Is it actually possible to start a business in Japan as a foreigner now?

0:00Yup, they gave me 30 days to live and I can cry about it and be disappointed about it. But slowly the businesses see me and they know I'm invested in the city. Okay, this guy's going to be here for a long time. Walking around all the businesses and lifting up, shouting wash-off for anyone who's looking to come to Japan. You have to expect the worst, be prepared for the worst, and adapt and be flexible. Thanks for joining us on an packing Japan. We've probably produced a VRT MadSense Studio with a longstanding support of Zen Group. To keep these weekly stories coming, please consider subscribing. It's the best way to support the show and really makes a difference. And now, let's get into it. And here we are back. Well, let's start again from the beginning. We'll have some editing to do, but. So where is the situation? How is it with the renewal and what are the procedures there?

1:00So actually I got a result. And unfortunately my business manager, VISA, has been rejected. The renewal has been rejected. And I got the information last Friday. Wow, that's like a very fresh. Very fresh. And a bit of shock because I did hire, I did get my immigration lawyer to do up the profile, write up financial statements, showing my employees Zaidoukart and I'm at contracts really employing them. A business strategy on how we're going to obtain revenue for the company. And also explain why we did not receive any revenue last year. And the reason was so natural. The government changed the requirements for a business manager, VISA, right?

2:02From 5 million paid up capital to a 30 million paid up capital. Because of this big change, I had to change my business plan. And I need more time to prepare for the business. So that was what we submitted to the immigration officer. And unfortunately they did not accept that reasoning. And that's because they were saying we cannot accept the fact that you've been here for a year and your company has not made a single dollar. And they get what I'm trying to do. They understand I'm a real company. I'm doing it properly. But just on the basis that I've been here for a year, you're on a business manager, VISA, you're here to manage the company. You're not here to prepare the company. That's why they rejected it. So when you, so last Friday you said, when you're at the immigration office and you're awaiting,

3:10did you know what was going to come to you? That's right. Because my immigration officer, lawyer, was saying, if you receive a summons letter from that experience, it's not good news. Because if your VISA is approved, they'll mail you and tell you to, they will inform you, it's been approved. These mail your Zidu card and we will mail you a new one. But if they are calling you to the immigration office, it's not good news. What you do in that situation, you kind of, we talked for the past hour about your dream of coming here, establishing the hotel, you brought your family here, your kids are at school now. You've been working on the business. You didn't meet the revenue requirements, but every other box seems to have been checked. And suddenly you have the rejection, you have to leave Japan.

4:10Yep, they gave me 30 days to live. So not much time, right? And you can, I can cry about it and be disappointed about it, but the only way to, the only move you can do is to look forward. So very clearly, two things I have to do. One is to set up my family back in Singapore. It's not difficult because I still have my place, my home in Singapore so we can move back there. And my kids can go back to school, back to the same school. So that's fine. Yeah, of course, disappointed because finally they are sort of making friends, getting accustomed to hearing Japanese. And they just started their school year as well. So they are a bit disappointed, but it is what it is, right? So on the family side, that's what we're trying to do. And then I'm trying to set up my belongings over here, which is not a big issue because

5:12I can move them to my hotel and to Yamaha for a while first. The major concern right now is the hotel, the business side of things because ideally, I would like to be close to the hotel and help the team and be there. But because my visa is rejected, the immediate concern now is my bank, my corporate bank account. So I've been running this business for almost a year without a corporate bank account. And the reason why the banks did not allow me to open a bank account was because I did not have a hotel license. Okay. Now that I have obtained a hotel license, I need a new Zaryu card with minimum six months before expi- Yeah, six months, right? And it's been rejected.

6:14So quickly now I'm thinking of how I can get the bank account set up first because without the bank account, I can't collect revenue. I can't prove to let's say the immigration office, the company's collecting revenue, right? So few options that I'm thinking through. One is to get a local representative, right? And through that, we should not have any problems getting a Zaryu card. Secondly, maybe speak to the Toyama governor to see whether I can be sort of helping them or employ with them in a way where I can contribute by getting foreigners to come into Toyama. I'm still exploring that I don't know. That's a second way. A third way could be getting employee- get a work visa through let's say a friend's company.

7:16And then me and my family can be in Toyama and live in Toyama and work on the business. So I'm still exploring options because the information on the rejection was so new. I don't have an answer yet. But at the same time, even if I don't have the visa to work in Japan, I still feel I can contribute to the company in different ways. Even I don't have to be in Japan 365 days a year. If I'm in Singapore, I can promote Toyama to promote Hoku Ryugu region in Singapore. And then that'll be my role. And then making sure my team understands the situation, letting them know guys you've got to step up. I'm not there. As much as I want to be there fighting with you, managing and operating it, I can't.

8:19So you guys have to step up and help me. They call me responsibility to do the operations well. And I've told that to my team as well. And very, very happy that they were very supportive. And I can feel they were also a bit angry with that situation. And they've given me that word that they'll do their best to help out in any way they can. Are they any, if you get rejected from a visa renewal like this because it did meet certain requirements? Are there any restrictions for you to apply for a different kind of visa to come back? No, from what the immigration officer said. No. Could you hypothetically apply for the business man visa again? Yes. But you have to put up the capsule again. Which is fine because I've really put the capital up. So the capital requirement wasn't even the issue. It was that the company did not receive everything. But you're not allowed to reapply using your existing company.

9:20I can. You can. I can do that as well. Yeah. So that's also the fourth option. But my immigration lawyer was telling me if I were to do the business manager visa route again, it could take up to one to two years to approve. Oh, really? Wow. So that's what he says. I don't know. But yeah. But back to your point, then, the most pressing issue for you is to set up that corporate bank account, which you couldn't before because you didn't have the license, but you have the license now. Not so Japan, right? But setting that up so that the business can actually run and generate revenue and you would be basically then the the owner, sort of say, of the property, but not necessarily the day-to-day operations manager. Yeah. So the key thing I think is to be very flexible as a business owner. You have to be flexible. Find even something bad happens. You got to find some other way to contribute and make things work because life is like that,

10:23right? And for anyone who's looking to come to Japan to do business, you have to, like I mentioned earlier, expect the worst. Be prepared for the worst and adapt and be flexible. You will entertain quite a big risk. You are telling me off camera as well. A lot of your friends, your family back home, where kind of in this belief with you are pruning your life and coming here and doing all of these, taking all of these risks. And you're still facing those challenges, those headwinds. So I guess there will be many more updates to wait for you to see how your situation evolves and things cross that hotel operations will run smoothly and so that you can kind of come around smoothly. And never does. It runs smoothly on the surface for the guests at least. Well, thank you again. I don't know how to rub this one up because we've wrapped it up before, but I guess we're ... ...

11:27Welcome to unpacking Japan. I'm Toby and today we welcome Ray on a podcast. Thank you very much for coming. Thanks, Toby, for inviting me. You came all the way from Toyama today, a place that you've moved to now in your 40s from Singapore and where you're becoming a hotelier. Yes. It's a big career change for yourself. You decided to approach your life and family from Singapore to start something new here in Japan. And I'm sure you have encountered many, many interesting challenges along the way, which we're going to break down. But first I want to understand a little bit. What makes you want to leave Singapore at age 40? In the middle of your career, together with the entire family, to a completely different country that you may have been to, I imagine before, but never lived to that point. That's the question, isn't it? For me, it's really to chase a dream. I've been, after graduating from university, I've always been in the real estate industry. I was working for Jones Lang LaSalle helping foreign developers market their properties

12:34in Singapore. So I've met many, many developers. And the coolest developers were those who were developing hospitality projects. They were just so cool. And when I was younger, I thought to myself, when I grew up, I want to be like them. They're just classy, having fun all the time. And I just have a very good vibe about that. So fast forward, I was working and working in various sectors of the real estate industry in Singapore. And then right before I hit, a few years before I hit 40, I thought, and I've been doing this for some time. And Singapore is pretty small. For the past, I would say, 10 years, I've two young kids. Every week felt the same for me.

13:35Work on the weekdays. Weekends, tuition for the children. And then whenever there's a school holiday in Singapore, which is June and December, we will try to pack our backs and go overseas to basically de-stress. And so that was happening for a long time. And then when I was closer to like 40, especially during the COVID made me reflect, that's not the kind of life I want. I wanted to try living overseas and try to do business overseas. And so I thought, I want to be a hotel there. And research around other parts of the world. Because in Singapore, real estate prices are just... And space is limited. And all the locations are taken by these premium developers that are used to work for them and have already established them. They're not giving up their spot.

14:36Exactly. And just no way. A regular person like me could be a hotelier. And so then my research came into conclusion that in Asia, there's only two countries that can wear a foreigner and own land. You know, we should have the two countries. Well, Japan is one of them. And the other one, namely, which other country... Maybe Korea, South Korea. Malaysia. Malaysia. Interesting. So, all the other countries you can... Either have to get a proxy, you have to get... For example, Singapore, you have to be a Singapore national to own landed properties. Does this include land or from just when you buy an apartment complex and you buy a unit? Just land. That's considered as well. Just land. Also, if you're buying a condominium in an apartment, a foreigner can buy it. No restrictions on that.

15:38But if you want to buy land, especially Singapore, land is sort of, I think, a national security because it's so scarce. Only Singaporeans can buy it. So for land, only Japan or Malaysia. So Malaysia is right next door that's not like a possible choice. It's a possible option for you, but you didn't go down that path. I didn't go that path. Just when... First of all, my dad's Malaysian. So I'm familiar with Malaysia. But every time I have a holiday, I want to go to Japan. And if we talk about hospitality, Japan has, I think, well-class hospitality. In terms of architecture, design, Japan has it as well. And I'm always attracted to the traditional Ryokans, Machias. And because these hotels are not like the generic hotels you see everywhere in the world. It's just only in Japan.

16:39So I guess that's why I moved or decided to work on my dreams and make sure the first hotel I built must be in Japan. So Japan seems to be like a very practical decision because your dream was possible in Japan before that. Is Japan a country that you had ever considered living in and maybe like go to or someplace you had just been on the holiday, perhaps, with your family? For that, I didn't think too much about living in Japan because the language barrier was tough. And also, I think I was just so busy with work back then. I didn't really thought too much about that. And also, I didn't research too much about visa immigration policy. But then when I started looking at real estate, especially prices in Japan, outside of big

17:40cities, they're reasonable. I don't want to say they're cheap. Good properties are never cheap, even if it's outside of big cities. But I see value in that. And then through that, I slowly started checking on the visa schemes. And yeah, I'm here on a business manager visa. We'll talk about that in a minute because there's been some change in regulations for that visa. But you kind of start getting into that routine. You know you want to get out of it. You start looking at your opportunities and your dream of becoming an autelier. And you realize Japan is probably one of the own places you can do this. Between the moment you kind of make the decision and you actually moving here about a year ago, or a little over a year ago, how long did it take for you to kind of plan that entire move with your family? I would say four years. I think the first time I started researching on properties, it took me, it was five years

18:41back. I was looking and looking and looking. And once in a while, whenever I come for holiday, I'll look at some of the properties. But I didn't really make that jump until I saw Kyoto Darokan, the property in Tuyama. That was when I realized, oh, this is the property that I'm willing to make that move. And you know, a lot of people ask me, how do you prepare for that? I would say at least on my end, I had a bit of savings, but I didn't jump until I saw an opportunity or I saw a hotel that I really wanted that I thought it could work. And then I made that move. So you come back and force a few times, look at properties. I imagine you started looking a little bit at some of the practicalities. When you see that property, what was the situation?

19:43Like what kind of, what was the condition of the property? What were the requirements for you to be able to turn that idea or opportunity into a reality? So for me, the first thing is, ideally, the first thing is location. So do I like that place? Can I see myself having a good holiday over there? I think that's the number one thing. Because ultimately, if I don't even see myself enjoying that space, why would other people come? Right? That's the number one requirement. And then the second requirement was ideally a property that's not too bad, not such a bad condition. But that makes it, I think I explained behind or before this. Before you recorded it? I had Satota. Satota is the total opposite of toyama, where the location is so good that I was willing

20:45to buy this akia and demolish it and build brand new. Whereas toyama was more like the building is really there. Everything has been set up and I'm just coming into takeover. Which to me, it's very important because it would save five, six years of my life getting this hotel experience. So that was basically already an existing hotel and they were looking for a new owner. Yeah. So just to give you some background, that the previous owner spent a lot of money to renovate it in 2019 and then COVID hit. There was lockdowns and unfortunately because of that no one could do well, especially the hospitality industry. So it was for closed and then it was sort of, I guess, auctioned in 2024 and then that's the first time where I went to toyama to see the building to make an offer.

21:50So you actually got it through auction? No. No. So it was up for auction. Nobody really got it or took it. Yeah. So that it was up for sale and that's kind of what you used as your way in. The funny story is, so I viewed that, I remember I viewed that property on a Friday and on a weekend I was looking around toyama because at that time I didn't know much about toyama. I was looking at what the famous places are. Patyama, Kurobe, Hemi. And then on Monday I flew back to Singapore. I had to discuss with my wife like, hey, I think this is the one I'm really going to buy. I put an offer on Monday late afternoon and the agent told me someone else put an offer that morning. And I think it's because the agent when doing the viewing called the other prospect and

22:51said, hey, that's a Singaporean coming to look at that property. He looked very serious. If you are keen on this property, you better put on an offer for him. So I lost that chance and I was so devastated. Oh no. And that was also the time when I felt this setback is not going to. Stop my dream to be a hotelier. And I went even more aggressive and such all the Japan even harder. And that's how I ended up buying my first property, which is the piece of land in Satoa. Okay. So Satoa that little piece of land in the island and the Satoanlancy came first. Yes. And then eventually toyama. Eventually toyama. You're still in Singapore the time you're still working full time, I imagine. By those properties you take ownership, but you want to run them as a business.

23:55Right. So eventually you need to move here as well and kind of go over this. And you mentioned you went down the path of the businessmen and Javita. Where the recent changes and such where they kind of increased the required capital and so how did that process work for you? So I applied for the business manager of V sign 2024. Back then the requirements haven't changed. No news about the change. But so I got my visa approved. I mean the previous requirements weren't that difficult. I got that approved. And so I think it was October last year where the new requirements were in place. I think the biggest hurdle was the 30 million yen capital. Right. For me that wasn't a big issue because I was investing more than that. So that wasn't a big hurdle. But I think the biggest hurdle I'm doing my renewal now.

24:58I think the biggest hurdle was or is that I took so long to prepare for the hotels. Because I couldn't obtain any revenue until I get the hotel license. Right. So for one year I have not, the company has not see if any revenue. And now I'm doing the renewal and I think that might be a problem. Okay. We'll see. That's why I'm here in Osaka to do the renewal. But we'll see. We'll see. Keep paying fingers crossed. Fingers crossed indeed. So the original requirements we were fine. But you didn't come alone. You brought your entire family with you. Yes. How does that work then? You said you have children. You had your wife to kind of bring everyone as well on that business manager visa. Yeah. So I think once you get the business manager visa, sporesering your family to come over is not difficult. The difficulty is convincing my wife to sort of not let go of the children's education

26:07in Singapore. And come over to Japan and experience something different. It's going to be tough for the kids. And then if let's say things don't go well and if we were to go back to Singapore, the education, what's going to happen to their education? Because in Singapore, the education system there is really, really tough. Very competitive. Very competitive. It's always tuition, tuition, tuition. And just to be clear, tuition, not to get aes. Tuition, just to pass, that's it. My kids aren't the studious kind of kids. So what's going to happen to that? And then my pitch to my wife was, I think, I used to be very concerned about my kids' education. But I'm slowly switching. My mindset about that. I'm leaning more towards, you know, to me, what's education now when there's AI?

27:15If the kid wants to do math, you're just going to use AI in the future to work out some problems. And to me, I think what's more important is that, say, me coming on this journey, they can see risk taking, determination, never giving up, present-year-olds. This is them. Patients. This is something that I think the school in Singapore doesn't, I would say, teach in a very obvious manner. I think so far where I've come along this journey and my kids see that, oh, he's struggling in this. He's talking about this. Oh, man, he can't even speak Japanese, but he can still do it. I think, to me, that's the kind of education I want to show my kids. I think that's more valuable than learning how to, you know, learning some new math equation or science.

28:16That can come later if they're really interested in that. So that was, I think, when I explain that to my wife, she gets it. And so that's why I felt it's very important for my kids to come along with this, with me on this journey to see everything from the ground. How did the conversation with your kids go, though? When you start, you sit them down for the new one day and you're like, okay, kids, next week, you're out of school and you're moving to Japan. How did you kind of get them on board with this? Because they imagine they also have, maybe they have it to get away from the tutoring and the extra classes, but they also have friends in Singapore, they have their routines, maybe their sports clubs or music stuff. Or whatever they like to do. And suddenly, they will have to go to a country where they also don't speak the language. How did you kind of explain that or get them on board or maybe they were like super excited about it from the beginning? They could see when I was doing trips, a lot of trips to Japan, they were like asking why that.

29:17I told them what I'm looking to build a business there, trying to own a hotel there. And then when I finally bought it, I naturally tell them, hey, maybe we're going to move there to handle the business. Dad has to handle the business. So I guess it was natural. I didn't shock them. They kind of, I guess, expected that. And I told them once it's sort of confirmed once I, oh yeah, so I applied for the business manager of visa. Once the dad was approved, I told my kids, hey, my visa has got approved. It's probably going to move to Japan. And they were excited about it really. Because, oh, okay, at least for my son, he's excited. He's back then, he's eight years old. So still a bit nice, friends, they can connect on, he plays a lot of Minecraft, so he can

30:21connect three games online. On my daughter, likewise, she has a phone with her, so she can still keep in contact with a friend. So it wasn't too difficult really. They were up for that adventure. And so one day you're old, four of you are on the plane, you're on the way to Japan. And then it kind of really begins. Up until then it was like the dream, okay, buying the property, but the property is too far away, geographically speaking. You got the visa, but you're not yet in Japan. That's only your all arrive. And then the reality happens. How was that for you when you actually moved here, when you really close the door of your apartment in Singapore and arrived in Japan, it's like, okay, now we are all here. Not just you going back and forth, dreaming about the property, but... That was tough. I have to admit, it's tough. I don't speak Japanese. My wife doesn't speak Japanese. I hired a translator to help me with things. And then at the beginning, the immigration, I think, consultant firm sent someone to help

31:27me with the rental and bank account opening and phone setup. That's okay. And then in terms of school, maybe just a shell a little bit, I didn't move to Tuyama directly. I actually moved to Osaka first. And so thankfully, I think in Osaka, people are a little bit more... I would think more friendly and there are people who support systems here to help foreigners integrate to the local society. So I didn't send my kids to the international school. I just sent them to the nearest local school. Wow. Yeah. And the first two weeks, they took them out to learn the basic, I guess, rules of school. And in that two weeks, we sort of see many other foreign kids as well. And they had a translator in various translators helping the kids learn what are the basic

32:31rules in Japan. And then after that, really, it's like... I would say... I would say thrown in the demand of the pool. That's a very deep demand of the pool. Especially when you're at an age where the other kids can already read as well and write some of the kanji. How complicated was it for us all to sign up your children to a normal public school as a foreigner that just moved to Japan without them even speaking the language? Were there questions or barriers to entry? Or was it like, no, you live in this area? It's pretty easy. Okay. So, I go to the local town council. They'll just assign you to that school and you just fall along. It's not hard. The hardest part is really the kids adapting to the language because I remember the first week. For my younger son, he's enjoying elementary school. Elementary school is so fun for him. But for junior high school, I think it's a little bit more serious.

33:35And when my daughter was there the first week, I had the opportunity to... to attend an open house, open day. And I stepped in and I'm like, gosh, my daughter's sitting all the way at the back. Teacher is explaining Japanese literature. I'm taking photos and using AI to understand what the teacher is saying. And I'm like, this is just over it. All over it. There's no way she's going to enjoy this. And in fact, she really did not enjoy it. So very quickly, for at least my daughter, my oldest daughter, I quickly moved her then to Osaka, Chinese school, where there's an emphasis on a bit of Chinese as well in Japanese. So that helped sort of bridge that language barrier. And right now, she's enjoying it already.

34:36She took her a lot longer to enjoy Japan than my son. So the age difference and kind of where they get into the system really does it. Yes, it's a big difference. The younger it is, the better, I would say. And then that also one of the considerations before moving to Japan. I know my kids are not that young, but I also told myself that if I don't do it now, then when am I going to do this? When I'm 50, I'll be too tired. Was there a moment when you thought that maybe, okay, if my kids really can't adjust and adapt and are really unhappy that you would go back or where you kind of just set on, we'll find a way for the children because there's maybe a Chinese school. We could send them there or international school at the worst. That was what that was planned. See. But luckily, plan A.2 kind of worked. You were able to have your children as well enjoy the experience and adapt.

35:41You settled in Osaka at the beginning. So imagine then you start having to do a lot of back-end for us as well, with Sittleda initially. Initially, one place and then Toyama for the other. Yeah. So initially, a lot back-end from Sittleda. And then Remite told you someone actually bought the Toyama property. And then one day, I received a call from the agent and then they were saying, hey, remember that property we looked at? Well, the seller is looking to flip it. And I was like, how much? She told me the price and I said, let's go for it. And so I don't even know how to explain to you. But I thought that chance in Toyama was gone. And it's back up in the market. And after I negotiated and purchased the hotel, that's when it became really serious because

36:43the property in Toyama was already done up. And then I was basically from then onwards spending most of my time in Toyama. And that started, I would say, last year, September. And then trying to normal people then making things work over there. At that point, you own properties. You cannot operate them, right? You were explaining earlier that you needed to get a license first. What were the requirements for that license, which you have obtained now to basically operate it? The Mim Pakul license that you needed? So for the, I never thought of getting the Mim Pakul license. I've always aimed for the Ryokan or Hotel license where you can rent out the rooms 365 days a year. That was very important to me because I felt if you're doing a hotel, you need the rooms to be rent out throughout the year, not half the year.

37:45And of course, if you're going to go for that license and for the requirement changes, depending on the size of the property. But if this, if the build up areas above 200 square meters, the requirements are very, very tough. And the requirements, I would say, it's on the structural type of building, structural requirements. So on top of my head, fireproofing, earthquake structure, earthquake proofing has to be to the latest code. That's expensive. For fire, I would say for fire proofing or to get the fire department to approve the license for hotel above 200 square meters, you need to stare well or stare. There are core exit entering in case there's a fire going on.

38:48There's two options to ask. So with knowing that you can imagine just having two staircase instead of one, it's already at additional cost and wastage. How much? Because it was a Ryokan before and the person had renovated it. The previous owner had renovated it just before COVID. How much additional changes did you have to do to meet some of these requirements after? I didn't have to do much change because the previous owner actually should take all the credit. They did most of the work. And the previous owner, the previous owner's grandmother found it at Ryokan. And to give you some context, I'm not sure if you know about Toyama. But Toyama is the most or worst destroyed city ever. 99.5% of the city was burned down in 1945.

39:50So everything was basically gone. And then in 1949, Kiyosan, who is the original founder, built up the Ryokan. So it's been around for 77 years and it's passed through three generations. And I'm sort of the fourth owner taking over. And really I'm really just sort of a steward. I've told my team, we are just here to take care of the property. There's so much history. So much was done before us. I like the place and my job right now is just to make that place relevant again. That's all. I'm not taking any credit and really all I'm just doing is just repairing. So that's why I would say I purchased. It was instinctive to me to just purchase that property because it was really done. It saved so much time. If I were to start over again, like the Sotoa property where I have to tear the building

40:53down, get the architect to redraw the plans, it would take at least two years. So time was of the essence and me. It still is. You mentioned about the renewal of the visa, which is important. So no, you purchase that property, which is kind of nearly ready to go, but you still have to do the paperwork to get the license and it officially approved. I imagine in the meantime, you just brought up your team. You had to build a team as well to operate this. How did you go on about finding a team to run and operate a hotel that is not yet open, but it's kind of still pending. It's license. Social media. I'll be very truthful and I'm very thankful for social media and the willingness to put myself out there because Puyama doesn't have a lot of foreigners living there. And it's very difficult for me to work with someone who can only speak Japanese. It's just impossible, right?

41:53So one day on TikTok, Instagram, I just, and Facebook, I just, you know, post some job list things telling them I bought this ReoCon trying to open up a team. Please send me a resume. We're looking for someone who can speak English and Japanese and very, very lucky people reached out. Wow. Just some were just, wow, I'm so happy that you've bought this place supporting you out of way and naturally some were applying for the job and true that also. Even if that Japanese person couldn't speak English, they were referring their friends to apply for the job. Who could speak English? So now you've got an international team. How did you evaluate without directly prior experience? How many people you need to staff the place? What roles did you really need and kind of how to organize your teams?

42:56To me, it felt very natural and organic because at the start, the main thing was basically getting external contractors to help repair and basically finding someone who can at least just translate what I want to say. That's all. And through that. And also one of the, there were basically two main roles that I really needed. One was the general manager role and another was a chef because when I bought the Reo Kan has a cafe space and it's pretty big. You can fit up to 40 people. Okay. Yeah. So many people told me to just rent it out. But I decided to take it up because I felt it will add. To the hooray experience to our guests. And so I wanted to find a chef and I don't know why naturally I just felt it should be

43:57a bakery. We should do sourdough bread. And I found a chef to come into who's doing sourdough. Yeah, true, true social media. It's really true social media. I don't, if you were to ask me how do I replicate this? I don't know if I can do it in Satoa. I really don't know because yeah, I just go in, hope for the best, pull myself out there and just try to wing it. One year in a making, hooray hotels opening up very soon. Maybe about the same time as this episode is coming out, basically pending some final details. What were some of the biggest challenges in this year to kind of get everything established and up and running? The biggest challenge to me was really the cafe space because it's, I came in to do a hotel.

44:59The cafe space, first of all, I'm not very good at cooking. I don't know anything about FMB. I have no FMB experience. I knew after taking on this cafe space, it's going to be something way tougher than the hotel when we were dealing with food. So I mentioned I hired a chef. I thought I was lucky he could do sourdough and his bread was really good. But unfortunately I couldn't work with him. So we went out separate ways and then I was sort of back at square one again and I strongly felt I'd have to do bread because I wanted to do something where the local people can still come in and purchase and support the business every day. And I thought bread was something that I could do because if I were to do Italian restaurant or Japanese restaurant, first I have no experience.

46:00And secondly, the restaurants in Toyama are really, really good. If you don't know, ingredients in Toyama are super fresh. Such a high quality level. But you need that experience to really be having at least a chance to put your name out there. But bakery, bakery, everyone wants a little bit right sometimes for breakfast, sometimes for dinner, sometimes for an afternoon coffee. Specifically sourdough bread. It's hard to get sourdough bread in Japan. I like to eat sourdough bread. And so when my chef left, I called my mom and teach my assistant chef how to do sourdough because my mom retired five years ago and she started picking up sourdough bread making as a hobby. And the sun needs help. Mommy is going to come.

47:00And she came two months ago and she's now teaching my team how to do sourdough bread. And yeah, that's what I mean. Maybe luck or something. My mom did not even expect from doing something as a hobby now trying to teach a team to make bread professionally. We're still training, we're still learning. But that journey is still hard because we're still at the first phase of the restaurant cafe side of things. I've not finalized the menu. I've not finalized so many other things. So yeah, if you back to your question and what's the hardest, the cafe side is really, really the hardest. And all of this we're talking about like the planning stages as well. So the place is going to start opening or it's going to be open soon. And then you're going to have all the first few guests coming in and the operational side of things too.

48:00You mentioned a few times throughout this that you don't speak Japanese. I imagine you started picking up some words, some phrases while you're here. But when you were thinking about Japan prior to moving years ago, you said early on in our conversation that Japan didn't really cross your mind because of the language barrier. And yet now you've been kind of working your way through building a business, building a team without the language. Would there be things that you would be doing differently? No. I think one difference was my mindset shift because I'm trying to build a business, right? And you can't do it alone. And that's also one of, I forgot to say, I used to try to do everything on my own because I thought I can do not, not better, but I like to do it my way. But any successful business out there, there's a team involved.

49:02So by coming to Japan, it sort of forced me to trust someone else to take on that role as the irresponsibility. That's what I came and set out to do. The requirement was if you can't speak N2, you have to hire someone. That's fine with me because I have other things to focus on and I can delegate that work to that person. And so coming here also is a learning process for me to become a better boss, better leader. And I'm still learning, delegating and I'm up for that challenge. We talked a lot about the many challenges along the way with the language barrier, administrative things. What were some of the most pleasant surprises you had? Some of the things that you may have expected would be very challenging, but in the end,

50:05either very smoothly or surprisingly easy. Half question to say, but I would say the people I meet, the support I got, and just it's really like when I was young, I was playing this game called Sudoku, Sukoden, too. I'm not sure if you know that game. But basically it's the main character going around recruiting people to join his party. Okay. And at the end of the game, I think you can't recruit 160 people along the way. And I sort of felt like I'm in the game now recruiting people and just so happened, I met this person. We talked, we could click. They may join my dream. They may just be friends. And through that connection, I feel very confident I can solve anything.

51:11Really. And in Japan, I think, especially in a city like Tuyama, it's about who you know. And for me, I guess when I come in as a foreigner and when I tell them, oh, I'm the owner of Kyo-Tar-Yokan, they're like, what? Because they know Kyo-Tar-Yokan has been around for a long time. And they are so surprised. And I think they know I'm invested in the city. Okay, this guy is going to be here for a long time. He can't run away. He's invested there. He's invested there. He's part of the community. And through that, whatever problems I have, I will ask, hey, for example, do you have someone I can talk to with regards to getting a quote for building insurance? Do you have someone I can talk to with regards to doing a cleaning of the property? And the other day, someone, just two weeks ago, the bartender that I frequent to was in charge of

52:15getting people to participate in the local maternity. Do you want to participate? He asked. For sure. So, first June, that he first made, I was part of the festival as the only day we're telling I'm the only foreigner who's done that maternity. So we were walking around all the businesses and lifting up that small little shrine and shouting, what show? What show? For six hours. Good workout. And through that, slowly the businesses see me and they know a little bit about me. And I felt like part of the community. And I think, yeah, if you talk about difficulties, so far it's been smooth sailing. So the community was really like a cornerstone of being able to find the right people to help you with everything I asked. How did you first approach the community?

53:15You mentioned that when you say to people that you are the owner of that, you're welcome people out. Yeah. Yeah. But when you first moved to Tuyama, you're a complete outsider. You just moved from Japan. You're still based in all some value, purchased at property. Some people may have felt a bit wary, like, over foreigners is purchasing this traditional Ryokai in town. How did you kind of approach Tuyama when you actually got the keys to the place and you're like, okay, did you go and introduce yourself to the mayor? What are some of the steps you've taken to enter that community to the point that now you're invited to the local Matsui? I think for once, I think because I met true social media, I met a few good friends. And one friend was able to Zavi, if you're watching this, thank you so much. He's sort of in the same industry as me. He's trying to do tourism in Tuyama.

54:19And he moved from Tokyo to Tuyama. I speak good English. And through him, we like drinking, especially Tuyama. We have good sake. We are always exploring bars. And just by hanging out together and talking to various people and just talking because we really have no friends. I felt like just open up ourselves and just talk. And that's how I managed to at least connect with various people. And then sometimes if you know, they are really interested in the Ryokan, I can see that they are interested in that. I'm always like, hey, do you want to take a look at the Ryokan? And I open my doors and give them a personal tool and tell them what's happening, what we're trying to do. And then I think through that, they see, okay, this guy is really doing it seriously. He's not like flipping the property. And also, I guess there may be people who are saying, hey, a foreign is buying his

55:24Ryokan. Why let him do that? And I would count the back and sit, well, someone actually, a Japanese company actually bought it in 2024. But instead of running it, they flipped it and made a profit out of me. In fact, I came in and I really wanted to run an open business and try to get Singaporeans and Southeast Asians to know more about Teyama. I'm actually really trying to do business and try trying to create a brand. I wasn't trying to do a quick flip and make a quick buck. And in the end, running a hospitality property is not just about you making a profit, but you potentially bringing people to the areas where you saw the local businesses. And that's very, very important. And that's the role I clearly see myself and that's how I add value to the community. And I think naturally, the other business owners that I met see that as well, because I never thought I could, I mean, I can't possibly get a local person.

56:30It's harder for me. My role is to really bring Singaporeans or foreigners to Teyama and no more about Teyama. That's the role I should do. So that property in Teyama is about to open, but you briefly mentioned it a couple of times throughout the conversation. The first one you actually got was in Sito. That's a very different story, different approach. When you had that akea, you decided to tear it down and build something new. How is that project moving forward? It's currently on pause, because the funds that were saved up for the construction of that tell, I've used it to purchase Teyama. So that's on pause right now. But that being said, I love that. That's a very, very nice piece of property and I really want to develop that. But at the moment, I'm really just focusing on Teyama first, because if I can get this right, then we can talk about Sito.

57:32Throughout this entire process, you mentioned you had some savings, you planned, you purchased it also for the visa as well. You mentioned you got my requirements by yourself. Did you have to or did you kind of seek out investors, sponsors, or was this kind of all of your own efforts, so to say? All my own efforts. I made a little bit of money through investing. And also, I guess that allowed me to be a bit more adventurous to explore something. Rather than maybe just to give you some context in Singapore, usually, after a husband buys a property of a wife who buys another property for rental, that's the sort of, I would say, the property game. But instead of buying another property in Singapore, I wanted to explore somewhere else. I wanted to use the fun to do something that I'm passionate about and that led to the

58:34hotel side of things. And in terms of financing, what I did was to take out an equity from my property in Singapore. Because as a foreigner, you can't get a loan in Japan. Sorry. There's no way. You have no track record, you have no salary, no one's going to vote for you. And you know how banking system is in Japan. Really, really strict. Well, you need to be a resident here. Yes. A long-term resident here was permanent residence or a spouse for Japanese residents. Exactly. So there's no way I could get financing here. So I took it back home and invested that loan up. And used that loan into this hotel business. One of the key cornerstones for you wanting to make that decision was to kind of get away from that nine to five Singapore routine and teach your children as well. A lot of things that they may not learn at school.

59:35They've been here in Japan for a year now and they've seen your work hard on your properties going through those challenges. What are some of the things you've noticed that they have observed, that they have maybe brought up at the dinner table, that conversations you may not have had before when you were kind of going through the cycles in Singapore? I think one is that the kids in Japan are very kind, very polite. That's the first thing. From day one, they told that to me. They had really listened to rules. And then for my daughter who switched to the Osaka Chinese school, she was just shocked that a lot of kids there could speak multiple languages. There's a girl in her class who could speak English, Mandarin, Korean, Japanese. And she just wow. And through that, she's very motivated to learn Japanese.

1:00:38They both want to speak Japanese well. And I can see now, maybe my daughter says, so matured a little and seeing how I'm running up and down, and it's no longer 9 to 5 now. It's 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. 11 p.m. work. But she can see I'm happier. I'm doing it without complaining, without looking tired. And I don't know. Maybe I just feel that especially my daughter, she's more serious about her schoolwork now. But my son is just enjoying life. He's just very carefree. He's still too young. But definitely some positive changes as well. These new perspectives on seeing you and how you work and kind of you're mindset as well as how those students are around them and opening them up to new things. Where does that leave you today with this project?

1:01:39Is this this first year of kind of jumping in and leaving Singapore behind? On par with your expectations? Did it exceed your expectations? How do you feel about how the project is going so far? Good. Very good. I didn't, so coming in, I did not have any expectations. I think that was, when I came to Japan, I did think what's the worst thing that could happen. Business fails. I can't open the rail gun. Okay, fine. I'll go back to Singapore. I still have a home there. My kids can go back to school. It's still okay. So my expectations were basically pretty, maybe I did not set any expectations. Just coming in, go with the flow, see what happens. So maybe because I did not set any expectations, I felt, yeah, everything is a positive. I meet a new friend, great, or I can do this great.

1:02:42Just taking things as it comes and everything as a learning journey, really, being positive, open-minded. What are your expectations now for the opening of Hureo Tells? When it just comes out, but around the same time. Okay. At least for now, I hope to let more people know about Tuyama. Whether they want to stay in my real kind of knot doesn't matter. I really, really love Tuyama so much because I really truly feel it's sort of like undiscovered yet or underrated. Yeah, it's not as common as a destination as many other places in Japan. Because it's in between Nagano and Kanazawa. These two are the ones I would say more popular with twers. And so Tuyama is sort of like easy to get to these two places, but people just, I would

1:03:51say pass by, I would say, I don't know why. But I hope people would give Tuyama a chance because Tuyama has the sea. It has the mountain. It has really good seafood. And more importantly, one thing I noticed about the local people in Tuyama is that they're very proud of being from Tuyama. Like they have to say, I'm from Tuyama. I love it here. I went skiing last year and I asked the ski instructor, where's the best place to ski? I was to know Tuyama. Number one, better than Nisiko. He's so proud. You can see it is the best. I truly sort of maybe bind to that and believe that as well. And I guess, yeah, that's my goal. I just want to let everyone know. Everyone to know more about Tuyama because it really needs motorists. I'm not saying that for my hotel or anything, but I feel it has a support structure to support

1:04:58more tours. It's a really beautiful place to explore sort of like the simple life of Japan. First people have a couple of nights to spend in Tuyama. What would you recommend to them? Sakuragicho. So Sakuragicho is sort of like a night bus, next time area. At first, I wasn't unfamiliar with it. I was like karaoke bars. It wasn't very clear what it is. But after spending some time there, I felt like, dude, this is like back. It's a time capsule. It's like stuck in the 80s, 90s, the Showa era. When you go to the bar, everyone is in all mail customers wearing their business suits.

1:06:03And then the ladies are pouring you drink. I have not experienced that in Kyoto or Osaka or Tokyo. Only in Tuyama. And that's the first place I would recommend. Then of course, Tatiama, if you like hiking, amazing, amazing. And if you go over there in the summer, you can still see snow. Oh wow. So for people in Southeast Asia, if you like snow, we love snow, because we don't have snow. You can come in June and you get to see snow. And the best thing is that the sun is still up at 6.30 pm. You don't have to rush down to back to the city at 4. Then of course, Kurobi Gorge can take the train right. It's best to visit in autumn. And if you're coming in winter, I would say try the local ski areas.

1:07:05Not as crowded, quieter, smaller. And for someone who's not into big ski or just learning to ski, it's a very comfortable place to learn to ski without the crowds. Yeah. A lot of interesting and exciting places, especially outdoors. It's all about outdoors. This is great. And maybe if you are cultural sites, but a lot of beautiful open spaces for places. Yeah. I would say Kanazawa. If you want cultural stuff, go to Kanazawa. And also, noto. So you know, two years ago, there was a big earthquake. And I think Tuyama is actually, it's only three hour drive or two hour drive to Wajima. Beautiful place. I did a road trip there, a day trip around Noto Peninsula from Tuyama.

1:08:08Super beautiful. And I felt a bit sorry because why? Yeah. Why? But then again, very encouraged to see how, because I went there two years ago, I've seen houses like collapsed completely and was left there. And then just I think three months ago, I went up to visit. Things were repaid. The houses that were down were all removed. Things were clean up. Rotes were built. Amazing. Just amazing. I don't even, it's only in Japan. You can see the whole cliff falling down collapse. And today, there's a road that goes around that cliff, that rubbed the rubbles and stuff like that. A lot of things to expect in the coming years as well in Noto. Hopefully they can rebuild and reattract some people to visit that area so the local residents can, can, beautiful place. Really, really beautiful place.

1:09:08Recall from everything. We talked about a lot of topics and hopefully you gave a lot of people some ideas for a next little trip to Tuyama. Certainly you made me want to go and explore, which is not too far from us. Not too far. Is there anything that we didn't really talk about that you would have like to bring up today that maybe we can still cover? I think maybe I just want to add, I mentioned earlier to you, I think among your guests maybe I'm one of the newer residents to Japan. And if you were thinking about coming to Japan, I would say do come. But make sure if it doesn't work out, you can always go home. Especially if you're in your 40s and you have kids. Because as a non-resident here, the business manager visa requirements can change in the

1:10:13future. And you have to always be prepared for the worst. That's my only advice. You have to be prepared. And if the worst happens, is that okay for you? Can you go return home? And if you can return home, then, and you can accept that, then by all means, like come to Japan, it's the wonderful place. You get to meet so many new people, new experiences, especially in the smaller cities, all the towns. To make sure to have a plan, be a backup plan, and not just approach your entire life without having any certainty of where you could go, should things not work out. Definitely. I'd always be too stressful for the kids. Wives are not going to be happy. You're not going to be here. Very long. Very thank you very much for sharing a little bit about your journey, your challenges and experience.

1:11:13And probably we should have you back, maybe, in a couple of years to see how you're able to have a good time doing after operations really start and kind of see how the business develops from there. I hope you've inspired a few people to take up a new challenge and see that things are possible. Even if you seem to be in a quite settled career and space at home, if you want to take on a new challenge, just things are possible in Japan. Thank you very much. My pleasure. Thank you. Thank you everyone for listening and watching. This was Unpacking Japan and we'll see you in the next episode. Take care. Thanks Toby. Awesome. I don't know if I'd have the guts to go. Thanks for sticking with us until the end. If you haven't already, please consider subscribing to Unpacking Japan. It's the best way to help us grow and ensure that we can keep bringing you these deep dives every week. Until next time, take care.