Matsuyama Tomoki singlehandedly founded Onko Chishin Co., Ltd. in February 2011. In 2015, he took on the management of his first facility, Setouchi Retreat Aonagi, which garnered much attention and won numerous awards. Since then, he has continued to inspire new ideas with projects such as Keirin Hotel 10, located next to Tamano Keirin Stadium, and the world's first official Champagne hotel, Cuvée J2 Hôtel Osaka. Currently, he manages 15 inns, hotels, and restaurants, and employs over 400 people. We spoke to Matsuyama Tomoki, CEO of the company, which is experiencing explosive growth.

From a consulting company to the travel industry

After graduating from the University of Tokyo Graduate School, Matsuyama joined the Boston Consulting Group and then Dream Incubator, before making a complete change of industry and joining Hoshino Resorts in the travel industry.

"In the consulting industry, the person giving the advice just talks and then the other party does the rest. I'm a pretty serious person, so I wondered what it would be like to work in a job where I couldn't commit to results.

I was hoping to work in a more realistic industry, and by chance I was connected to Hoshino Resorts. At the time I was looking for a realistic industry, I was also approached about being the president of a bakery. If I had chosen that, my life would have been very different (laughs)."

The travel industry is both a service industry and a domestic one. Was there a gap between it and the industry that existed before?

"Even though I was working for a foreign consulting firm, I wasn't particularly good at English, and my specialty was domestic companies, so I didn't feel much of a gap."

The first job he took on at Hoshino Resorts, where he would stay for about five years, was a surprising one.

"First, we worked on improving the efficiency of guest room cleaning by creating a cleaning manual.

It's a procedure manual that covers how to go around the rooms, how to collect trash, when to put out futons and sheets, and so on. This is because at Hoshino Resorts, the employees themselves do the cleaning. Cleaning is a very unglamorous but important part of the hotel industry. If you ask what I used as a reference for creating the procedure manual, it was the manuals of automobile factories like Nissan. This is interesting because, for example, if there is an instruction to "turn with your right hand" in a certain process, even a left-handed person will turn with their right hand. That's the world of manuals. My first job at Hoshino was to accumulate cleaning know-how from that perspective."

What's innovative about Matsuyama's idea is that he uses an automobile company manual.

"I went to McDonald's and convenience stores to see the way car manufacturers think. In companies that operate chains, everyone basically thinks the same way. They replicate the same methods to prevent the gap between skilled and unskilled workers from widening. They try to eliminate personalization as much as possible. Furthermore, if you get five people to do a job that three people can do, they'll just do it slowly. So ultimately it comes down to how to create the right shifts. In other words, it's about allocating the right resources for the right amount of work.

The most important thing is to allocate the optimal number of people to a particular job, and cleaning procedures are a matter of consideration beyond the shift. At first I was involved in cleaning, but I soon got involved in running inns, and oversaw the operation of around 10 inns."

The Great East Japan Earthquake occurred one month after the company was founded.

Onko Chishin was founded in February 2011, but what was the thinking behind choosing this company name?

"When I founded the company, I had the main goal of revitalizing hot spring inns rather than hotels. That's why I thought a word that includes the warmth of hot springs would be good. I also chose the company name because I thought it perfectly represented the idea of ​​connecting hot spring inns to the next generation - looking back at the past to learn about the new. Not all the properties I'm currently involved with are hot spring inns, but the base is the idea of ​​a hot spring inn. It's like adding an open-air bath to any room (laughs)."

However, the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred the month after he started his business.

"It was a huge miscalculation that the earthquake hit just one month after we founded the company. It was a lot of hard work. But looking back now, I think it was important that we struggled during a bad time for business. That's because a company that only knows how to do well in good times can quickly go wrong if it hits a slightly bad time."

Luckily there were no employees there yet.

"I was the only employee, so the company didn't suffer much damage. It was just that there was no work. It was a world where nuclear power plants were about to explode, so there was no work to be had and I was bored. After that, on the other hand, I had a lot of work to do in the reconstruction efforts after the earthquake, so I just focused on that. Specifically, I was working on creating plans for the revitalization and reconstruction of hotels and inns that had been affected by the disaster, which was a kind of consulting job. So I took the Tohoku Shinkansen to every station."

I imagine many inns went out of business.

"The reconstruction support was a unique scheme. It was a scheme that essentially frozen debts, so it actually helped inns and hotels that were on the verge of bankruptcy to recover. In addition to creating plans for earthquake reconstruction, we also provided a little support in order to increase sales, and at the same time helped with running the inns. When we founded the company, we had the intention of eventually running it as a business, so we thought it would have a long-term impact."

The first hotel, Setouchi Retreat Aonagi, swept the awards

From there, he began to become fully involved in facility management, and the first property he worked on made a big impact.

"It was exactly five years since I founded the company, and by chance the first place I came into contact with was Setouchi Retreat Aonagi."

This inn was designed by Tadao Ando, ​​and is famous for its pool that opens out into the sea.

"However, things were difficult after we opened. It was a new facility with only seven rooms, so no matter how hard we tried, it wasn't going to turn a profit right away. For the first year or so, I thought I was going to die. No matter how hard we worked, we were in the red, so my salary was not just zero, it was negative, it was worse than working for free. If I worked, I had to put money into it. But I didn't feel any sense of urgency. I had a feeling that, 'If I can't do it, then it's impossible.' I had this inexplicable confidence that I could manage even if I was in the red."

Successful founders are always kind of optimistic.

"Well, it's not like I had no basis for this. I was talking after having had a lot of experience as a working adult. For the time being, I just needed to get my short-term cash flow in order, and eventually I would be in the black. Banks aren't going to lend you money when you're in real trouble (laughs). So I asked some people I knew to invest. I had a list of their business cards, and when I sent out a mass email saying, 'Would you be willing to invest with these conditions?', 40 shares were sold out in one day. With just one email, I raised 80 million yen, at 3200 yen per person."

The amount of 80 yen is just right.

"If it was 80,000 yen per person and we didn't get it back, I would be seriously angry. 1 million yen per person is also an amount I hesitate to accept. I have to repay the kindness of everyone who became a shareholder at that time, so I have made it possible for those who invested to sell their shares if they want to. Many people helped me out when I was in a difficult situation. I think I have been able to repay them for their kindness."

A variety of properties from Rebun Island to the Goto Islands

Currently, he is involved in a variety of properties, from Rebun Island in the north to the Goto Islands in the south. How does he make his selections?

"We choose locations from the ones that are brought to us. Of course, we then calculate whether the facility is sustainable and whether the figures will work out properly. As for the Mitsui Kanko Hotel on Rebun Island, we had never imagined opening a hotel there. When we were approached, we asked our employees, 'What do you think of Rebun Island?' and one of them said something like, 'That sounds quite romantic, doesn't it?'

We were originally running Kairi Murakami (now Iki Retreat Kairi Murakami) in Iki, so we thought it might be a place that suited us, and so we decided to do it."

Rebun Island is located 60 kilometers west of Wakkanai City. It is the northernmost remote island in the Sea of ​​Japan. It takes two hours by ferry from mainland. I wonder what kind of guests will come here.

"Most of our customers are so-called tour tourists. They've been all over the world, and overseas is tiring, so they think they might as well try somewhere new in Japan. We close from November to April, including the middle of winter. In fact, in 2025 we held the induction ceremony for our new employees there. We left the new employees on Rebun Island and let them do their work. It's not like they'll stay there forever; at the longest they can, they'll stay until October, and some will be transferred elsewhere from around August, so it's a limited-time training period. It was a place where you couldn't run away even if you wanted to (laughs), but not a single person has quit."

Our company motto is to promote local culture

Our company is very conscious of promoting local culture.

"Rebun Island is a prime example of this. If there were no hotel there, it would probably become a deserted island. It's a place where you really get the sense that hotels and inns are a contribution to the local community."

What specific initiatives are other facilities undertaking with local industries?

"First of all, there are the ingredients. We don't have to go out of our way to promote local production and consumption; if we simply source our ingredients, we will be sourcing them from the local area. We also have close ties with taxi companies and offer tours to remote islands. We also introduce restaurants frequented by locals and invite local artisans to host craft-making experiences. If we stay inside the facility, conversations between employees will end up being limited to just conversations between themselves. That's why I tell my employees to 'meet people from outside as much as possible.' When we talk outside, all kinds of ideas come up and new things are born.

We call this "co-creation with the local community."

I want to do this consciously, and I'm thinking of creating an internal "Regional Co-creation Award" and having a competition. Having a banner like that will motivate everyone."

It is very important for hotels and inns to be aware that they are a showcase for their local area.

"Even if a hotel doesn't do anything special, it can contribute to society just by being able to accommodate people from other places, but I think it's important to be conscious of contributing to society. Rather than taking away from existing markets, we should work together to create new markets. This will lead to employees being proud to work, and I think that will also lead to customers choosing our hotel because it is a facility with that kind of awareness."

Of course, there will be plenty of events.

"I think it's great for visitors that they can see all the local products in one place. In that sense, each facility holds events where they can interact with local people. Events where producers talk or wine producer meetings are easy to understand. Hotel La Vigne Hakuba in Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture, has only been open for a year, but has already held four or five wine events.

We would like people to use the hotel as a place to learn about the good things in the region. I believe that such steady efforts will lead to social contributions."

Plans to increase the number of stores by five per year

Onkochishin publishes its "Business Performance Trends" on its website, where anyone can find out about sales, operating profit, net income, total assets, fixed liabilities, the number of facilities it operates, and more.

"There was a time when we aimed to go public, so we do publish the company's figures. There are a lot of websites out there that appear to be doing good things, but it makes you wonder if the company is really doing okay. In the end, I think it would be more trustworthy to honestly publish our company's figures.

That being said, there are a ton of companies that are making a lot more profit. For better or worse, figures like this mean that the company is disclosing its actual situation. Listed companies are normally open about their profits, so I don't think we're doing anything special."

The company that he started alone now has over 400 employees, growing 400 times in 14 years.

"Especially in the past few years, as the number of operating facilities increases, the number of people also increases. Because the base number of facilities is small, it may seem like the number has doubled all at once, but this does not mean that we will continue to double at this pace. However, going forward, we plan to increase the number of facilities by five per year. In fact, we have received external funding to support the future growth of the company.

We could have continued to build each facility carefully and grow organically while remaining small, but the decision to bring in hundreds of millions of yen from outside meant we decided to steer the company in the direction of becoming a little bigger.

In other words, it requires a certain level of resolve, but it means making sure the company is sustainable. We will increase our facilities, create a system to match them, and ultimately be able to make a significant contribution to society. That is the choice we have made. This is the big resolve we have made this year."

Funds and M&A activities are extremely active in the accommodation industry, and there are likely to be many cases brought to the table.

"KEIRIN HOTEL 10, which we built within the Tamano Keirin Stadium in Tamano City, Okayama Prefecture, and Goto Retreat ray in Goto, Nagasaki Prefecture, were built in 2022 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, we've been receiving more and more requests to operate new facilities. Recently, we've been receiving so many requests that we can't handle them all.

It would be fine if I only had to select 10, but then it becomes 100, then 1000. And in reality, you don't necessarily get to choose in order of best, but rather the choices are made based on various factors. My immediate concern is that I'm no longer able to handle these cases on my own."

For everyone to be happy

Having previously worked for a foreign company, Matsuyama suddenly moved to a domestic industry. How does he perceive the "Japanese aesthetic sense"?

"I think it's a strong sense of responsibility towards quality. If you travel abroad, you'll see that in Japan, the quality of each and every item is incredibly excellent. I wonder if there is any other nation in the world that has such a strong desire to make quality products.

It feels like they've paid attention to even the smallest details. Their manufacturing skills are truly amazing. But I think that Japanese people tend to take this too far, and have a tendency to be too dependent on others, believing that if they just make good products, they'll be recognized. Beyond that, it's a matter of branding, and like in the West, it's important to rephrase even the smallest things as if they're amazing. This is an important point, so our company is very particular about it. Even if something is good, if it's not communicated, it will end up being no good.

This is also the key to revitalizing a local area; rather than creating something new, it's about rephrasing what already exists, or finding the good and bright spots. It's not a bluff, it's a way to make everyone happy."

Matsuyama Tomoki

Born in Detroit in 1973, he grew up in Osaka until the age of 18. In 1998, he completed his graduate studies at the University of Tokyo with a Master's degree in urban engineering. In the same year, he joined the Boston Consulting Group, and participated in the founding of Dream Incubator in 2000. In 2005, he joined Hoshino Resorts, Inc., and has been a director since 2007. In February 2011, he founded Onko Chishin Co., Ltd.

Mio Shimamura

Representative, publisher and editor-in-chief of Premium Japan. After working at a foreign advertising agency, he held positions in charge of marketing and PR at top brands such as Walt Disney, Harry Winston, and Tiffany & Co. In 2013, he founded Russo Co., Ltd. He handles PR for various top brands. Because his parents' home was an environment that taught Japanese culture such as tea ceremony and kimono dressing, he acquired the business rights to Premium Japan in 2017 and established Premium Japan Co., Ltd. in 2018.