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Our Story
Always「Will continue to be exciting and inspiring 10 years from now.」
The logo of the Kinnotake Group is based on the motif of "bamboo. Bamboo has been with the Japanese people since ancient times. Bamboo products have been excavated from Jomon-era ruins, and it has been used in agriculture and fishing, as well as in the tea ceremony, flower arrangement, musical instruments such as the flute and shakuhachi, and martial arts equipment such as bamboo swords and bows, which represent Japanese culture. Furthermore, there is "diversity" with approximately 600 species of bamboo in Japan and 1,200 species in the world, "growth speed" with a record of bamboo growing around 120 cm in a day, and "power in bamboo" with various mysterious fascinations and powers including the story of Taketori Monogatari. All of us at the Kinnotake Group are committed to providing the world with "excitement and inspiration, even 10 years from now. We also aim to increase the "growth rate" of our staff, so that they can enjoy and develop their interest in learning and reacting to the world, and produce an extraordinary space and time for our customers by transforming the "power that resides in bamboo" into a form that will positively influence their lives, however small it may be. We hope to positively influence our clients' lives in some way, no matter how small.
All of us at the Kinnotake Group are committed to providing the world with "excitement and inspiration even 10 years from now. We also aim to increase the "growth rate" of our staff, so that they can enjoy learning and grow by responding to and taking an interest in the world every day. We hope to positively influence our clients' lives in some way, no matter how small.
Message from CEO
Even 10 years from now, Exciting and Inspiring Time, Place, Feeling
CEO KEI KUBOSAWA
- What inspired me to start the Kinnotake
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In 1991, the recession that followed the bursting of the bubble economy affected "Fujisou," a ryokan owned by my parents for 44 years, and its performance continued to be sluggish.
One day, my father suddenly told me to come back to Fuji-so, and I left HIS, a travel agency I had worked for for three and a half years, to join Fuji-so, dreaming of starting my own business in Tokyo.
At the time I joined Fuji-so, it was what you might call an "old-fashioned guest house. It had only 8 guest rooms, the slippers at the entrance were vinyl slippers like those used in toilets, and the room occupancy rate was only about 23% on a daily basis.
- Keep trying until we succeed.
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If you stop thinking and acting when things go wrong, you have failed at that point.
With the stagnant growth of overnight guests, we tried various challenges, believing that innovation in inns was necessary!
For example, at that time, private baths were not yet available when it came to hot springs, so I built two private open-air baths myself that embodied the concept of Taketori Monogatari, and I also built new open-air baths in guest rooms.
My mother always taught me how to cook dishes using broth made from ingredients without using any seasonings, which gave me a gifted sense of taste.
It worked, and the reputation of the private open-air baths and cuisine helped transform the "old, old guest house" into a popular ryokan that is filled to capacity on a daily basis within six years.
- Crisis is an opportunity, even with the Corona disaster, +18% growth in the last 5 years.
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(Sales transition) FY8/19: 1.13 billion yen → FY8/2022: 1.47 billion yen
(Transition in the number of handled) FY 8/2019: 26,000 → FY 8/2022: 34,000Kinnotake Sengokuhara, established in 2005, is a small luxury hotel with only 11 rooms with open-air baths and has been offering room meals since before the Corona disaster.
x We have been providing in-room meals since before the Corona disaster, and have achieved an operation where we do not come in contact with other guests from arrival to departure.
Other ryokans also have 10 to 23 rooms, and by devising ways to increase unit prices, occupancy rates, and the contribution of fixed costs at these luxurious small ryokans, we have achieved an operating income margin of over 20% in the ryokan business.
- Organization and human resources that can cope with the VUCA era
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The early 2020s were a turbulent time. The media reports daily on the spread of viral infections, soaring fuel and raw material costs, and the weakening of the yen.
In such an era of uncertainty and uncertainty about what the right answer is, we need to visualize the issues based on facts, formulate a hypothesis that we believe is the correct answer, and execute it quickly. I would like to create such an organization and nurture its human resources.
- Dreams are big, roots are deep
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With the mission of providing people with luxurious "Time and Space" to feel happiness with their loved ones, we are aiming to open three glamping and other facilities within the next two years to provide "excitement and inspiration for the next 10 years".
We also want to produce many first penguins who are not afraid of change and are ready to take on new challenges, and to train 15 managers who can take charge of a business with annual sales of 500 million yen, so that we can grow into a 10 billion yen company within 10 years.