Hakuba Forum
A unique, invitation-only, 4-day gathering of innovative education leaders envisioning how schools can become centers of well-being committed to helping the world flourish.
Key Information
Hakuba Forum Retreat
When: Wednesday, October 1 – Saturday, October 4
Who Is It For: Education leaders.
What to Expect: Engage in meaningful discussions in English (with the possibility of translation support). This retreat offers a unique opportunity to meet separately and collaboratively.
The Forum Retreat Experience
This unique gathering offers participants the opportunity to step back from their daily concerns and immerse themselves in an environment that fosters creativity, collaboration, and innovation. Hosted by the Hakuba International School, during the Hakuba Forum Retreat you will:
Refuel Your Passion: Take a break from the usual routine and recharge your enthusiasm for education. Hakuba’s serene surroundings and the inspiring company of fellow educators will reignite your passion for teaching and learning.
Reimagine Possibilities: Connect with visionaries who approach education from diverse perspectives. The forum encourages attendees to challenge the status quo, explore unconventional ideas, and collectively imagine new possibilities for education.
Collaborate with Difference: Embrace the power of collaboration with individuals who think and lead differently. By engaging in discussions and activities, you’ll gain fresh insights and innovative strategies to take back to your own school.
Inspire and Be Inspired: Share your unique experiences and insights while gaining inspiration from others. This forum is a two-way street where you can contribute to the conversation and leave with new perspectives that can transform your approach to education.
Reconnect with Purpose: Rediscover the fundamental purpose of education – to empower students and create a better future, a goal shared by Hakuba International School. The Hakuba Forum Retreat is a space where educators can realign with their core values and motivations.
In this retreat experience, you’ll find a supportive and collaborative environment that encourages reflection, innovation, and a renewed commitment to creating positive change in education.
Our Principles
Human-Centric Education: Education should nurture our humanity, emphasizing qualities like empathy, creativity, and self-awareness, rather than promoting unhealthy competition.
Ecosystem, Not Production Line: Schools should be diverse, interconnected ecosystems tailored to individual student needs, departing from the industrial-age ‘production line’ mentality.
Well-being First: Prioritizing well-being as the foundation for academic success, reversing the traditional emphasis on academics at the cost of mental health.
Celebrating Diversity: Diversity is a source of richness, not division, fostering a sense of community and interconnectedness.
Vision
This is not your typical conference or professional networking event.
It’s an invitation to co-create a vision
that collectively maps and builds
a global network of
impact-ready schools and leaders
committed to our shared future.
Hakuba Village
Nestled in the majestic Japanese Alps, Hakuba provides a backdrop like no other for our forum. Located just outside Nagano, the city famed for hosting the 1998 Winter Olympics, Hakuba serves as a haven for winter sports enthusiasts, offering world-class skiing, snowboarding, and hiking. Hakuba is more than just a venue; it’s an experience that complements the innovative spirit of our forum. Come for the conference, stay for the adventure.
Festival of Learning
The Hakuba Festival of Learning, is your opportunity to join a vibrant exchange of ideas among educators and thought leaders.
The festival brings together a global mix of educators and Japanese peers. It offers a diverse program featuring three engaging streams. These streams provide you with the opportunity to explore various topics while connecting with fellow attendees.
Join us at the Hakuba Forum Festival, where educators from diverse backgrounds unite to share insights and inspire innovation.
Hakuba Forum
Experience a unique 3-day retreat with innovative education leaders in the heart of the North Japanese Alps, designed to envision how schools can become centers of well-being, respond to technological advancement and develop a commitment to helping the world flourish.
The Forum
Immerse yourself in a dynamic three-day event at the picturesque Hotel Mominoki, nestled at the base of the Happoone Mountain in the Japanese Northern Alps. Join us for The Forum, where thought leaders, industry experts, and delegates from around the world gather to share insights, foster innovation, and strengthen connections. Hotel Mominoki offers playful meeting spaces, a European-style pub, and unique glamping tents for breakout sessions, ensuring an unforgettable experience.
The Festival
Hakuba Forum Purpose
A sanctuary for connection, innovation, and purpose. Here, we transcend the ordinary, creating a space where meaningful partnerships are born not from titles, but from the frontiers you dare to push. In this business card-free zone, we leave behind the trappings of traditional networking to focus on what truly matters: the ideas that unite us and the impact we can create together.
We gather a mosaic of passionate minds—visionaries from education, gaming, sports, influencers, and beyond—united by a shared commitment to collaboration and innovation. Together, we ignite conversations that spark change and forge pathways to a brighter future.
2025 Themes Shaping the Future Together
Partnering in the Age of Intelligence
Future Resilience Empowerment
Restoring Trust in Divided Times
Converge With The Frontier
Invitation-Only Event: Purchase Your Ticket
The Hakuba Forum Retreat is an exclusive 4-day gathering from October 1 to October 4, where innovative education leaders will collaborate to reimagine schools as centers of well-being and global flourishing. This is an invitation-only event. Please confirm your invitation with the conference organizers before proceeding with your ticket purchase.