Gakken Early Childhood Experts: - Gakken is the number 1 educational publisher in Japan. Founded in 1946 by Hideto Furuoka, the mission of Gakken has always been to produce fun-first, educational materials for children. n Gakken is widely respected around the world for its bestselling workbooks. Gakken is also a trusted creator of popular teaching materials for preschools, kindergartens, and primary schools. Gakken runs 18,000 learning centers and operates preschools all inspired by the successful fun-first learning formula used in their workbooks.n