Sawai Yoshiko

Yoshiko SAWAI (沢井 佳子) is the Principal and Director of Childlabo（チャイルド・ラボ）: a consultancy specializing in child development and education based upon proven psychological principles and practice. She is a Developmental Psychologist with 36 years of experience in supervising children’s educational television and learning products, including animated educational characters, audiovisual educational design, interactive books, and electronic learning devices, educational toys, and public media. She has expertise in providing cognitive development support for young children and has worked with some of Japan’s leading organizations engaged in child education, including the Benesse Corporation, Kodansha publishers, Sekaibunkasha publishers. Her teamwork has been recognized with an international award for the program she supervised, "Shimajiro: A World of Wow!”『しまじろうのわお！』(Benesse Corporation & TV Tokyo). 　Other works include"Hirake! Ponkikki"『ひらけ！ポンキッキ』(Fuji Television), 　　"Kodomo Challenge"『こどもちゃれんじ』(Benesse Corporation) and"Worldwide Kids English『ワールドワイドキッズ・イングリッシュ』"　(Benesse Corporation). Her experience includes 25 years as a University Lecturer in the field of Developmental Psychology, Learning Psychology, Experimental Psychology, and Educational Psychology, and Early Childhood Education. She had been a visiting professor of faculty of Informatics of Shizuoka University（静岡大学情報学部客員教授等を歴任）. In addition, she has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Japanese Society of Child Science（日本子ども学会） for 17 years. The Society provides leadership and research support by bringing together leading experts from a multitude of professional disciplines, including medicine, psychology, education, engineering (robotics and artificial intelligence), and representatives from numerous fields interested in science-based educational development. She is also a founding member of The Institute of Health and Development of Child Japan（日本こども成育協会) and a member of The Broadcast Committee for Youth Programming in BPO (The Broadcasting Ethics & Program Improvement Organization: 放送倫理・番組向上機構 BPO青少年委員会委員)