Yuka Nakamura graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo. She started working for consulting firms such as Corporate Direction and Bain & Company, and later joined Hanamaru Lab (now Wonderfy) in 2014. She concurrently worked as the classroom manager of Hanamaru Group, gaining experience in early childhood education. She works hard but also enjoys a nice meal accompanied by a drink once in a while!
Kei Kawashima graduated from the Graduate School of Engineering at the University of Tokyo. His love for arithmetic and mathematics led him to work on a best-selling problem-solving workbook called Nazope during university. Since 2007, he has been teaching students from four years old to university students at Hanamaru Group while also providing learning support at public elementary schools and children at home in Japan and overseas. In 2014, he founded Hanamaru Lab, which has since been renamed Wonderfy. He helped develop Think!Think!, an application that helps to foster critical thinking skills. It has more than two million users in over 150 countries, and the app has received and been nominated for numerous awards both domestically and internationally, including the Google Play Awards. In the past, he was a part-time lecturer at the University of Tokyo. He was involved in the creation of content for the International Mathematical Olympiad and has also served as an advisor since 2017 for Mie Prefecture to develop mathematical thinking skills for students.
My Wonder
Liveliness of Children, Formulating Core Values, Complex Math Problems
Team
Wonderfy is made up of professional teams who together, create experiences to bring out and develop children’s ‘sense of wonder.’
Experts of
Child
Education
Our team has a combined early childhood teaching experience of over 25 years to over 200,000 students at a large Japanese educational conglomerate called the Hanamaru Group. Our experienced teaching team deeply understands the characteristics of young children and knows how to bring out their true potential.
Experts of
Content
Creation
Wonderfy’s content team is composed of mathematical experts, including some who oversaw the International Mathematical Olympiad as well as professional puzzle developers, who were part of the production of the best-selling Nazope series. Our team of content creators develops quality content for children that exercises their thinking and conceptualization skills.
Experts of
Education
Technology
Meticulous development by engineers and designers who gain deep insight into children's sensitivities through weekly research classes. The core components of our content are developed in-house, with a strong focus on quality.
Timeline
2014
Oct.
Hanamaru Lab Inc. established (Wonderfy’s former corporate name).
2015
Apr.
Think!Think! (School Edition) launched in the classroom! Collaboration started with DeNA on programming classes.
Oct.
Think!Think! (School Edition) provided to public elementary schools in Takeo City, Saga Prefecture, Japan.
2016
Mar
Think!Think! launched as an app and released to the general public.
Mar
Members of our team began overseeing problems created for the world’s largest math contest, The Global Math Challenge, sponsored by Sony Global Education.
2017
Apr.
Think!Think! nominated as a finalist for the “Best App for Kids” category at the Google Play Awards 2017.
Nov.
Initiated partnership with Mie Prefecture to begin providing Think!Think! School Edition to Mie Prefecture’s elementary schools.
Dec.
Think!Think! won the “Family” category award at Google Best of 2017.
2018
May.
Think!Think! selected and used in Cambodia’s public elementary schools as part of Japan International Cooperation Agency’s (JICA) SME Support Project.
Jul.
Released Yakusu, a computational sense and logical thinking game application.
Aug.
Think!Think! Monster, a battle game app to develop thinking sense released.
Aug.
Think!Think! revamped and subscription service became available.
Nov.
Awarded the Global EdTech Startup Award (GESAwards).
Dec.
Yakusu won the Best Hidden Masterpiece category at Google Best of 2018.
2019
May
Think!Think! nominated as a finalist for the “Best Social Impact” category Google Play Awards 2019.
Jul.
Ultimate Series, a series of educational apps to develop one’s spatial awareness and recognition skills was released.
Aug.
Think!Think!’s total downloads exceeded 1,000,000 for the first time.
Aug.
Think!Think! wins the 13th Kids Design Award.
Dec.
Hypocycloid wins first place in the Interactive Art Category at the 2019 Asia Digital Art Awards Exhibition in Fukuoka, Japan.
2020
Feb.
Company name changed to "WonderLab Inc." on February 12th.
Apr.
Launched the STEAM-based subscription learning program WonderBox.
Apr.
Hanayama Co., Ltd. released the educational puzzle toy "Logical Newton", supervised by our team.
Apr.
Provided free online lessons using Think!Think! in Cambodia, in response to COVID-19 school closures, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and through national TV broadcasts.
Jul.
Raised capital from Shogakukan Inc. through third-party allotment.
Aug.
WonderBox wins the 14th Kids Design Award in Japan.
2021
Jan.
Opened the first Think!Think! Learning Lab, a physical classroom, in Cambodia.
Feb.
Hosted the STEAM Toy Contest 2021, an event created to identify new ideas that stimulate intellectual curiosity among kids.
Mar.
Raised capital from Obunsha Ventures, Inc. and EduLab, Inc. through third-party allotment.
Mar.
Published ThinkThink: The Official Book for Developing a Sense for Thinking in Japanese.
Jul.
Provided all quiz questions from Think!Think! for a quiz show on Japan’s TBS television network, "The HIRAMEKI".
Dec.
Wonderfy and Think!Think! shortlisted at the 2021 Reimagine Education Conference & Awards under the “K-12” category.
2022
Feb.
Wonderfy Inc. and leading Japanese robotics company, Yukai Engineering Inc., collaborated to develop robotics content for STEAM education.
Mar.
Collaborated with Alpen Group, a major Japanese sporting goods retailer, to offer Think!Think! on large in-store displays.
Jun.
Made Think!Think! available on Amazon Fire TV.
Dec.
Company name changed to Wonderfy Inc. on December 14th.
2023
Jan.
Released the Nintendo Switch game "DoraThink", in collaboration with Doraemon.
Jan.
Held the first Think!Think! Cup event in Cambodia.
Mar.
Think!Think! was selected as the most effective and innovative educational app in an APEC-sponsored project.
Apr.
Launched the enterprise version of Think!Think! for organizations and institutions.
May.
Hosted a real-world educational event in partnership with Montedio Yamagata, a professional football club in Japan.
Jun.
Shifted to a co-CEO structure led by Yuka Nakamura and Kei Kawashima.
Jun.
Opened a Think!Think!-powered classroom called the Japan Digital Learning Center (JDLC) at a public elementary school in Cambodia.
2024
Jan.
Released two Think!Think! sticker books in partnership with Daiso, a major Japanese variety store.
Apr.
Began offering a Think!Think!-based program to Meiko Group, a major tutoring center in Japan.
Aug.
Held the Think!Think! Cup 2024 in Tokyo.
Dec.
Launched Wonderfy TV, an educational YouTube channel.
2025
Jan.
Pokémon Friends, developed in collaboration with our team and incorporating puzzles from Think!Think!, was released in over 150 countries and 9 languages.
