Organization

01 / TEAM MEMBER

Jack

Jack spent six years of secondary school in New Zealand before graduating from Sophia University. His career has included Daiwa Securities and Reuters, followed by founding Bilingual Connections, where he served as Representative Director. After selling the company, he supported venture businesses with sales, international expansion and fundraising. He has also worked at Shinjuku Seiga Preschool and served as a third-party evaluator for Tokyo welfare services. Today he leads HOIKU, serves on the board of the Hekinan Infant Welfare Association, is Principal of Yuria Nawate Preschool, serves as an auditor of the Infant and Early Childhood STEM Education Research Association, and is a qualified childcare professional.

02 / TEAM MEMBER

Yoshihiro Yura

Yoshihiro Yura graduated from the Sculpture Department at Kanazawa College of Art and completed postgraduate studies at Bukkyo University. He joined Nezaki Preschool, operated by the social welfare corporation Hekimeikai, and became Principal in 2014. He now serves as Chair of Hekimeikai and as Principal of Sakurai Preschool. His other roles include Deputy Secretary-General of the Aichi Private Preschool Federation and Chair of the Anjo Private Preschool Association. He holds first-class teaching licenses for junior and senior high school as well as a certified childcare worker qualification.

03 / TEAM MEMBER

Asami Takeda

Asami Takeda has firsthand experience of both the transition of a public preschool to private management and the shift from whole-group instruction to the Yuria Method. After graduating from university, she joined Hekinan Kindergarten. In 2005, she became lead educator at Ibun Preschool, Nishio City's first private preschool, now Yuria Ibun Preschool. She became Principal in 2012 and continues in that role. She also serves on the training committee of the Aichi Private Preschool Federation, works as a third-party welfare service evaluator, and is a council member of Ikuei Educational Corporation.

04 / TEAM MEMBER

Kayo Tanaka

After vocational school, Kayo Tanaka worked in radio and event production for broadcasters in Osaka. From 2008 she spent two years in Zambia as a Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteer. After returning to Japan, she resumed radio production before entering university to study early childhood education from the ground up, earning both a first-class kindergarten teaching license and a certified childcare worker qualification. Following her experience at Kodakara Preschool, she now serves as Principal of Chiisana Kodakara Preschool, creating a place where young children and their families can feel secure and at ease.

05 / TEAM MEMBER

Masami Torii

Masami Torii pursued her childhood ambition to become an early childhood educator and graduated from Okazaki Women's Junior College. She worked for seven years at Yahagi Private Preschool, where she had completed her student placement, and gained experience with both infants and young children. Wanting to deepen her understanding of infant care, she then spent two years at Kusanomi Preschool in Nishio and one year at Hekinan Kindergarten. She now works at Hekinan Preschool, where she has experienced the Yuria Method firsthand and applies it in everyday practice.