SEIGAKUSHA CO.,LTD.
2179・Standard Market・Services
Business
Seigakusha Co., Ltd. is a comprehensive education company founded in 1982 and incorporated in 1987. Centered on its core brand "Kobetsu Shido Gakuin Free Step" (individualized tutoring school), the company operates a diverse range of brands including the group-instruction cram school "Kaisei Kyoiku Seminar," the licensed nursery school "Kaisei Hoikuen," and the "Kaisei Academy Japanese Language School" for international students. In addition to the Kinki region, centered on Osaka Prefecture, the company has expanded into the Kanto region (Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba, and Saitama), as well as South Korea and Vietnam, operating 277 directly managed classrooms and 52 franchise classrooms. Education-related businesses account for 99.3% of net sales, and the company's business domain is a "comprehensive education and childcare platform" serving customers from infants to working adults. Listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Standard Market.
Business Model
The primary revenue source is monthly tuition and course fees from students. The company operates multiple segments including individualized tutoring, group instruction, childcare, and Japanese language schools, capturing customers across their entire lifecycle. The franchise business (52 classrooms) also generates franchise fee and royalty income. The childcare segment has a quasi-public revenue structure supported by benefits and subsidies based on government-set pricing. The majority of cost of sales consists of personnel expenses (¥7,852 million), with increases in student numbers and per-unit revenue improvement from tuition fee revisions serving as the main drivers of earnings improvement.
Company Strengths
The core brand "Kobetsu Shido Gakuin Free Step" (Free Step Individual Tutoring Academy) achieved enrollment of 20,590 students in the individual tutoring segment as of the end of November 2025 (up 4.3% year on year), driven by enhanced web advertising and appeals emphasizing "score improvement and strength in university entrance exam preparation." With 329 classrooms in total across directly operated and franchise locations, the continued increase in student numbers underpins sales growth.
The company has built a multi-brand structure covering a wide range of educational needs from infants to working adults, spanning individual tutoring, group instruction, childcare, a Japanese language school, a Korean language school, an English conversation school, and overseas operations. The childcare segment secures stable revenue through subsidy income based on government-set pricing, while the Japanese language school has shown high growth with enrollment up 16.8% year on year, with each segment functioning in a mutually complementary manner.
The franchise business, launched in 2001, had expanded to 52 classrooms as of the end of March 2026. In directly operated locations, the company operates 57 classrooms in the Kanto region (Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba, and Saitama), and opened a Tokyo head office (in Marunouchi) in March 2023. The company is currently executing a geographic expansion strategy of transplanting the brand and know-how cultivated in the Kinki region into the Kanto region, and plans to open 13 new directly operated classrooms and 5 new franchise classrooms in the next fiscal year.
ENVALITH's Perspective
Performance Trend
For FY2026 (ending March 2026), the company achieved net sales of ¥15,156 million (up 6.1% year on year), operating profit of ¥978 million (up 25.8%), and net income of ¥583 million (up 26.5%), marking its fifth consecutive year of revenue and profit growth. The operating margin improved to 6.5% (up from 5.4% in the previous period), and ROE rose to 14.3% (up from 12.6%). As an external factor, tuition fee revisions amid rising prices contributed to higher unit prices, while increases in personnel expenses, advertising expenses, and rent pushed up costs. Operating cash flow was stable at ¥1,041 million. For FY2027 (ending March 2027), the company forecasts net sales of ¥16,223 million and operating profit of ¥1,064 million, anticipating a continuation of the trend of revenue and profit growth.
Growth Strategy
Pursuing sustainable growth through expansion into the Greater Kanto region, diversification into new educational fields, and utilization of ICT
For FY2027 (ending March 2027), the company plans to open 13 new directly-operated classrooms and 5 new franchise classrooms, accelerating business expansion in the Greater Kanto region. In FY2026 (ending March 2026) as well, 5 new classrooms were opened in Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba, and Saitama prefectures, advancing efforts to reduce concentration risk in the Kinki region and acquire students in new markets.
In addition to continuing to promote the brand message of 'Free Step, strong in raising grades and university entrance exams,' the company aims to increase enrollment rates, customer satisfaction, and student numbers through improvements to its score-improvement guarantee program and learning management system 'My Step Log,' as well as expansion of its dedicated online brand 'Online Individualized Instruction Free Step Link One.'
Student numbers at 'Kaisei Academy Japanese Language School' were strong, up 16.8% year-on-year as of the end of November 2025. The company continues to expand revenue in its other instruction segments by building an operational structure to maximize enrollment capacity and strengthening its curriculum to meet the diversifying needs of international students.
The Class Instruction segment struggled, with enrollment down 5.8% year-on-year as of the end of November 2025. The company is focusing on recruiting elementary school students, led by the Osaka City public integrated junior-senior high school course, to recover student numbers, while also proceeding with the closure of unprofitable classrooms to promote operational efficiency. In FY2026 (ending March 2026), the number of classrooms in the Class Instruction segment decreased by 4, from 70 to 66.
Last updated: July 19, 2026