SUN conducted an industry-academia collaboration program with the Naveen Jindal School of Management at the University of Texas at Dallas, U.S.A. This program supported SUN’s plan to expand into the U.S. market with “KURASHI STUDY”, a Japanese language learning application developed and marketed by SUN.
■SUN Aims to Expand Japanese Language Education Apps into the U.S. Market SUN has developed the Japanese language education application ” KURASHI STUDY”, which is sold in 19 countries worldwide. SUN is also promoting the digitalisation of Japanese language education by developing “HANASU PLUS”, an online Japanese language learning service for companies, and an online lesson teaching platform. Because of these efforts, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has chosen SUN for its “Global Challenge Program for Small and Medium Enterprises in Tokyo”. With the support of this program, SUN has begun preparations to enter the U.S. market in 2023.
■What about The Global Development Initiative program The Global Development Initiative (GDI) program is a practicum, a major component of a required semester-long undergraduate class, IMS4350 Global Market Entry Strategies at the Jindal School of Management at the University of Texas at Dallas, that is led by Professor Hubert Zydorek, Director, Center for Global Business, Naveen Jindal School of Management. The program involves developing defined market research and other market entry strategies for companies outside the USA that aim to enter the US market. It also equips students with the necessary skills to succeed and navigate the complex global business environment.
Lawrence P. Howorth, president of Howorth International, LLC, a company that provides international market entry consulting services in the U.S., serves as a program leader, and a team of experienced business expert mentors and students work together to support foreign companies in their entry into the U.S. market. SUN participated in the GDI from January to April 2024 and received the final report/presentation of the market study by project members on Thursday, May 2, 2024.
■Final Proposal The students have been researching and analysing for three months to formulate a strategy for SUN’s entry into the U.S. market. The final presentation included reports on company analysis, market analysis (industry statistics, market segmentation, and competition), SWOT analysis, and geographic attractiveness. Full-scale, high-quality consulting reports were presented, including an understanding of the market size, analysis of market needs, and recommendations for target markets to enter the U.S. market. Students also interviewed industry professionals through an extensive network at the University of Texas. Feedback on SUN’s services was received from an assistant professor involved in Japanese language education and a personnel manager at a major Japanese company, including specific suggestions for localising services for entry into the US market.
■Program members(partial) Lawrence P. Howorth Program Lead for the GDI / President and Founder of HOWORTH International, LLC Over the past seven years, the GDI Program has engaged with 42 international companies in over 15 countries. The Companies benefit from USA market research and market entry advice provided by our GDI teams, mentors, and program participants, and the students benefit from the learning experience of working in the “real world” international business environment.
Shumpei Nakasone CEO of SUN Co., Ltd First, I sincerely thank the students and the other members who supported them. They were serious about a small company in a country with a 15-hour time difference and spent a lot of time researching and developing a strategy to enter the U.S. market. In October 2023, the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and the US Department of State agreed to strengthen comprehensive cooperation in education, including enhancing Japanese language education in the US. This will be a great business opportunity for us as a Japanese language education service provider. We will certainly use the valuable information gained from this project in our future business development and service improvement and contribute to the education industry in Japan and the United States.
Student for the GDI Nathan Banh (Global Business/Pre-Law) Nadia Vilaisaeng (B.S. Global Business & Marketing) Leonardo Castro (B.S. Global Business) Bifei Xu (B.S. Global Business) Hilary Nguyen (B.S Global Business & Marketing)
■About SUN Co., Ltd We are an IT company that operates a system integration, Web design, and foreign resident support business under the corporate philosophy “To become a globally renowned company based on our mission ‘connect people with people’.” We will actively hire globally, and by connecting people, we will create new value and deliver innovation to the world. https://www.sun21.co.jp/
■About the “Global Development Initiative (GDI)” at the Naveen Jindal School of Management, University of Texas at Dallas The “Global Development Initiative (GDI)” program, offered by the Naveen Jindal School of Management, University of Texas at Dallas, aims to provide high-value support to foreign companies aspiring to expand their business into the U.S. market. Conducted each spring and fall semester, the program pairs university students with business mentors and foreign companies looking to grow in the U.S. market. The teams collaborate on market analysis, application of global knowledge, and the development of strategies for entering the U.S. market. The program’s primary focus is to equip university students with the skills required for developing market entry strategies for international companies and succeeding in the complex global business environment. https://jindal.utdallas.edu/centers-of-excellence/cgb/global-development-initiative/
SUN hold the “SUN Kodomo-Shokudou” (Children’s Cafeteria) on 7 September (Saturday).
■Outline
Name: SUN Children’s Cafeteria
Date: 7 September 12:00-14:00
Details: Provide meals (Somen noodle, Watermelon) and activities (Wind chime Painting）
Eligibility: Children over 3 years old to high school students and their parents/guardians
Location: SUN Corporation Head Office (3F Noax Building, 1-16-4 Nishi-Shinbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo)
Website: https://www.sun21.co.jp/kodomo-shokudou
■Message from SUN Kodomo-Shokudou
We would like to tell the children who will be leading the future that;
The world is created through connections with people.
The world is vast, and it is close to you.
We want children to connect with people through food and learn about a new part of the world through interactions outside of school.
With this in mind, we started the “SUN Kodomo-Shokudou”.
■About SUN Kodomo-Shokudou
Kodomo-Shokudou is a children’s cafeteria where kids in hardship can enjoy free or low-cost meals and a community of friends with similar circumstances and caring adults. SUN, which aims to “connect people with people” as its corporate philosophy, agreed with the purpose of the Kodomo-Shokudou (children’s cafeteria), which acts as a base for community interaction and opened the “SUN Kodomo-Shokudou” at its head office in Minato-ku, Tokyo. SUN Kodomo-Shokudou is a member of the “Minato-ku Children’s Cafeteria Network” established by Minato-ku.
Purpose of the program
To share meals with children who eat alone and to create a community space where parents can get advice from each other
多Creating Opportunities for Multicultural Coexistence
Activating Internal Communication and Increasing Motivation through Social Contribution
Creating a Community across Generations or Regions (to be determined)
For more details, please take a look at the press release below.
SUN Co., Ltd(Head office: Minato-ku, Tokyo, President and CEO: Shumpei Nakasone) will hold a special offer for a free trial of all functions on its Japanese language learning app “KURASHI STUDY” from 21 August (Wednesday) to 20 September (Friday) 2024.
We will update KURASHI STUDY on 21 August 2024 (Wednesday) and eliminate the membership registration function for the free trial to make it more convenient and encourage more users to use the app. Users can start trial learning without membership registration after downloading the app. To allow users to experience the app’s learning benefits, we hold a one-month free offer from 21 Aug (Wednesday) to 20 Sept (Friday), 2024. Usually, users need to purchase a subscription (from 980 yen/month) to use the app’s full features. Still, during the offer, all users, including non-subscribed users, can use all the features in the app for free without any restrictions.
■ an excellent opportunity for learners and those involved in Japanese language education to experience the benefits of digital teaching materials.
The number of workers from overseas is increasing every year, in contrast to Japan’s human resource shortage. While laws concerning foreign workers are being developed, companies and local governments that accept them need to improve their work environment to facilitate the work of a diverse workforce. The communication issues around foreign workers bring other difficulties regarding their utilisation, employment retention, and co-existence with the local community. It is essential to provide them with opportunities to learn languages and activate interaction with employees and residents.
The Japanese language learning app ” KURASHI STUDY” allows students to learn language skills and essential knowledge for daily life, such as rules for taking out trash and disaster prevention, because its curriculum specialises in daily conversations about Japanese daily life. Everyone involved in corporate Japanese language training and the operation of local Japanese language classes will try our app, which has all functions free of charge during the offer period, and use it to provide online-based learning opportunities that take advantage of digital teaching materials.
■Outline of the special offer Description: All functions in KURASHI STUDY are available free of charge during the offer period Eligibility: All users during the offer period Period: From 15:00 Wednesday 21 August to 15:00 Friday 20 September 2024 (JST)
Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, Spain, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, UK, USA, Vietnam.
■What is “KURASHI STUDY”, a Japanese language learning app https://kurashi-study.net The Japanese language learning app “KURASHI STUDY”, sold in 20 countries worldwide, has been downloaded more than 190,000 times (as of July 2024) and is used by Japanese language learners worldwide. It helps learners learn basic Japanese language skills such as grammar, expressions, vocabulary, and pronunciation from a total of 96 conversation scenes about daily Japanese life, as well as the rules and administrative rules necessary for daily life in Japan. It scopes the format of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) N5 to N2 levels.
■Related Press Releases Japanese language learning app ‘Kurashi Study’ launched to teach ‘Japanese’ and ‘life’ by reading stories https://www.sun21.co.jp/news/kurashi-study/
■ SUN Co., Ltd https://www.sun21.co.jp/ We are an IT company that operates a system integration, Web design, and foreign resident support business under the corporate philosophy “To become a globally renowned company based on our mission ‘connect people with people’. ” We actively hire globally, and by connecting people, we create new value and deliver innovation.
SUN Co., Ltd(Head office: Minato-ku, Tokyo, President and CEO: Shumpei Nakasone) will hold a special offer for a free trial of all functions on its Japanese language learning app “KURASHI STUDY” from 21 August (Wednesday) to 20 September (Friday) 2024.
■What is “KURASHI STUDY”, a Japanese language learning app https://kurashi-study.net The Japanese language learning app “KURASHI STUDY”, which is sold in 20 countries around the world, has been downloaded more than 190,000 times (as of July 2024) and is used by Japanese language learners around the world. It helps learners to learn basic Japanese language skills such as grammar, expressions, vocabulary and pronunciation from a total of 96 conversation scenes about Japanese daily life, as well as the rules and administrative rules that are necessary for daily life in Japan. It scopes the format of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) N5 to N2 levels.
■Background to the special offer We will update the member functions of KURASHI STUDY on 21 August 2024 (Wednesday). The update eliminates the membership registration function for the free trial to make it more convenient and encourage more users to use the app. Users will be able to start trial learning without membership registration after downloading the app.
To allow users to experience the learning benefits of the app, we will hold a one-month free offer from 21 Aug (Wednesday) to 20 Sept (Friday), 2024. Normally, users need to purchase a subscription (from 980 yen/month) to use the full features of the app, but during the offer, all users, including non-subscribed users, will be able to use all the features in the app for free without any restrictions.
■Outline of the special offer Description: All functions in KURASHI STUDY are available free of charge during the offer period Eligibility: All users during the offer period Period: From 15:00 Wednesday 21 August to 15:00 Friday 20 September 2024 (JST)
Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, Spain, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, UK, USA, Vietnam.
■Related Press Releases Japanese language learning app ‘Kurashi Study’ launched to teach ‘Japanese’ and ‘life’ by reading stories https://www.sun21.co.jp/news/kurashi-study/
■ SUN Co., Ltd https://www.sun21.co.jp/ We are an IT company that operates a system integration, Web design, and foreign resident support business under the corporate philosophy “To become a globally renowned company based on our mission ‘connect people with people’. ” We actively hire globally, and by connecting people, we create new value and deliver innovation to the world.
SUN Co Ltd will participate in the event ‘Workplace Reform Support Subsidy 2024 School Activity Support Service Experience & Training Session’ organised by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). This event will take place from 30 July (Tuesday) to 21 August (Wednesday) 2024 in Sapporo, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Takasaki, Nagoya, Kyoto, and Kitakyushu.
■ Workplace Reform Support Subsidy 2024: School Activity Support Service Experience & Workshop The School Activity Support Service Experience & Workshop（https://tankyu-semi.go.jp/event） in Workplace Reform Support Subsidy 2024（https://school-manabi.go.jp/） is an event held as part of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s ‘Project to Promote the Use of Private Sector Services that Contribute to Exploratory Learning’. It will be held offline and online at eight locations across Japan for teachers, local governments, boards of education, university students and prospective teachers.
This project aims to reduce the workload and improve the efficiency of busy teachers and staff in Japan by utilising private-sector tools and allocating their resources to more advanced learning, such as inquiry-based learning and programming that strengthens human resource development. The project subsidises a part of the project costs for businesses that introduce school activity support services to reduce the workload and improve the efficiency of teachers and staff. It also organises service trial sessions and other events to promote the nationwide introduction of the services.
■Outline of the exhibition
Event Name
Workplace Support Grant 2024, School Activity Support Service Experience & Training Day
Exhibition schedule
30 July 2024 Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture Venue: Fukiage Hall (2-6-3 Fukiage, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi)
1 August 2024 Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture Venue: Miyako Messe (9-1 Okazaki Seishoji-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto)
Monday 5 August 2024 Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture Venue: JR Kyushu Station Hotel Kokura (1-1-1 Asano, Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyushu-shi, Fukuoka)
7 August 2024 Sapporo, Hokkaido Venue: Grand Mercure Sapporo (11-1-1 Kita 1 Nishi, Chuo-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido)
Monday 19 August 2024 Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Venue: Bellesalle Hanzomon (1-6-4 Kojimachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo)
21 August 2024 Takasaki, Gunma Venue: G Messe Gunma (12-24 Iwashi-cho, Takasaki, Gunma)
Exhibit Details
Online Japanese language learning service “KURASHI STUDY HANASU PLUS” – Digital learning materials “KURASHI STUDY” – Learning management system
■Our booth
■KURASHI STUDY HANASU PLUS https://hanasu-plus.kurashi-study.net HANASU PLUS is an online Japanese language learning service specialising in conversational Japanese. It is a set of digital learning materials, online lessons and a learning management system. It aims to improve basic Japanese language skills through special daily conversation training and encourage communication at school, at work and in the local community. Instead of conventional cramming Japanese language education, it is designed with an output-oriented curriculum incorporating ICT education and active learning. It aims to improve learners’ language skills through intensive and efficient primary Japanese language learning by training daily conversation. In addition, the learning progress management system enables managers to check each learner’s progress and understanding of their learning, improving work efficiency and providing personalised and optimised learning.
SUN (Head office: Minato-ku, Tokyo, President and CEO: Shumpei Nakasone) held the “SUN Idea Contest 2024” to create new businesses and stimulate internal exchange. The best team received 500,000 yen as a prize.
Since its establishment, SUN has valued the “voices of employees” in building the company and fostered an open and comfortable environment where their opinions are heard and respected. The various in-house programs that have been created based on their voices include “Welfare: Sick Leave Self Care System,” “Welfare: Maternity Leave Welcome Back System,” “Welfare: Fashionable Allowance,” and “Recruitment Event: Card Game Tournament. As a company whose corporate philosophy is to “connect people with people,” we have an open and comfortable environment in which employees feel comfortable voicing their opinions.
The contest aims to create new businesses and promote interaction among employees. As a company that promotes telework, we expect this contest to provide more opportunities to resolve employee estrangement and isolation. Employees with the same visions and goals come together to plan for the future and challenge the contest while sharing their ideas and opinions.
■Contest Outline
Name
SUN Idea Contest 2024
Eligibility
SUN employees *Individual/team participation allowed
Schedule
First stage April 1~April 30 Voting by all employees for selectionFinal Stage June 26 One 7-minute pitch per team, presentation judging
Judging Criteria
Target design and problem definition must be straightforward.
The proposal must include a new and unique value proposition.
Profitable and feasible business model
Prize Money
Grand Prix: 1,000,000 yen
Semi-Grand Prix: 500,000 yen
Second prize (if the idea could be a new service or business by the end of FY2025)
■Prize-winning ideas
Semi-Grand Prix Receipt and receipt OCR system To Reduce the person-hours required for in-house expense applications. Aiming at commercialisation.
Second prize Safety confirmation service Simplifies the process of confirming the safety of employees in the event of a disaster. Aiming at commercialisation.
■Comments from employees
・The SUN Idea Contest tests planning skills (finding issues), presentation skills (from creating documents to speaking), and communication skills. It is an excellent opportunity for us to grow employees and lead the company’s growth.
・In this contest, all employees, including those not generally involved in planning, have an equal chance to develop ideas and receive prize money by realising them. This is a project in which I can participate with passion because I can contribute to the company’s growth in a visible way.
・I saw managers struggling to confirm the safety of employees after the Noto Peninsula earthquake, and I wanted to create a system to alleviate the burden. While some employees usually have ideas for new businesses but do not know how to propose them to the company, I am grateful that there is an opportunity to speak up as a contest. It was an excellent chance to learn about “business models,” which I rarely come into touch with in my daily work.
・ “What kind of ideas will other teams come up with?” “How great will they be?” “Will my presentation stand up to them?” “What reaction will I get from the employees’ votes?” While thinking about these questions, we were excited to present what we had prepared as a team.
We are an IT company that operates a system integration business, Web design and a foreign resident support business under the corporate philosophy “To become a globally-renowned company based on our mission ‘connect people with people’ “. We actively hire globally, and by connecting people, we create new value and deliver innovation to the world.
SUN Co., Ltd (Head office: Minato-ku, Tokyo, President and CEO: Shumpei Nakasone) has been developing its system integration business since its establishment. The Corporate Development Division (Head Office), in charge of contracted and outsourced development for the company, recently achieved certification under the International Information Security Management System (ISMS/ISO 27001) standard.
■Purpose to Obtain ISMS Certification
SUN has been developing its system integration business since its establishment in 2018 and has continued to grow into a company with sales exceeding 1.6 billion yen by 2023. We provide comprehensive solutions for various requests and issues received from companies in Japan, including system proposals, design, development, and environment construction for solutions.
To prove that we maintain high standards for information security and provide safe and secure services to our customers, we recently achieved ISMS certification for our Corporate Development Division at our Tokyo Head Office. ISMS certification is also an international standard that benefits major corporations, local governments, and companies with overseas offices that demand high security.
■Outline of Certification Certification Standard: JIS Q 27001:2023 (ISO/IEC 27001:2022) Scope of registration: Provision of services related to planning, development, sales, and maintenance of computer systems in the Corporate Development Division Registration number: J0703 Date of certification: June 19, 2024 Certification Body: ASR Corporation
■What is ISMS Certification?
ISMS (Information Security Management System) is an internationally integrated third-party conformity assessment system for information security management systems. This certification aims to improve information security in Japan and achieve information security that other countries can trust. It also aims to appropriately manage risk by applying a risk management process.
We are an IT company that operates a system integration, Web design, and foreign resident support business under the corporate philosophy “To become a globally renowned company based on our mission ‘connect people with people’. ” We actively hire globally, and by connecting people, we create new value and deliver innovation.
SUN (Head office: Minato-ku, Tokyo, President and CEO: Shumpei Nakasone) held the “SUN Kodomo-Shokudou” (Children’s Cafeteria) on March 23, 2024 (Saturday).
Kodomo-Shokudou is a children’s cafeteria where kids in hardship can enjoy free or low-cost meals and a community of friends with similar circumstances and caring adults. SUN, which aims to “connect people with people” as its corporate philosophy, agreed with the purpose of the Kodomo-Shokudou (children’s cafeteria), which acts as a base for community interaction and opened the “SUN Kodomo-Shokudou” at its head office in Minato-ku, Tokyo. SUN Kodomo-Shokudou is a member of the “Minato-ku Children’s Cafeteria Network” established by Minato-ku.
■Message from SUN Kodomo-Shokudou We would like to tell the children who will be leading the future that; The world is created through connections with people. The world is wide and it is close to you.
We would like children to make connections with people through food, and to know a new part of the world through interactions with people outside of school. It is with this in mind that we started the “SUN Kodomo-Shokudou”.
■Purpose of the program To share meals with children who eat alone and to create a community space where parents can get advice from each other.
Kodomo-Shokudou is not only for families suffering financial hardship. Kodomo-Shokudou is not only for families suffering financial hardship. There are many reasons for using the Kodomo-Shokudou, including children who eat alone because their parents are busy with work, parents and children who attend private schools and have little interaction in the community, housewives and househusbands who have little interaction outside the home, and parents whose grandparents live far away and have no one nearby to support their childcare concerns. The SUN Kodomo-Shokudou provides not only meals but also a place for parents to talk with other parents about their concerns and deal with loneliness.
Creating Opportunities for Multicultural Coexistence In Minato-ku, where embassies and foreign-affiliated companies are gathered, many workers from overseas in Japan also live and work in the area. Because of the language barrier, foreign residents and their children tend to be isolated from the social network. To live together in society, it is important for them to participate in the local community and to share and understand each other’s culture. We would like to encourage families of foreign residents living in Minato-ku to participate in the SUN Kodomo-Shokudou and create opportunities for them to connect with the local community regardless of their nationality.
Activating Internal Communication and Increasing Motivation through Social Contribution
Through the operation of the Kodomo-Shokudou, we expect employees to interact with each other, which will lead to more active communication in the company and increase employee motivation. Social and community contribution activities bring together employees who have no contact with each other in their projects and create new communication. We aim for employees to experience team management in a different environment through exchanging opinions and cooperating, and they create a proactive team.
Creating a Community across Generations or Regions (to be determined)
Due to the “self-quarantine” during the pandemic, many adults are suffering from isolation and loneliness, as they have become less connected with others. In the future, we are planning to expand the SUN Kodomo-Shokudou so that participants will not be limited to families raising children, but also include people who work in the community and the elderly. Through having meals and attending activities together, we aim to create a new local community space open to people of all ages, occupations, and nationalities. We would also like to expand this project to other areas where SUN has branches across Japan and continue our efforts to “connect people to people”.
■Outline Name: SUN Children’s Cafeteria Details: Provide meals and activities Eligibility: Children over 3 years old to high school students and their parents/guardians Date: March 23, 2024, 12:00-14:00 *Other events scheduled for June, September, and December 2024 Location: SUN Corporation Head Office (3F Noax Building, 1-16-4 Nishi-Shinbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo) Website: https://www.sun21.co.jp/kodomo-shokudou
■The First “SUN Kodomo-Shokudou” The first “SUN Kodomo-Shokudou” was held on Saturday, December 16, 2023, at the SUN head office in Shimbashi. Volunteer employees cooked curry and served it to parents and children living in the Minato-ku area.
■The Second “SUN Kodomo-Shokudou” The second “SUN Kodomo-Shokudou” was held on Saturday, March 23, 2024, at the SUN head office in Shimbashi. Volunteer employees cooked chicken fried rice and corn soup, and served it to parents and children living in the Minato-ku area.
■ SUN Co., Ltd https://www.sun21.co.jp/ We are an IT company that operates a system integration business, Web design and a foreign resident support business under the corporate philosophy “To become a globally-renowned company based on our mission ‘connect people with people’ “. We actively hire globally, and by connecting people, we create new value and deliver innovation to the world.
SUN got an interview from “Comtri” about its establishment episodes and CSR efforts. Kontori” is a web-based media that provides information to energize small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that support the Japanese economy.
