Viling

Viling, Inc. is a human resource development company founded by Kazuaki Nakamura in October 2012. Nakamura, a graduate of Saitama University's Faculty of Education, initially pursued a career in the private sector after feeling that public education was too uniform. His experience in a real estate company and an IT venture, coupled with the impact of the Great East Japan Earthquake, inspired him to establish a company focused on modernizing education.

The company operates in the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) education sector, developing its own content and managing both directly operated schools and franchise businesses. Viling's core offering is "STEMON," a network of making-things-based schools designed to foster creativity, problem-solving, and expression, which has expanded to over 170 classrooms. The business model includes direct-to-consumer services through its schools and a franchise system for partners. In November 2021, Viling became part of the Monex Group.

Beyond STEMON, Viling provides a range of services aimed at human development. These include "BOKEN," an inquiry-based learning school; "Yomitoki," a math program focused on improving reading comprehension for word problems; and "O-mukae Sister," a bilingual home-visit English tutoring service. The company also supports facilities for children with disabilities through "Sutemu Box," a therapy teaching material, and "AI Therapist co-mii," an AI-powered system that assists with assessments and creates semi-automated individualized support plans for after-school day service and child development support centers.

Keywords: STEAM education, human resource development, franchise schools, after-school care, inquiry-based learning, educational content, EdTech, bilingual education, child development support, programming education, AI assessment, STEMON, BOKEN, Yomitoki, O-mukae Sister, Sutemu Box, AI Therapist co-mii, Kazuaki Nakamura, Monex Group