History

The Story of the Founding

“Someday, I want to create a service which will change society.” This was my dream. When I was a postgraduate student, I began to feel that, due to the development of telecommunication technologies, the time would come when individuals could participate more actively and brilliantly. As a fresh graduate, I joined NTT Docomo, where I engaged in research into next-generation telecommunications. I later launched this business with Tomohisa Kato, my classmate from junior high and high school who was working for a consulting firm at that time. We started the business as a kind of second job for both of us. But we decided to found the company because we began to see signs of success.

We initially tried a service providing Chinese conversation lessons. We later shifted to English in response to market needs. In those days, attending group lessons at schools was the most common way to learn English. Consumers desired a service that would give them more opportunities to speak English more casually. We therefore focused on Filipinos’ high level of English proficiency and hospitality. We began to recruit tutors by putting up help-wanted ads at the University of the Philippines. This is how we built a system for providing lessons and began to provide RareJob Eikaiwa, an online English conversation lesson service.

The service allows Japanese to acquire English speaking skills.
It also gives Filipinos work opportunities, leveraging their English proficiency and teaching skills, regardless of environment or circumstances.
By operating a business that builds a win-win relationship between these groups, we create a future in which anyone can seize opportunity wherever they are.

2007

Oct
Established as RareJob, Inc.

Nov
Launched RareJob online eikaiwa business.

2008

Mar
Relocated head office to Uchikanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo.

Apr
Increased capital to 16.1 million yen through a private placement of shares.

Oct
Established RareJob Philippines, Inc. in Manila, Republic of the Philippines.

2009

Aug
Launched B2B services for business customers.

2010

Mar
Relocated head office to Shibuya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo.

2012

Jan

Relocated head office to Sakuragaoka, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo.

Total number of free registered users exceeds 100,000 (cumulative).
Oct
Began early-morning lessons.
Dec
Began to run lessons from 06.00 (early morning) until 01.00 (late night).

2013

Feb

Acquired Privacy Mark certification.

Awarded the SME Support Japan Chairman’s Award at the Japan Venture Awards 2013.
Jun
Increased capital to 181.6 million yen through a private placement of shares.
Aug
Total number of lessons reaches 10 million (cumulative).
Oct

Renewed corporate and service logos.

Changed service name to RareJob Eikaiwa.

Total number of free registered users exceeds 200,000 (cumulative).

2014

Jun

Formed business partnership with Recruit Lifestyle Co., Ltd. and opened RareJob Eikaiwa Recruit school branch.

Listed on Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE/JPX) Mothers market.
Jul
Launched Chatty stamp/sticker-based eikaiwa app.
Sep
Acquired ISO27001 (international information security standard) certification.

2015

Apr

Launched Business English Course services.

Launched B2School services for schools.
May
Relocated head office to Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo.
Jun

Formed outsourcing agreement with the town of Kamimine, Saga

Tomohisa Kato appointed Chairman, Gaku Nakamura appointed CEO.
Jul
Formed capital and business alliance with Mitsui & Co., Ltd.
Sep
Launched Young Learner Course services.
Dec
Launched the Shunkan (“Flash”) series of English language learning apps.

2016

Jan

Launched RareJob HonkiJuku.
Feb
Formed capital and business alliance with Zoshinkai Publishers Inc.
Apr

Established Kansai Branch.
Aug
Launched RareJob Eikaiwa General English Course iOS app
Sep
Established Envizion Philippines, Inc. in Cagayan de Oro, Republic of the Philippines.
Dec
Acquired Ripple Kids Park (Online English Speaking for Kids) as part of RareJob Group.

2017

Apr

Established Chubu Branch.
Jun
Launched RareJob Eikaiwa Abroad services for business customers.

2018

Mar

Launch of “Lesson room” ,original lesson system.
Apr

Established Kyushu Branch.
Jun
Established GOLA English Tutorial, Inc. in Makati, Republic of the Philippines.
Oct

Launch of “Smart Method® Course” ,an English conversation training program that gurantees improvement of conversational skill.

2019

Jan

Launched RareJob EdTech Lab.
Feb

Established Envizion, Inc. (through formation of a joint venture agreement with Zoshinkai Holdings Inc.)
Apr

Acquired Geos Language Centre Pte Ltd. (Geos Singapore) as a wholly-owned subsidiary.
Dec

RareJob Joined Nippon Keidanren (Japan Business Federation).

2020

Jun

Launch of “PROGOS”, an innovative English speaking assessment system.
Nov

Change stock market listing to the First Section of the TSE
Dec

First in Japan, PROGOS won A world-class “Reimagine Education Award 2020”

2021

Mar

Spun off corporate business to establish PROGOS Inc.
Apr

Launched the recruitment business specialized in foreign talents and Japanese tutoring business.
Jun

Established Babel Method, Inc. to develop the Japanese speaking learning program.
July

“PROGOS” received the Remarkable Start-up Award at the 6th HR Technology Awards.
Sep

Formed capital and business alliance with BORDERLINK, INC.
Dec

The online learning business for professional qualifications, Shikaku Square participates in the RareJob group

2022

Apr

RareJob Technologies, Inc. is established and begins operations

Change stock market listing to the Prime Market of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Oct

RareJob Eikaiwa updates its features and experience.
Dec

Established K12 Holdings, Inc.

2023

Apr

BORDERLINK, INC. becomes a wholly owned subsidiary.

Launched Global Skills Power Training, a global business skills acquisition program for corporate clients.

Launched English language education services for K-12 (i.e. education period from kindergarten to grade 12) field.
Jun

BORDERLINK, Inc. absorbed Envizion, Inc.
July

RareJob, Inc. absorbed shikaku square, Inc.