Shodo / About us 私たち
Rooted in Toyohashi. Grown to 100 locations.
Morita Group is an education company rooted in Toyohashi, Japan. What began as one small juku now runs after-school classes in calligraphy, abacus and art at 100 locations across two prefectures, and a school in Hanoi. Shodo by Morita Group brings the way we teach to people outside Japan.
- 100Locations in Aichi and Shizuoka
- 750+Children in our classes every week
- 50+Years of teaching
- 2Countries: Japan and Vietnam
Who we are
An after-school school, from one small juku
It began in 1972, when Yasuhiro and Masako Morita opened a small juku, an after-school learning center, in Toyohashi. In 2010 we opened soroban (Japanese abacus) and calligraphy classes for children, and in 2014 they took the name Kodomo School.
Today our teachers teach at 100 locations in Aichi and Shizuoka, most of them community centers near local elementary schools. Children come once a week after school to learn calligraphy, abacus and art.
50+
Years of teaching children
Our history 歩み
From one juku in Toyohashi to classrooms across two prefectures, and a school in Hanoi.
- 昭和
1972
Our first juku
Yasuhiro and Masako Morita open Morita Juku in Oimatsucho, Toyohashi. This is where Kodomo School began.
- 昭和
1975
A main school
We open our main school in Takashi-hongocho, Toyohashi.
- 昭和
1980
Morita Juku
The school takes the name Morita Juku and opens a classroom in Sanbongi.
- 平成
2009
350 students
Morita Juku now has three classrooms in Toyohashi and more than 350 students.
- 平成
2010
Soroban and calligraphy
We start soroban and calligraphy classes for children in Toyohashi, Toyokawa and Hamamatsu.
- 平成
2011
Morita Group Co., Ltd.
The school becomes a company, and classes open in Okazaki.
- 平成
2014
Kodomo School
Our classes pass 50 classrooms and take the name Kodomo School.
- 平成
2016
A new head office
Kodomo School moves its head office to Hatchodori, in central Toyohashi.
- 令和
2020
100 classrooms
Our classes pass 100 classrooms in Aichi and Shizuoka.
- 令和
2022
To Vietnam
We establish Morita Group Vietnam in Hanoi.
- 令和
2023
Kodomo Soroban Center
Our first school outside Japan opens in Hanoi.
- 令和
2026
EDU-Port Japan
Our soroban teaching and teacher training in Vietnam is selected for a support project of Japan’s Ministry of Education.
- 令和
Today
Shodo by Morita Group
We begin to share our calligraphy tools, model sheets and lessons with people outside Japan.
In our classrooms かきかた書道
A pencil first, then the brush
In our kakikata shodo classes, children practice handwriting with a pencil and calligraphy with a brush. They start with the pencil and move on to the brush as they grow.
Every week a teacher checks each sheet and corrects it in vermilion ink, 朱 shu, to show where a stroke should press, turn or lift.
The model sheets in our Shodo sets are brushed by these teachers. When you practice with them, you practice the way our students do.
The people 人
Our founders, and the generations after
Yasuhiro Morita 森田恭弘 and Masako Morita 森田眞佐子 founded our first juku, Morita Juku, in Toyohashi in 1972.
Yasuhiro was also a scientist. He was an associate professor at the Research Institute of Atmospherics, Nagoya University, where he studied the upper atmosphere. He was also invited to the University of Wyoming in the United States to do research.
Taito Morita 森田泰斗 was born in Toyohashi. He ran Morita Juku for more than ten years, then founded Kodomo School. He has trained our teachers for more than ten years and opened our school in Hanoi.
Sanayuki Morita 森田真之, the founders’ grandson, grew up in our family’s school. He wrote our book, Japanese Calligraphy for Beginners, and works on Kodomo School in Japan and our school in Vietnam.
Behind them are our teachers: the people who sit beside the children every week, and who brushed every model in our sets.
Japan and Vietnam
From Toyohashi to Hanoi
In 2023 we opened Kodomo Soroban Center in Hanoi, our first school outside Japan. Vietnamese children learn soroban there the way children do in our classrooms in Japan.
In October 2026 we signed an agreement with Hanoi National University of Education to train soroban teachers in Vietnam.
Shodo by Morita Group
Practice the way our students do
Our sets bring the tools from our classrooms, a step-by-step book in English, and model sheets brushed by our teachers. Shipped directly from Toyohashi.