Who is Miyamoto ?
Who is Miyamoto ?
KENKEN™ number puzzle was invented by Tetsuya Miyamoto. Who is Miyamoto? And why he invented KENKEN™ number puzzle.
Miyamoto is president and instructor of the Miyamoto Sansuu Kyoushitsu (Miyamoto Math Classroom) in Yokohama. After working as an instructor at a university preparatory cram school, he founded his own school in 1993 and established his unique "non-teaching classroom" methodology. His school does not have an entrance exam, and students are enrolled on a first-come basis. Even so, each year over 80% of students are accepted into some of the most exclusive middle schools in Japan. Many graduates of Miyamoto's school have gone on to enter prestigious Japanese universities.
"On my own initiative, I started a classroom which children could attend after school to study math. I use puzzles as a way to help students sharpen their thinking skills, and at the same time experience how fun learning can be. One of the puzzles that I invented was the KENKEN? number puzzle. I have kept making the puzzles more and more difficult, but even so the students enjoy working on them for hours and hours. Sometimes they ask me for more difficult ones!"
"I believe that if you give children good learning materials, they will think and learn and grow on their own. It is similar to how babies learn to stand and walk without any instruction from anyone. These puzzles are excellent because they not only stimulate our learning capabilities, but they also instill a 'power to live' which helps us more effectively deal with life's daily challenges.
