Ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, these entrepreneurs want more youngsters to study in Japan

Hideki Ota (L) and Yoshu Urano of School With.

Hideki Ota is a serial entrepreneur, globetrotter, and author of four books in Japan.

He ran a successful startup during his university that let students make photocopies for free by using sponsored advertisements on the paper. But after growing the team to 20 people, he took off to find himself when a seminar on international business made him feel like he knew nothing.

“My friends didn’t really understand,” Hideki says. “They had no idea or thoughts about the world.”

Looking for an economic way to brush up on his English skills, Hideki studied in the Philippines. During his three months there he met young people from all over.

“I was surprised when they would say, ‘I want to work in London’ or, ‘Oh Tokyo looks fun.’ They were thinking about working in other countries or going to other places. Most Japanese people are not thinking about that.”

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“I thought about writing a book at that time,” explains Hideki. “Just going on a trip is boring. I wanted to do more.”

To better help his friends understand and see what’s out there, he started a project called Samurai Backpacker. On his blog and in his books, Hideki wrote about his adventures in 50 countries and the 150-plus couches he crashed on.

Hideki hanging out at the world’s largest salt flat, Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia.

“I had such a great experience in the Philippines,” he says – but he was concerned other people might not enjoy it. “I thought if people weren’t placed in appropriate schools then it wouldn’t be good.”

From the time Hideki studied in the Southeast Asian country, the number of Japanese students going to the Philippines climbed from 4,000 to 35,000. What started as a volunteer project to gather information and reviews on schools became a business opportunity. In July of 2013, Hideki founded School With.

NihonGo!

While School With has focused on sending Japanese students abroad, the company’s new service, NihonGo, aims to bring students to Japan.

“There are tons of Japanese language schools, but it’s difficult to pick,” says Yoshu Urano, head of the new NihonGo program. “The inbound market is heating up right now. The government is very active in trying to get people to come to Japan.”

2020