Yukinoso, with its roots as a guest house in Hakuba Village, Nagano Prefecture Rebranded and opened as a sustainable lodging facility

H2Innovator LLC (Head office: Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture; Representative: Soichiro Yamaguchi; hereinafter "H2Innovator"), which operates lodging facilities in Hakuba Village, Nagano Prefecture, has been entrusted with the management of the guest house "Yukinoso" (Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture; Owner: Takazumi Maruyama), and will begin operating it in December 2024 as a new type of lodging facility that inherits the minshuku culture that Hakuba has to offer.

Exterior view of "Yukinoso," which has its roots in the birthplace of minshuku (winter)

Hakuba Village, the birthplace of Japan's minshuku (Japanese guesthouse) culture, and the value of the minshuku lodging experience

Hakuba Village in Nagano Prefecture is the birthplace of minshuku, which is the root of minshuku, or "staying at a local person's house" as it is now called.

The origin of Japanese minshuku is said to be that mountain guides and farmers from the Taisho era (1912-1926) accommodated mountain climbers and skiers in their homes, and with the subsequent postwar economic growth and expansion of leisure activities, Hakuba's lodging industry developed with the characteristics of minshuku (= family-run businesses and dual employment with farming), and even today there are approximately 900 such facilities in the area. There are still about 900 lodging facilities in Hakuba.

The innkeepers will welcome visitors if they are injured in the mountains, and provide rice and vegetables grown on their own farms as well as local cuisine. The "warm, homey hospitality spirit of visitors" has been carried on in Hakuba for more than 90 years.

Yukinoso, located in the Happo area, the birthplace of minshuku, has been in business for over 70 years and has welcomed many climbers and skiers visiting Hakuba over the past three generations.

Its minshuku culture and spirit of hospitality have been recognized around the world, and Hakuba Village was recognized as a "Best Tourism Village" by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in 2023.

About the "Best Tourism Village" recognized for its minshuku culture and hospitality spirit↓.

https://www.jnto.go.jp/projects/regional-support/casestudy/3866.html

On the other hand, the recent inbound boom has brought attention to the increasing development of "hard tourism resources" such as large-scale hotels, condominiums, and other large-scale real estate for wealthy foreign tourists, but Hakuba has inherited the charm of the lodging experience value (= "soft tourism resources") derived from the minshuku culture originally possessed by Hakuba. However, many of the existing accommodation facilities such as minshuku are facing the challenges of aging management and lack of successors, and there are concerns about sustainable management and the survival of the minshuku culture.

Happo area, the birthplace of minshuku in Japan, as seen from Happo One ski resort.

H2Innovator's Vision and Approach

H2Innovator is committed to creating innovation with "Hakuba's Hospitality," and sees the "warm, homey hospitality of the local people who entertain visitors" derived from the minshuku culture as Hakuba's unique regional asset, and aims to add value to the lodging and experience value of Hakuba. We will develop a lodging facility management business that adds value to the experience of staying in Hakuba.

As a first step, we will take over and operate "Yukinoso" from December 2024.

The guesthouse-style facility will be a place where guests and local people can meet and interact with each other as well as with the staff.

The reservation occupancy rate for the 2024-2025 ski season (late December 2024 to February 2025) exceeds 85%. (As of October 2024)

As a lodging facility management company specializing in the Hakuba area, we will continue to aim to revitalize the lodging industry, Hakuba's largest industry, by solving the following local issues.

■Solving business succession and lack of successors by improving productivity through outsourced management

By specializing in the operation of multiple lodging facilities without owning the real estate of the lodging facilities and by operating multiple lodging facilities, we aim to improve productivity by streamlining costs and increasing sales by attracting new clientele to each lodging facility, thereby creating a more attractive lodging industry.

■To solve the shortage of human resources by developing lodging management personnel through the "innkeeper" system, which allows even inexperienced personnel to take on the challenge of managing lodging facilities.

In operating small lodging facilities in Hakuba, which used to be mainly family-run, we introduced the "innkeeper" system, which allows young people with no experience in the lodging industry to take on the challenge of running their own lodging business.

We will develop our accommodation management business while creating and training hospitality personnel.

Immigration website for "innkeepers" (no longer accepting applications) https://smout.jp/plans/18462

Solving the housing shortage with guesthouse-style accommodations and "isouro" (a Japanese word for "housemate") system, which can also be used for work vacations and two-location living.

The guesthouse-style accommodations will be designed to accommodate diversified accommodation styles, such as "stay as if you lived in the house" work vacations and long-term stays in two locations, and will solve the shortage of housing in Hakuba as well as the shortage of human resources by providing free accommodation (isouro) during peak season.

Solving the shortage of restaurants by attracting restaurants that express the terroir (local food culture) to guesthouses that have their own kitchens and dining areas.

In order to solve the problem of "dinner refugees" during the winter season in Hakuba, which attracts many inbound skiers, we will invite "Kappatei," a popular local Hakuba restaurant in an old private house, to "Yukinoso" for the winter season only, solving the shortage of restaurants during the winter season.

Kappatei website https://kappateihakuba.wixsite.com/kappatei

Kappatei will operate as a restaurant "Yukinotei" inside "Yukinoso" and offer "Hakuba cuisine" that focuses on local vegetables, rice, Hakuba pork, Shinshu salmon, and other Hakuba ingredients, which are the features of Kappatei, providing the value of Hakuba's food culture (terroir) that can only be experienced by coming to Hakuba.

Kappa-tei, a popular restaurant in Hakuba, will open as "Yuki-no-tei" in "Yukinoso" for winter only.

Outline of Hakuba Hospitality Inn YUKINOSO

Location: 5221 Happo Kitashiro, Hakuba Village, Kitaazumi-gun, Nagano Prefecture

(4 minutes walk from Hakuba Happo Bus Terminal / 6 minutes walk from Happo One Ski Resort)

Renewal opening date: December 12, 2024 (scheduled)

Rooms ： 13 Japanese-style rooms / 16 beds in dormitory (maximum capacity of 52 people)

Facilities: Yukinotei (Hakuba cuisine restaurant/open only in winter), bar

　　　　　　　　　　　　Large public bath (Hakuba Happo Onsen) / Coin-operated laundry / Ski drying room

Profile of Soichiro Yamaguchi, President of H2Innovator

Born in 1974 / Age 50

Graduated from Keio University, Faculty of Economics in 1996.

Member of the competitive skiing club for 7 years in high school and university, spending about 20 days a year in Hakuba for training camps.

1998 Studied abroad at Cornell University (U.S.A.) ESL (English Language School)

2001 Joined The Windsor Hotel Tokyo Head Office.

In preparation for the opening of The Windsor Hotel Toya (*), he worked in the Marketing Department under legendary hotelier Tetsuo Kuboyama.

(*This hotel was built during the bubble economy and was said to be a "negative legacy of Hokkaido" that caused the collapse of the bank.)

2002: Opened The Windsor Hotel Toya. Moved to Hokkaido at the same time.

2008 The hotel became the venue for the G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit, and experienced the success story of the rebirth of a negative legacy into a guesthouse that welcomes VIPs from around the world.

2009  Joined Ability Consultant.

Engaged in hotel consulting and hotel management business.

2012 Joined Hotel Laneige in Hakuba, Japan. Moved to Hakuba at the same time.

Learned hospitality as a small luxury hotel in the birthplace of minshuku and gained dozens of customers.

2018 Joined Happo One Development Co.

As the person in charge of opening Snow Peak FIELD SUITE HAKUBA KITAONE KOGEN (glamping facility), he is in charge of everything from marketing work to operation construction.

The facility opened in 2019 (the first year of 2019). As manager, he established the status of a "resort hotel on the mountain" as a 100,000 yen per person glamping hotel, based on the concept of adding value through the overwhelming nature, gracious Hakuba hospitality, and food.

Achieved 70% occupancy rate in its second year. Repeater rate of approximately 15% (8 visits in 3 seasons at most).

Created the possibility of a new affluent market in Hakuba.

2023 (5th year of the 20th year of the 20th year of the 20th year of the 20th year): H2Innovator LLC was established, recognizing the importance of revitalizing Hakuba's lodging industry.

December 2024: Started managing the guest house "Yukinoso" on consignment.

Soichiro Yamaguchi, owner of Yukinoso