Business Idea: Introducing Onsen to Canada

　The business concept I propose is to introduce an Onsen leisure into Canada. Japanese Onsen culture is well known all over the world. It is said that the oldest literature that was written 1300 years ago had a description about Onsen as a medical treatment facility. 

　Canada is known for its long winter season. In Calgary, the official winter lasts 7 months, from October through April. From my Japanese experience and sensation, we must jump into a hot bath after coming back from freezing cold temperatures outside. 

Although there is not much good Onsen resorts around Calgary, moreover Canada, some types of people are familiar with the idea of it due to the growth of “household saunas”. It has been gradually growing since the stay-home promotion during the Covid. Now there are over 30 House Sauna installation companies in Canada, indeed, one of my friends has one at his home. However, installing them is quite pricey. On average it costs from a variety of $4,000 to $34,000 depending on how it’s built. Which shows that owning household saunas in Canada are privilege among families of higher income. 

This gave me the idea of making the Onsen resort luxury and exclusive to the membership.  There will be annual fees to become a membership as well as the entrance fee to be charged every time they enter. Actually, there is a luxury Onsen resort facility in L.A. in the US run with similar system as well. 

(Beverly Hot Springs, LA)

It’s not only the matter of the cost that I make it exclusive but because of the manners while bathing. Manners and etiquettes at Onsen is largely respected in Japan as well. For example, we should at least rinse our body before bathing. We should wipe our body well in the bath space before entering the change room. Therefore, in order to urge customers to respect the rules and behave well, I propose to classify customers to higher standards. 

(Some of the rules translated into English)

It hurts my feelings, but we exclude children aged under 12, for several reasons. Firstly, for the safety reasons. Kids can drown in Onsen. There are some cases in Japan each year. It is not very known how quietly kids get drowned. 

Secondly for the satisfaction for the other guests, like some restaurants do. Kids tend to run around the pool sidewalks even when they’re prohibited. The same would happen in Onsen as well, which could irritate other customers. Finally, for the company images. I want it to stay exclusive and luxurious. 

However, there will be a smaller but private Onsen in the same area, where all family members in a group can bathe together. This way, parents can keep their eyes on children because it’s smaller, and the children can have a blast since it’s a private room. 

One quality that I can’t compromise is the cleanliness of the hot water. I want it to be closest quality to the Japanese Onsen water, to be rich in minerals, less stimulant, and to be filtered and recurred a lot. This is base on my experience, but many hot springs overseas don’t filter water a lot but instead sanitize it with dissolving chlorine in the water to control the water cleanliness. However, the water stimulates our skins, it smells like pool water, and personally not relaxing. Although it costs more to maintain, the water should be well recurred, low stimulation, and relaxing. 

To make it more realistic, I need to take my plan to some Casino resort. Actually, quite a lot of “Sento” ,public bath facilities , are owned by Pachinko companies in Japan, since they have a good revenue stream which makes it stabilize the management of their Onsen business too. If you’re interested, feel free to bet on my project! 

Thank you for reading.