Introducing the Benesse Group
Our vision
All members of the Benesse Group are working to positively contribute to the well-being
of every customer by offering services that support them at every stage of their lives.
What is “Benesse”? The heart of Benesse is enjoying the process of moving forward step by step, with resolve, toward the realization of your dreams and aspirations.
Benesse empowers people to solve issues for themselves and to enjoy life to the full at every stage by offering them the tools and support they need to create well-being.
We aim to be a globally respected corporate group that is both supported by and indispensable to its customers, communities, and society in general.
Net sales by business segment
The Group is offering numerous services to countless communities through its three businesses, led by the Domestic Education business and Nursing Care and Childcare business.
As of March 31, 2023
Overview of each business
-
- Education Business in Japan
- In the Education Business in Japan—the Group’s main business, accounting for more than 50% of consolidated sales—we aim further growth.
- Shinkenzemi Business
- School & Teacher
Support Business
- Prep Schools /
Classroom Businesses
- University and
Working Adult
-
- Kids & Family
- Keeping our focus on Kodomo Challenge, a correspondence course for preschoolers that draws on the expertise of Benesse, we are pushing ahead with expanding this competitive brand globally.
- Kodomo Challenge Business in Japan
- Overseas Kodomo Challenge Business
- Business Related to Pregnancy,
Childbirth, and Child-Rearing
- Lifestyle-Related
Business
- Pet-Related Business
-
- Nursing Care and Childcare
- The Nursing Care and Childcare business constitutes the number-two pillar of the Benesse Group.
We are focusing on improving quality and reinforcing our strategy of regional dominance.
- Nursing Home and Home Help Services Business
- Food Delivery Services
and Nursing Care Food Business
- Daycare and Afterschool Care Business
The Benesse Group's strengths
Our ties with people and society, our greatest strength
Since its founding, the Benesse Group has sought to realize well-being for everyone, together with its customers, the community, society, and our team. Over time, we have cultivated positive relationships with people and society. These ties are our greatest assets and the inspiration for us to create the new value that the future demands.
-
- Shinkenzemi and Kodomo Challenge enrollment in Japan
- 2.21millionas of April 2023
-
- Red-pen teachers
- about8,000as of March 31, 2023
-
- Senior high schools using our products
- about90%as of April 2023
-
- “Udemy”
Domestic users - 1.30million+as of March 2023
- “Udemy”
-
- Occupancy rate of
our nursing homes - 90%as of March 31, 2023
- Occupancy rate of
-
- Enrollment in Kodomo Challenge outside Japan
- 0.88millionas of April 2023
-
- Tamahiyo App
Annual downloads - 538,000Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2023
- Tamahiyo App
The Benesse Group’s history
The Benesse Group has grown by broadening its service portfolio, including the launch of simulated exam and correspondence course businesses ahead of others in the industry.
Highlights from
each generation
- Education Business in Japan
- Kids & Family
- Nursing Care and Childcare
- Berlitz
-
1950s & 1960sThe Early Years
Enters the simulated-exam business, expands nationwide
- 1955
Company founded in Okayama Prefecture as Fukutake Publishing Co., Ltd.
- 1962
Begins simulated exams for senior high school students
- 1969
Begins correspondence courses for senior high school students
-
1970s & 1980sShinkenzemi Expansion Phase
Expands Shinkenzemi correspondence courses
- 1972
For junior high school students
- 1980
For elementary school students
- 1988
For preschoolers
- 1989
For preschoolers in Taiwan
-
1990sNew Business Domains
Enters new fields of business
- 1990
Announces new Benesse corporate identity
- 1993
-
Enters the language-education business
Begins pregnancy, childbirth, and childcare magazines
- 1995
-
Changes name to Benesse Corporation
Listed on the Second Section of the Osaka Securities Exchange
Enters the nursing-care business
-
2000sThe Story Continues...
Next-generation educational materials and global expansion
- 2000
Listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange
- 2006
-
Begins courses for preschoolers in China
Enters the prep-school business
- 2009
-
Adopts a holding-company structure
Changes name to Benesse Holdings, Inc.
- 2014
Suffers a personal data breach
- 2020
Medium-term management plan,
FY2021–2025 Evolve core businesses & Expand into new fields- 2022
-
Transfer of all shares of Berlitz Corporation
Transition to Prime Market in the TSE
Market environment
In Japan, the proportion of elderly people in the population has been rapidly increasing while the proportion of children has been quickly shrinking due to a declining number of births each year. In 2021, the proportion of people age 65 and older was 29.1%, the highest level in the world. These trends are expected to continue in the future, it is expected that in 2040, the percentage of elderly people will have hit 35.3%. Against that backdrop, the Japanese market can expect growing demand for high-quality education for future generations of children along with a full range of nursing care services for the elderly.
Even in China, the declining birthrate is picking up speed. The annualnumber of births declined by about 40% in five years, from 17.86 millionin 2016 to 10.62 million in 2021.
One of the factors contributing to the declining birthrate is theexcessive cost of education. In July 2021, a “double reduction” policy wasannounced to reduce the burden of homework and out-of-schooleducation for students in the compulsory education stage.
The policy includes restrictions on prep schools and othereducation providers at the compulsory education stage, and a number ofbusinesses are scaling back or withdrawing from the market. On theother hand, consumer enthusiasm for education remains high, and it isexpected that the need for character cultivation for preschoolers will bemaintained for the foreseeable future.
- Source: Up to 2020, Vital Statistics, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare; from 2025 onward, National Institute of Population and Social Security Research “Population Projection for Japan (2017 estimate)”
Japan’s education market
The annual number of births in Japan peaked at two million in 1975, and has been on a downward trend ever since. In 2021, the number of births had decreased to 0.81 million. Going forward, the number of children is expected to continue to decrease, with the annual number of births projected to decline by around 1.0% per year on average.
Although Japan’s birthrate has continued to decline, the supplementary education market has remained flat in recent years. As for market scale in fiscal 2020, however, performance declined due to the impact of the spread of COVID-19 on prep schools and other out-of-school learning products, and the market shrank. In fiscal 2021, the supplementary education market saw a year-on-year increase to 1,469.7 billion yen primarily due to the continuation of business activities amid the pandemic and the establishment of a delivery system through the combination of online and offline services.*
In addition, with the coming of the so-called “era when anyone can get into college” due to the decline in births, the needs of children and parents with regard to learning are growing more diverse, as formats for entrance examinations are becoming more varied. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has also triggered the emergence of new digital products and services which have not been fully captured in the traditional out-of-school learning market survey, shown to the right, and competition among companies is growing fiercer. The same movement toward digitalization is also taking place in school activities, and it is gaining momentum against the backdrop of the GIGA School Program.
- *The figures were calculated by Benesse based on data in Yano Research Institute Ltd.’s“Education Industry 2022”
Japan’s nursing care market
With the ongoing aging of the population in Japan, the number of people who require nursing care has also continued to increase. To resolve the issue of nursing care for elderly, the nursing care insurance system under the social insurance system was enacted in 2000. Since then, the domestic nursing care market*1 has expanded rapidly, with the total cost of nursing care in fiscal 2020 at 10.2 trillion yen, a 2.6% increase over the previous year. As of April 2022, the number of people receiving nursing care insurance services was 5.93 million, a 2.0% increase from a year earlier. The number of elderly aged 65 and over increased to 29.1% of the total population*2 as of September 15, 2022, a 0.3% increase over the previous year. It is expected that in 2040, the percentage of elderly people will have hit 35.3%.
As the birthrate declines, the population ages, and we enter an era of 100-year longevity, in order to improve the quality of life of the elderly and solve the social issue of a shortage of nursing care service providers, the nursing care industry needs to leverage digital technology to improve the quality and efficiency of services.
- *1 Source: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare “Status Report on the Long-term Care Insurance Projects”
- *2 Source: Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications Statistics Bureau “The Elderly in Japan from a Statistical Standpoint (as of September 15, 2022)”
