Key facts

• Certified Great Place To Work for 2026-2027, the third year in a row
• 90% of employees said they felt welcome when they joined the company
• More than 300 staff members and teaching faculty combined
• 6 campuses across Tokyo and Yokohama, 3 brands, and an online Japanese school

TOKYO, October 1, 2026 – Coto World Ltd., the parent company of Coto Japanese Academy and Coto Japanese Institute, has been certified as a Great Place To Work® in Japan for 2026-2027. This is the company’s third consecutive year of certification.

Great Place To Work Certification is based entirely on the employee’s point of view. Coto World earned it through the Trust Index™ Survey, an anonymous survey that measures employees’ experience of trust, respect, and fairness at work.

Starting small, growing big

Coto World began in 2000 as a group of volunteers under Yukiko Watanabe, who wanted to make learning Japanese accessible to everyone, including international residents. From a small apartment in Iidabashi, it has grown into a company with 6 campuses in Tokyo and Yokohama, 3 brands, and an online school, and has served more than 15,000 students from 50 countries.

Behind that growth are more than 300 staff members and teaching faculty combined, working across operations, learning development, teaching, product development, marketing, and general affairs. The company believes that when employees grow, the company grows. It stays focused on creating opportunity, strengthening a culture of belonging, and helping people build meaningful careers.

Our mission

Coto World’s mission is “Enjoy Learning, Enjoy Life.” Through this credo, the company wants to make Japanese a bridge to people’s goals and to help them find the joy of learning the language. Coto World supports people taking on new challenges through enjoyable learning, with a focus on international residents of Japan who want to communicate better and build their lives here.

Internally, the credo reflects the same commitment to making Coto World a great place to work.

Its vision is “Be Yourself, Anywhere”: a society where people can thrive as themselves wherever they choose to live. Coto World believes this is what a truly global society looks like, and it is committed to helping people with roots around the world use their full abilities and live richly in Japan.

Three core values guide the work: Diversity, enjoying differences. Creativity, enjoying ideas and ingenuity. Challenge, enjoying the push to try something new. Together they shape what Coto World offers learners and employees alike: the joy of new knowledge and experiences, the joy of growing and achieving, and the joy of connecting with others.

That mission shows up in the company’s three areas of business: Japanese language education, corporate training, and career support through recruitment. In 2026, Coto World also opened Coto Japanese Institute, a visa-eligible, MEXT-accredited Japanese language school for people who want to study in Japan long-term.

About Coto World

Coto World Ltd. (Coto World株式会社) was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Iidabashi, Tokyo. It operates Coto Japanese Academy and Coto Japanese Institute, with campuses in Tokyo and Yokohama and an online school.

About Great Place To Work®

Great Place To Work is a global authority on workplace culture, employee experience, and leadership behaviors. Each year, it surveys more than 21,000 companies across approximately 170 countries, and recognizes organizations that meet its standards through Great Place To Work Certification and Best Workplaces rankings, published through major media outlets in each country. 

According to Great Place To Work research, job seekers are 4.5 times more likely to find a great boss at certified workplaces, and employees are 93% more likely to look forward to coming to work. In Japan, Hatarakigai no Aru Kaisha Kenkyusho, Inc. (GPTW Japan) operates under license from Great Place To Work.