is a Japanese company which focuses on correspondence education and publishing. Based in

Okayama is the prefectural capital, capital Cities of Japan, city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. The Okayama metropolitan area, centered around the city, has the largest urban employment zone in the Chugoku region of western J ...

, it is the parent company of

Berlitz Language Schools Berlitz Corporation is a language education and leadership training company which is based in Princeton, New Jersey. The company was founded in 1878 by Maximilian Berlitz in Providence, Rhode Island in the United States. Berlitz Corporation is o ...

, which in turn is the parent company of ELS Language Centers. Benesse is listed on the

Tokyo Stock Exchange The , abbreviated as Tosho () or TSE/TYO, is a stock exchange located in Tokyo, Japan. The exchange is owned by Japan Exchange Group (JPX), a holding company that it also lists (), and operated by Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc., a wholly owned sub ...

(listing code 9783). The company name is derived from the Latin words "bene" (well) and "esse" (being).

History

The company was founded in 1955 as by Tetsuhiko Fukutake, a publisher of educational materials. In 1986, Soichiro Fukutake succeeded his father as president on the latter's death. His son

Hideaki Fukutake Hideaki Fukutake (born c. 1977) is a Japanese New Zealand businessman and arts patron based in New Zealand since 2009. He is CEO of New Zealand company STILL that is focused on New Zealand-based opportunities to enhance art, culture and community ...

is a company director. In 1994, the company completed the construction of the Fukutake Shoten Tokyo Building (now Benesse Corporation Tokyo Building) in Tama, Tokyo. In April 1995, the company was renamed Benesse Corporation. A major breakthrough in the company's history was the acquisition of a majority stake in

, which had gone public in 1989. In 2001, Benesse completed the take-over by acquiring 100% ownership of Berlitz and making it a private company once again. In 2023, Swedish private equity firm

EQT AB EQT AB is a Swedish global investment organization founded in 1994. Its funds invest in private equity (EQT Private Capital Europe & North America), infrastructure (EQT Infrastructure), real estate (EQT Real Estate), growth equity, and ventur ...

together with Benesse's founding family announced their intention to buy the company and take it private in a deal valued at billion (billion). On March 3, 2024, it was announced that EFU Investments Ltd. and a fund managed by BPEA EQT completed the purchase of a 70.1% stake in Benesse.

Benesse Foundation

The Benesse House is a 10-room hotel located inside a contemporary art museum, the Benesse Art Site, on the island of

Naoshima is an island in Japan's Seto Inland Sea, part of Kagawa Prefecture. The island is best known for its many contemporary art installations and museums. The administers Naoshima and 26 smaller islands nearby. As of 2020, the town has an estimated ...

in the Seto Inland Sea. Built in 1992, it was designed in partnership with architect

Tadao Ando is a self-taught Japanese autodidact architect known for his unique integration of architecture and landscape. Architectural historian Francesco Dal Co described his work as an example of " critical regionalism". Ando received the prestigious ...

. It was built by the Benesse Foundation which is funded by the Benesse Corporation.

Franchises

Benesse is the originator of the '' Kodomo Challenge'' educational program, which debuted in April 1988 and introduced three young-animal mascot characters: Shimajiro the tiger, Torippi the parrot,Names to the left of the slashes are the original Japanese; those to the right, the English ones used in

WildBrain Spark WildBrain Family International Limited, operating as WildBrain London (formerly WildBrain and WildBrain Spark), is a British multi-channel network owned by Canadian media company WildBrain (formerly DHX Media). It distributes and produces pres ...

's dub. and Ramurin the sheep. These characters, along with later 1991 addition Mimirin the rabbit, would appear in a long-running series of ''Shimajiro'' anime starting in 1993.

Notes

References

External links

Benesse Corporation

ELS official site

Benesse Art Site Naoshima
Education companies established in 1955 Book publishing companies of Japan Companies based in Okayama Prefecture Publishing companies established in 1955 Mass media in Okayama Companies formerly listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Holding companies of Japan Japanese companies established in 1955 Holding companies established in 1955 2024 mergers and acquisitions {{japan-company-stub