students, even if only a little.

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