JIKEI GROUP

Communication Arts Education Section

■Outline

We work together with the creative industry to train students to be creative individuals who can be active immediately after they find employment . Our educational philosophy is based on the Jikei Groupﾕs educational guidelines: Practical Education, Social Education, and International Education. Students acquire many necessary skills such as creative techniques, planning, and presentation through our unique system, "Co-operative educational system between industry and schools". This is a very practical educational system to help students to acquire skills as a professional. In this system, many companies in creative industries cooperate by offering assignments as a part of the curriculum and evaluating students' works. We also focus on providing students with international education such as computer education, Internet education, and English education, which are indispensable to workers in today's global world. We aim to help students make their dreams come true.

■Special Education Activities

●Company Project Program
After they accept an order from the company, students go about their work following the same process as professionals. They show their work to clients in a final presentation, and clients may select works for actual use by their companies.

●Internship Program
Students practice at actual workplaces. Through this experience, they find out how the real world of business works. They also find out what they need to focus on by understanding their strong points and weak ones.

■Topics from the Education Section

●Creating Games with Computer Graphics
Using Computer Graphics, students created an F1 game for Sony Play Station 2. They worked so hard to create a real product that their work was selected by a famous company.

●Holding exhibitions
We hold an exhibition to promote the works of graduating students at the end of every school year. Students have a chance to present their works to companies, with the possibility of prospective employment.

●Preparation for NSCA Certification
We prepare students for NACA Personal Certification that is considered to be one of the most difficult examinations to pass in Japan. As a result of our efforts, we succeed in producing many successful applicants.

■Program Introduction

●Hokkaido College of High Technology
The Internet and Webmaster Department：
The department produces professionals capable of construction, control and management of the Internet, which is now indispensable to business. This department also nurtures personnel who can set and manage intranet and work as system engineers and programmers who develop systems

●Tokyo Communication Arts
Computer Entertainment Department：
The department produces professionals who can produce games and CG (computer graphics), and actively work in the computer entertainment industry. Students learn programming techniques, game character design, 3DCG, image editing, animation production, and other skills.
Creative Design Department：
The department nurtures creative professionals with an awareness of how exciting it is to create something, and the ability to create products that will be appealing to consumers. Students learn graphic design, about the Web, magazine editing, novelty design, cartoon, illustration, vehicle design, and other skills.

●Osaka Communication Arts
Digital Entertainment Field：
This field trains students to become digital creators in the fields, which are rapidly being digitalized, such as movies, TV programs, commercials, games, and industrial design. Students learn about two-dimensional and three-dimensional CG control software, non-linear digital editing, and basic skills including drawing, painting and cubic modeling. Students learn to use computer language(C language) in two dimensions, three dimensions, and for network games. Because there are many students who want to work in foreign countries, this field also focuses on developing the skills needed to work in the global world.
Visual Entertainment Field
Departments: Graphic Design, Illustration, Total Magazine Editing, Life Creation：
Training skills in design or writing alone are not good enough to work in the advertisement, publication, or sundry goods industry. It is also necessary to understand the needs of society today and to suggest the concepts based on those needs. These departments produce creators who have original ideas to handle greatly advanced digital designing thanks to IT,.Comics Entertainment Field
Comic Book and Character Animation Department：
The comic book is part of the culture of Japan today and also becoming popular in foreign countries. The Japanese comic book industry, with its enormous number of issues and sales, is the largest in the world. To become professional cartoonists/comic book artists, students learn how to create comic books and design characters that sell well.

●Nagoya Communication Arts
General Design Department:：
Following the evolution of digitalization, methods of self-expression and merchandising have also changed. The department enhances such creativity and trains students so that they can work in the industry as competent and adaptable professionals.
There are the following courses available：cartoon, the comic business, game creation and CG creation

●Osaka Animation School
Animation Production Department：
Students learn how to create different types of animation: 2-dimensional, 3-dimensional, CG, for TV programs, movies, and commercials. Students aim to be active in this field through creating their own animations with advanced skills.
Basic Cartoonist/Illustrator Department：
The department is for people wishing to become cartoonists, assistants to cartoonists, and illustrators. Through a small-group program and classes focusing on creative work, students gain a comprehensive knowledge of and mastery of the way of thinking, skills and techniques required in the process of cartoon and illustration production. Classes are divided into "cartoon production practice" and "frame division", "character design", and "scenarios", all of which are necessary parts of the production process. At the end of the school year, works completed by the students will be edited into a cartoon magazine. In the second school year, students will submit their work to publishers by mail, and the department conducts a "tour" to directly submit their works to publishers. In this way students have a chance to directly receive advice from editors.

●Fukuoka Communication Arts
Multi-media Art Department：
As well as learning designing/drawing skills and computer techniques as a foundation, students learn techniques to express their ideas and plans in various forms. Homepage designers will acquire knowledge of current significant technological advances. At the same time, they learn basic skills and design techniques to enhance their design ability and sensitivity, so that they will be able to incorporate these into their work. Network managers/controllers master not only highly developed networking, but also expertise in programming and system design. The department produces professionals with excellent creativity, who can apply and integrate digital technology and creative ability into their work.
Visual Communication Department:：
In the visual communication field, students learn communication through visual images and messages. The role of graphic designers is to understand their clientsﾕ requirements, and develop advertisements that will both appeal to consumers and provide effective sales promotion. The role of illustrators is to provide illustrations, which describe the product well in order to enhance the product image. The role of cartoonists and comic illustrators is to express their views of humanity and the world through pictures and scenarios. Junior novelists do the same through their writing. Though the ways of expression may differ, the department nurtures creators that are able to understand social trends as well as market needs, and at the same time have an ethical sense of social responsibility.
Editorial Design Department：
Creative skills in various fields of mass-communication are required for magazine editors and magazine writers. Students not only learn writing but also planning, coverage, and framework through actual practice. The department aims to produce professionals who develop their own individual viewpoints balanced with a sense of social responsibility. Also, students learn the basic mentality indispensable to this occupation, such as social sense and internationalism, to become well-rounded editors or writers.
Lifestyle Product and Novelties Design Department：
The department aims to develop professionals who can propose designs for products that are satisfactory and easy to use. For shop coordinators, the department aims to produce professionals who can create a shop to meet customers' needs, including service in the shop. For the flower industry, the department aims to produce professionals with arrangement skills that satisfy customers' requirements. In other words, the main objective of the Lifestyle Product and Novelties Design Department is to produce design professionals who meet customer needs, and can propose products of a higher quality.