Kyoto’s JUNOPARK blending play and home education for children

A leading Japanese homebuilder, Sekisui House, has opened a large-scale interactive facility named “JUNOPARK” in Kizugawa, Kyoto. The centre is designed to nurture children’s sensibilities through a unique blend of education and entertainment focused on the home and living environment.

The project is described as a “home education edutainment facility”, featuring both public free-to-access areas and paid experience zones across four floors. Its goal is to provide a space where children can learn about various aspects of housing in an engaging, hands-on manner.

The core of JUNOPARK is its paid experience area, which is structured around six themes that Sekisui House identifies as “sensibilities nurtured in daily life”. These themes are design, structure, universal design, living environment, resource circulation, and the natural environment. Each themed zone will offer a 45-minute group workshop, alongside interactive exhibits for individual exploration.

Activities are designed to be both fun and educational. In the “Recycled Monozukuri Lab”, participants will learn about resource circulation by sorting through a pile of “rubbish” to find materials and transform them into new items. The “Strategic Athletics” workshop promotes an understanding of universal design by having teams navigate an obstacle course while wearing gear that restricts movement, encouraging cooperation and problem-solving. Other activities include designing a personalised room and building a two-metre-tall tower to learn about structural integrity.

Sekisui House is investing into early-stage education on topics central to sustainable living, and could prove to be a model for other major corporations to foster sustainability awareness in the next generation of homeowners and citizens.