Kyoukasho AI Wakaru is a generative AI learning service for junior high school students, provided by Tokyo Shoseki, one of Japan’s largest textbook publishers. Its defining feature is direct alignment with NEW HORIZON, the company’s junior high school English textbook for the 2025 school year: students learn by talking with an AI that follows the textbook’s passages, vocabulary, and expressions. It launched on April 17, 2025 as an early access release, covering everything from previewing and reviewing lessons to preparing for exams. The underlying AI is “LHTM-2,” a large language model developed by the Japanese company alt Inc., and the service states that user input is not used to retrain the AI — a meaningful reassurance for use at school and at home.
Ask a general-purpose AI to “teach me English” and you will get an answer, but it will rarely match the textbook the student actually uses. Kyoukasho AI Wakaru addresses that gap between teaching material and AI by having the publisher itself connect its textbook data to the model.
Key Features
- Aligned with the NEW HORIZON textbook: Study follows the units and passages of the textbook used in class. Because the AI knows which part of the textbook is in question, it can stay within the material currently being taught
- Deepening understanding through dialogue: Students ask about anything unclear in chat, and the AI explains it as a personal tutor. The level of explanation adapts to the student, filling in gaps left by classroom lessons
- Lesson-style mode: Beyond one-off questions, the AI acts as a facilitator and walks the student through a full unit. Reviewing at home feels like taking the lesson again
- Presentation and output practice: Students can speak and write with the AI using topics from the textbook. Exchanges that feel intimidating with a person can be repeated as often as needed with an AI
- From preview to review to exam prep: Previewing a unit, reflecting after class, and reviewing before term exams are all handled within the same service
- Learning data is not used for retraining: The service explicitly states that input is not used to retrain the AI, reflecting an operation designed for minors
Pricing
| Plan | Price | What’s included |
|---|---|---|
| Trial (early access) | Free | Try the features for NEW HORIZON |
| Paid plans | See official site | Individual plans with expanded usage (multiple tiers) |
Pricing is current as of August 2026. At launch, a free trial covering NEW HORIZON was offered, followed by paid plans for individual users. Plan names, prices, and usage limits are subject to change, so please check the official pricing page for the latest information.
Pros & Cons
✅ Pros
- Study follows the exact textbook used at school, so there is no mismatch between the service and classroom lessons
- Because the publisher itself provides the service, explanations are unlikely to contradict the textbook
- Students can ask questions and practice speaking as many times as they like, which helps those hesitant to ask again in class
- The stated policy of not using input for retraining makes it easier for parents and schools to approve
- A free trial is available, so families can judge whether it fits before committing
⚠️ Cons
- Support is limited to Tokyo Shoseki’s NEW HORIZON, so the main strength is lost at schools using another publisher’s textbook
- At launch, coverage was junior high English only; other subjects, elementary school, and high school are planned for the future
- Because the design is tied to the textbook, it is not suited to topics outside the textbook or to free-form study
- Plan structures may be updated, so ongoing costs need to be checked on the official site each time
Comparison with Similar Services
| Criteria | Kyoukasho AI Wakaru | StudySapuri Junior High | Monoxer | General AI such as ChatGPT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Provider | Tokyo Shoseki | Recruit | Monoxer | OpenAI and others |
| Textbook alignment | Direct support for NEW HORIZON | Textbook-aligned courses available | Register your own materials for quizzing | None |
| Focus of learning | Dialogue and presentation practice with AI | Lecture videos and exercises | Repeated quizzing for retention | General-purpose Q&A |
| Target | Junior high students (English) | Elementary through high school | Mainly adopted by schools and cram schools | No restriction |
| Free trial | Trial version available | Free trial available | Mainly via schools and cram schools | Free plan available |
General-purpose AI can answer almost anything, but matching it to the pace and wording of a textbook is left to the user. Kyoukasho AI Wakaru removes that effort, in exchange for supporting only a limited set of textbooks.
Who Is It For
- Junior high students using Tokyo Shoseki’s NEW HORIZON, and their parents
- Students who want to revisit what they did not understand in class, at their own pace at home
- Students who feel self-conscious speaking English in front of others but want more speaking practice
- Families who are wary of general-purpose generative AI and prefer a service scoped to learning
- Students who want to review only the textbook material efficiently before term exams
Summary
Kyoukasho AI Wakaru is a textbook publisher’s answer to a common concern among junior high students and their parents: wanting to use generative AI for study, but finding it out of step with the textbook. Support limited to NEW HORIZON is a clear constraint, yet for students using that textbook, the benefit of unit-aligned dialogue, lessons, and presentation practice is substantial. Start with the free trial and see whether working with an AI suits your way of learning.