Agaroot

Agaroot Co., Ltd. (株式会社アガルート) is a Japanese education company headquartered in Shinjuku, Tokyo, founded in December 2013 by Hokuto Iwasaki and several co-founders including Takeshi Iwase. Its core business is the online preparatory school Agaroot Academy, which delivers courses for national examinations and certification tests. The company describes its mission as "changing people and changing society" through education, with a vision of building a social infrastructure centered on education. Agaroot began with online courses for the bar exam and preliminary bar exam, an early effort to digitize legal exam study in Japan. It expanded into administrative scrivener, patent attorney, civil service, real estate transaction specialist, social insurance labor consultant, judicial scrivener, land and house investigator, surveyor, condominium manager, MBA, SME management consultant, data science, customs broker, and real estate appraiser courses, among others. Beyond qualification exams, it has moved into medical school online prep, online learning coaching for elementary through high school students, and language education such as TOEFL and IELTS one-on-one online coaching and personal English conversation lessons. The company also operates a publishing business for study books, related professional offices such as Agaroot Legal & Accounting Office and Agaroot Land and House Investigator Corporation, and a network of study lounges near universities. Through subsidiaries, business alliances, and M&A, it has expanded into human resources introduction, systems engineering services, and other education-related fields. Its group includes companies such as Fan of Life, Luxy, Synapse, Puraha, mofmof, AI Academy, Media Growth, Query Marketing, Waku Consulting, and Agaroot Sales Partners. Agaroot is privately held. As of October 1, 2025, it reported 142 employees excluding part-time, temporary, and contract workers, and capital of 35 million yen. Its representative director and president is Hokuto Iwasaki. The company continues to pursue an expansion strategy centered on education, combining online course delivery with acquisitions and group company development.

Agaroot Co., Ltd. was established in December 2013 by Hokuto Iwasaki (also known by the instructor name Hokuto Kudo) and several co-founders including Takeshi Iwase. The company is headquartered in Shinjuku, Tokyo. It was one of the earliest preparatory schools to digitize bar exam study in Japan. Iwasaki, who had worked as an instructor at LEC, sought to eliminate what he saw as inefficiencies of physical school buildings: the need to commute, capacity limits, maintenance costs, and instructors repeating the same lectures every year. He founded an online qualification exam prep school to address these issues. Initially, the company aimed for a business model where one could work three months a year and spend the remaining nine months playing golf, but it later adopted an expansion strategy centered on education. The core study style involves taking lectures online via PC, smartphone, or tablet, combined with set textbooks. Some courses offer options such as a management option, individual tutoring, regular counseling, and seminars. Starting with online bar exam courses, Agaroot expanded into legal qualifications such as administrative scrivener and land and house investigator, then into career, data science, business skills, and language fields. Beyond qualification and certification exams, it entered medical school online prep, online learning coaching for elementary through high school students, and through group company formation, business alliances, and M&A, TOEFL and IELTS one-on-one online coaching and personal English conversation lessons. It also operates Agaroot Legal & Accounting Office, led by representative attorney Takeshi Iwase, and Agaroot Land and House Investigator Corporation, led by representative Masaru Nakazato, an instructor for land and house investigator and surveyor. In its publishing business, Agaroot publishes study books for bar exam, preliminary bar exam, administrative scrivener, civil service, and other exams. These are separate from course textbooks. Agaroot operates study lounges near universities, mainly targeting university students. These are available only to students enrolled in specific curricula options for bar exam or civil service exam courses. Lounges include Iidabashi Lounge (headquarters), Waseda Lounge, Hiyoshi Lounge, Komaba Lounge, Kunitachi Lounge (co-operated with Tokyo CPA Accounting College), Osaka Lounge, and Kyoto Lounge (co-operated with Tokyo CPA Accounting College). The company has a logistics center in Zama, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Logistics Center in Chiba City. Its group companies include Fan of Life, Luxy, New Social System Research Institute, Synapse, Puraha, mofmof, AI Academy, Agaroot Technologies, Agaroot IT Partners, Media Growth, Query Marketing, and Waku Consulting. Related offices include Agaroot Legal & Accounting Office, a general office centered on lawyers. Key milestones include: December 2013 establishment; June 2014 Agaroot Legal & Accounting Office established; January 2015 Agaroot Academy began selling bar exam and preliminary bar exam courses; February 2015 administrative scrivener correspondence course launched; May 2015 headquarters moved to Shinjuku, Tokyo; May 2015 patent attorney correspondence course launched; April 2016 civil service correspondence course launched; October 2016 real estate transaction specialist correspondence course launched; January 2017 Management Option launched for bar exam courses; February 2017 Waseda Lounge opened; April 2017 social insurance labor consultant correspondence course launched; May 2017 Hiyoshi Lounge opened; July 2017 judicial scrivener correspondence course launched; March 2018 Komaba Lounge and Osaka Lounge opened; April 2018 land and house investigator and surveyor correspondence courses launched; October 2018 condominium manager and management business executor correspondence courses launched; December 2018 Zama Office opened; April 2019 book publishing business started; July 2019 rental real estate management manager correspondence course launched; July 2019 domestic MBA correspondence course launched; September 2019 Agaroot AI Legal Common released; December 2019 SME management consultant correspondence course launched; January 2020 Agaroot Medical released; February 2020 Fan of Life became a wholly owned subsidiary; March 2020 Agaroot Registration and Survey Office and Agaroot Land and House Investigator Corporation established; March 2020 Kunitachi Lounge opened; July 2020 data science correspondence course launched; August 2020 Agaroot Career released; October 2020 Kyoto Lounge opened; December 2020 Agaroot Online Coaching released; February 2021 Luxy became a wholly owned subsidiary; March 2021 Epas Co., Ltd. became a wholly owned subsidiary; March 2021 Chiba Logistics Center opened; April 2021 surveyor correspondence course launched; September 2021 TOEFL IELTS Booster business acquired from Lunway Co., Ltd. and "TOEFL®・IELTS one-on-one online coaching" sales began; March 2022 customs broker correspondence course launched; June 2022 New Social System Research Institute, Synapse, and Puraha became wholly owned subsidiaries; November 2022 mofmof became a wholly owned subsidiary; September 2023 AI Academy became a wholly owned subsidiary; October 2023 real estate appraiser correspondence course launched; March 2024 Media Growth and Query Marketing became wholly owned subsidiaries; May 2024 Asobi Lab became a wholly owned subsidiary; July 2024 Waku Consulting became a wholly owned subsidiary; March 2025 Raion LLC became a wholly owned subsidiary; April 2025 Genuine Co., Ltd. became a wholly owned subsidiary; June 2025 Tia Next Co., Ltd. (now Agaroot Sales Partners) became a wholly owned subsidiary; July 2025 Flagship Management Co., Ltd. became a wholly owned subsidiary; February 2026 Mavericks Co., Ltd. became a wholly owned subsidiary.

• Agaroot Co., Ltd. established.

• Agaroot Legal & Accounting Office established.

• Agaroot Academy began selling bar exam and preliminary bar exam courses.

• Administrative scrivener correspondence course launched.

• Headquarters moved to Shinjuku, Tokyo.

• Patent attorney correspondence course launched.

• Civil service correspondence course launched.

• Real estate transaction specialist correspondence course launched.

• Management Option launched for bar exam courses.

• Waseda Lounge opened.

• Social insurance labor consultant correspondence course launched.

• Hiyoshi Lounge opened.

• Judicial scrivener correspondence course launched.

• Komaba Lounge and Osaka Lounge opened.

• Land and house investigator and surveyor correspondence courses launched.

• Condominium manager and management business executor correspondence courses launched.

• Zama Office opened.

• Book publishing business started.

• Rental real estate management manager correspondence course launched.

• Domestic MBA correspondence course launched.

• Agaroot AI Legal Common released.

• SME management consultant correspondence course launched.

• Agaroot Medical released.

• Fan of Life Co., Ltd. became a wholly owned subsidiary.

Online education provider focused on qualification exam preparation, expanding into broader education and career services.

• Agaroot Academy online courses

  Online preparatory courses for national and certification exams.

• Management Option

  Option combining correspondence courses with individual instructor guidance for bar exam courses.

• Agaroot AI Legal Common

  AI legal common service released in September 2019.

• Agaroot Medical

  Online prep school for medical school entrance exams, released January 2020.

• Agaroot Career

  Career-related service released August 2020.

• Agaroot Online Coaching

  Online learning coaching for elementary through high school students, released December 2020.

• TOEFL®・IELTS one-on-one online coaching

  One-on-one online coaching for TOEFL and IELTS, launched September 2021.

1. 1株式会社アガルートagaroot.co.jp
2. 2会社沿革／history｜株式会社アガルートagaroot.co.jp
3. 3Agaroot - Wikidatawikidata.org
4. 4アガルート - Wikipediaja.wikipedia.org