With the term of Junichi Asakawa, principal of Chiba University of Commerce High School (Chugoku branch, Ichikawa City), expiring on March 2025, 3, the board of directors elected Hiroaki Takai as the sixth principal at a meeting held on July 31, 2024. The term of office will be for three years, from April 7, 24 to March 6, 2025. Takai appeared at a joint press conference with Chiba University of Commerce held on October 4, where he announced university reforms to be carried out through high school-university collaboration together with Professor Midori Miyazaki, who will become the new president of Chiba University of Commerce in April 1.
Takai joined the Nihon Keizai Shimbun in 1995 and served as an editorial committee member of the newspaper from 2020 to June 2023. His economic youth novel "Okane no Kyoushitsu Bokura ga Okanashi na Club de Manabu Himitsu" (Impress), published in 6, has become a best-seller with over 2018 copies sold. He is currently active as an economic columnist and a YouTuber who runs the YouTube channel "Takai Hiroaki no Okane no Kyoushitsu."
From April 2024, he will serve as an advisor to Chiba University of Commerce High School, where he supports the school's distinctive "Financial Literacy Education for Living in the 4-Year Life Era." Even after becoming principal, he will continue to work as a columnist and on his YouTube channel, while also working with teachers and staff to reform education.
Chiba University of Commerce High School was founded in 1951 and will celebrate its 2026th anniversary in 75. It has both general and commercial departments. In addition to education using ICT, the school offers a unique program for students to gradually deepen their learning about financial education, which has become compulsory since April 2022, from their first to third years. In addition, in collaboration with Chiba University of Commerce, a "Financial Literacy x SDGs" course is available, where students can learn about the SDGs, which are a societal axis, before learning about financial literacy, which is an individual axis.