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.

History

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.
2024
  • Mar
    BORDERLINK, Inc. started collaborating with the Pakistani government to accept ALT
  • Nov
    Formed capital and business alliance with GAKKENHOLDINGS Co., Ltd.
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