Kyoiku Geijutsusha Co., Ltd.

Kyoiku Geijutsusha Co., Ltd. (株式会社教育芸術社, often shortened to "Kyogei") is a Japanese educational publisher headquartered in Toshima-ku, Tokyo. It was founded in September 1948 by the composer Ichikawa Toshiharu together with his brother Ichikawa Hajime, in the years just after the Second World War, with the stated aim of conveying the wonder of music to as many people as possible through schools. The company's business is educational book publishing (教育図書出版業), and its core output is authorized (screened) music textbooks for elementary, junior high and senior high schools, supplemented by teaching materials, choral collections, digital textbooks and related software. The company is unusual in the Japanese textbook market in that it produces music textbooks covering the entire twelve-year span from elementary through senior high school. It claims a leading share of the music textbook market for elementary and junior high schools in Japan. Beyond textbooks, it publishes choral song collections, teaching guides, CDs and digital teaching resources, and it runs the "Spring Seminar" (スプリングセミナー) public workshops presenting newly commissioned choral works, as well as the "kyogei music education seminar" and the "kyogei Library" video series for teachers. It also operates the 教芸WEB STORE for music distribution. Corporate data published by the company show capital of 10 million yen, annual sales of 5.26 billion yen for the fiscal year ended September 2024, and about 100 employees. The head office is in Nagasaki, Toshima-ku, Tokyo, with branch offices in Nagoya (Chubu), Osaka (Kansai) and Shimonoseki in Yamaguchi Prefecture (Seibu). Its main customers and users are the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and elementary, junior high, senior high schools and universities across Japan. The current representative director and president is Ichikawa Kaori, a granddaughter of the founder. The company positions itself around the idea of "the moving heart" (感動する心) and the mission of supporting Japanese music education and music culture from the school classroom. In recent years it has pursued digitalization of teaching materials, digital textbooks, individual and remote learning tools, and software development, while continuing its traditional textbook and choral publishing. It has also received environmental recognition for its printing, winning the Green Printing (GP) "GP Environmental Grand Prize" in two consecutive years according to its own news releases.

Kyoiku Geijutsusha was established on 10 September 1948, in the immediate postwar period, by the composer Ichikawa Toshiharu and his brother Ichikawa Hajime. The founding idea, repeatedly cited by the company, was to convey the wonder of music to as many people as possible through schools. Early collaborators and supervisors around the company included figures such as Yamada Kosaku, Shimofusa Kanichi, Matsumoto Taminosuke and Ishiketa Mareo, reflecting its ambition to build music textbooks with leading composers of the day. The company expanded its textbook line quickly: it issued a senior high school music textbook in 1949, a junior high school music textbook in 1950, and an elementary school music textbook in 1951. From the 1950s through the early 1960s it also published textbooks for drawing and handicraft (図画工作), between roughly 1953 and 1961, before concentrating on music. Over the following decades it built a position as a specialist music-education publisher, and it states that it is the only company producing music textbooks covering all twelve years of elementary, junior high and senior high schooling. It also describes itself as having been the first textbook company to include karaoke tracks on instructional records, an example of its effort to enrich music classes. In 1989 the company constructed an annex to its head office, and in 1997 it fully renovated the main head office building and annex. The founder, Ichikawa Toshiharu, died on 29 April 1998. Leadership later passed to his granddaughter, Ichikawa Kaori, who serves as representative director and president. In the 21st century the company has continued to publish authorized music textbooks and choral collections while extending into digital teaching materials, digital textbooks, software development, and online and individual learning tools. It runs public-facing activities such as the Spring Seminar, which presents newly commissioned choral works, and the kyogei music education seminar, and it distributes music through the 教芸WEB STORE. It also reports environmental recognition for its printing, including consecutive GP Environmental Grand Prize awards in the mid-2020s. As of the fiscal year ended September 2024 it reported annual sales of 5.26 billion yen and about 100 employees, with its head office in Toshima-ku, Tokyo and branches in Nagoya, Osaka and Shimonoseki.

• 2024

  Reported annual sales of 5.26 billion yen for the fiscal year ended September 2024.

• 1998

  Founder Ichikawa Toshiharu died on 29 April.

• 1997

  Fully renovated the head office main building and annex.

• 1989

  Constructed the head office annex.

• 1951

  Issued elementary school music textbook.

• 1950

  Issued junior high school music textbook.

• 1949

  Issued senior high school music textbook.

• 1948

  Company founded on 10 September by composer Ichikawa Toshiharu and his brother Ichikawa Hajime.

A specialist educational publisher positioning itself as a long-term supporter of Japanese school music education, emphasizing its full elementary-to-senior-high music textbook coverage and its mission of conveying the wonder of music.

• Elementary school music textbooks

  Authorized music textbooks for elementary schools, part of the company's full 12-year coverage.

• Junior high school music textbooks (中学生の音楽)

  Junior high school music textbook series, including volumes such as 中学生の音楽 2・3 下 (音楽 027-84).

• Senior high school music textbooks (MOUSA)

  Senior high school music textbook series, including MOUSA 1 (音Ⅰ 027-901) and MOUSA 2.

• Choral song collections

  Collections of choral works, including new commissions presented at the Spring Seminar.

• Digital textbooks and teaching resources

  Digital textbooks, sample ktk files, teaching videos and related software for music classes.

• 教芸WEB STORE music distribution

  Online music distribution service for choral and educational works.

1. 1株式会社教育芸術社（教芸） - 音楽の感動をすべての人へkyogei.co.jp
2. 2会社情報 - 株式会社教育芸術社（教芸）kyogei.co.jp
3. 3会社概要 - 株式会社教育芸術社（教芸）kyogei.co.jp
4. 4代表メッセージ - 株式会社教育芸術社（教芸）kyogei.co.jp
5. 5教育芸術社 - Wikipediaja.wikipedia.org
6. 6Kyoiku Geijutsusha - Wikidatawikidata.org