Benesse is always thinking about what it can do to support the growth and proper development of children. The Company's entire history has been dictated by the effort to consider this question and develop a process and structure to address it.

In 1962, seven years after the Company was founded, Benesse began offering “Kansai Simulated Exams”-preparatory exams to prepare for university entrance examinations-which were the predecessor of today's Shinken Simulated Exams. The company listened carefully to feedback from each school and discussed concerns on a continuing basis, as the exams slowly penetrated the market. Back then, it was common to employ the same simulated exams and the same type of test questions regardless of whether the students were aiming high, and hoped to enter a top national university, or whether they expected to enter a junior college. This turned out to be a problem, as top high schools whose students were really aiming high found the level of difficulty to be less than challenging. Benesse listened carefully to this feedback and considered how to respond to the detailed requests from each school. The result was an entirely new approach; the company developed simulated exams for various skill levels, received positive feedback, and the test quickly became quite well-known.

Since then, Benesse has tried to base its business model on the concept of tailoring products and services to respond to the feedback of each customer. We take the needs of customers as the starting point for product development, developing and refining our products and services in order to respond to the changing needs of each generation.

It was at this early stage of Benesse's history that Tetsuhiko Fukutake, the Company president at the time, made note of the fact that education businesses still had a gaping hole: simulated exams were able to test the students'ability level, but the essential task of helping them improve their skills was not being addressed. This observation became the inspiration for Benesse's correspondence course business, which was launched under the name Correspondence Education Seminar.

In 1969, the company launched its correspondence course business, with courses aimed at high school students. The detailed feedback and guidance provided by the people who checked student lessons-individuals who would eventually earn the name “Red-Pen Teachers”-gave these courses a steadily improving reputation. The Red-Pen Teachers did not simply grade the papers; they would communicate with each student, providing encouragement when necessary, and even discussing the student's concerns and activities at school, giving them a great deal of support and thus stimulating their learning progress. This focus on two-way communication remains an essential part of the Benesse business plan, and a core element of our philosophy to this day.

In 1972, Benesse began offering correspondence courses for junior high school students as well. At first, this business struggled. It was difficult to attract enrollees, and the Company even considered withdrawing from the junior high school market altogether. However, after bringing in outside experts and discussing the best way to design direct mail campaigns, the Company eventually began to recognize that “unless you show that you really care about someone, you will find it difficult to win them over.” Benesse started revising its direct mail activities and developing its course materials to match the interests and outlook of a junior high school student, and this finally succeeded in earning the courses greater recognition. In time, correspondence courses grew into one of the pillars of Benesse's business activities.

In recent years, Benesse has been seeking ways to increase communication with and understanding of students. In the current social environment, where nearly every student that wants to enter a university can do so, many children are losing track of both their own objectives and the purpose of study itself. It is essential that educators communicate with young people and try to understand their needs more fully in order to stimulate their desire to learn. For example, in response to requests from customers Benesse introduced a “dedicated Red-Pen Teacher” system in its Shinkenzemi Elementary School Courses. Under this system, rather than just grading answer sheets the Red-Pen Teachers are actually monitoring the progress of each student that has been assigned to them, and trying to identify even the slightest changes in their performance, providing guidance at each step along the way. In the Shinkenzemi Junior High School Courses, we have introduced methods of responding to students'lessons-such as fax transmission of answer sheets and later internet correspondence-which provide a more immediate response to concerns, questions and lessons. We have also developed new types of instruction which increase enjoyment, such as educational software programs for the Nintendo DS game platform, developed in 2008. In all of these ways, Benesse is trying to close the gap between the Company and students, taking a detailed interest in each one's progress and seeking to motivate them even more. In our efforts to interact ever more closely with students, we have taken education to its most interactive level yet with the Shinkenzemi Junior High School Course + i, which combines traditional paper-based lessons with the interactive capabilities of the internet.

The Shinkenzemi Junior High School Course + i combines traditional paper-based lessons with the audio and video transmission capabilities of the internet to provide lessons that are richer, more enjoyable and easier to understand. This sort of multimedia learning system is very unique, and has few rivals anywhere in the world. In this way, students gradually develop the skills that they will need in the future, while enjoying their lessons.

The key to developing a successful course lies in using the unique capabilities of the internet to foster learning, rather than simply transferring paper-based lessons to a computer screen. First, the online nature of the lessons makes it possible to provide immediate feedback and advice to students about their study methods. Second, specific links (“trouble boxes”) can be included to offer additional guidance to students who are having trouble with a specific lesson. Finally, it is easier to turn lessons into “games” to increase enjoyment and connect with the students better. All of these improvements, which were impossible before the internet was developed, help to draw students in and make their study activities more enjoyable.

Finally, the Shinkenzemi Junior High School Course + i allows Benesse to compile much more data on its customers, including information on what time of day students tend to study or the study characteristics of students who gained admission to various high schools. This information can then be used to develop materials and instruction methods that have a deeper impact on the students and provide them with clearer guidance along their educational path. Benesse intends to use this information to continue refining and improving Shinkenzemi Junior High School Course + i and similar courses, in the future.