Greetings from Kan Akane Co.
My name is Himiko Ito, Representative Director of Kan Akane Co.
We are a travel agency based in Toubetsu-cho, Hokkaido, specializing in inbound travel to Japan, targeting people from Greater China.
Thank you for taking the time to review this article. Why Entrepreneurship?" Why inbound to Greater China?" I am often asked, so I would like to tell you why I founded this company, including my background.
Company Name and Origin of Company Name
The company name reads "Kan-Akane. It means "a brilliant sunset in cold weather.
It has been 10 years since I moved from Hokkaido to Kansai. I still love the sunset amidst the snowy landscape that I see from the window of my parents' house when I return home. The Akane-iro sunsets seen in the clear winter air are even more vivid and beautiful, and I hope to bring the excitement of Japan's four seasons to travelers.
Background and History of Company Establishment
■High School Years
Until I graduated from high school, I lived in Tobetsu-cho, Hokkaido, a town of about 15,000 people about 20 km north of Sapporo. To digress a bit, in high school I met a great friend with a global mindset, and this sparked my interest in foreign countries.
Influenced by Haruki Murakami's novel "Sputnik's Lover," I had a yearning to become a wine importer, and I learned about Kobe University of Foreign Studies through the entrance exam information magazine "Hotaruki Jidai. I gave up the Department of International Relations, which I had hoped to enter, in tears because of my score on the Center Test, and passed the Department of Chinese Studies, which I chose by process of elimination to avoid being a ronin (a student who was sent to waste time).
■University days
I studied Chinese at university and spent four years immersed in the language (plus one year studying abroad on a leave of absence), including three years as a member of a club that put on plays in Chinese and one year as a language student in Shanghai.
While a student at the university, I was invited by Professor Mao Danqing, a visiting professor and writer, to be a reporter for "Zainippon," a Japanese culture magazine for China, and this was the starting point of my career.
To make a long story short, I learned a lot about China from the many Chinese friends I met and learned from many Chinese friends I met in college, and this is what inspired me to want to tell people in China about Japan.
■Working people
As a working professional since April 2019, I have been involved in planning and promoting inbound tours mainly for Greater China. During my working life, I have been involved in influencer promotion and the management of official Chinese-language SNS accounts, and have tried various methods, but I often had doubts about their effectiveness and reconsidered what the real effect the clients were seeking was. In particular, I realized that mere reliance on influence often fails to achieve the objective. As a result of this realization, my desire to seek a more essential and effective approach grew stronger, and I decided that my answer at this point was to directly increase the number of customers in my capacity as a travel agent.
In addition, I feel that the position of "Chinese-speaking Japanese" is more valuable than I had expected, even if it is in the foreground.
In the course of our promotional work for overseas markets, we have gained a great deal of experience in carefully explaining the background of countries with different cultures and exchanging opinions with clients and the media. In this process, I have keenly realized the importance of how to adjust and deepen mutual understanding with counterparts who have different cultures and values. In particular, cross-cultural coordination requires a flexible and sensitive approach, and I believe that my experience of constantly being torn between different cultures is a skill that will surely be useful for my future growth as a management personnel.
In addition, as symbolized by the Chinese saying "上有政策，下有対策 (If there is a policy at the top, there is a measure at the bottom)," I often felt a great difference from Japan in the cultural background of asserting the legitimacy of policies and laws by exploiting their blind spots. However, in spite of this, there were many occasions when we were helped by Chinese people with deep pockets by deepening mutual understanding, and we were able to build a relationship of trust that transcended different cultures. In this way, my strength lies in my ability to build relationships that go one step further and advance business operations.
■Tourism MBA
In 2024, I enrolled in Kyoto University's Tourism MBA program. When I learned of the existence of this course of study in tourism management, I decided to enroll because I wanted to study tourism management from a more bird's eye view, as Chinese was my major in undergraduate school. While engaging in friendly competition with classmates from various backgrounds, I researched what the Japanese version of DMC should be.
Conclusion: What "Kan Akane" aims for in the future
In retrospect, growing up in a small town in Hokkaido, I was fascinated by the Chinese language, which I would have chosen by process of elimination, and relearned it in an MBA program as I ran into obstacles in my practical work. All of these experiences have made me the person I am today.
The desire to "deliver more intrinsic value" felt in the inbound field. And a desire to convey to the world the local scenery that I love so much. In order to give shape to these desires, we established Kan Akane Co.
We are not simply a company that sells travel. We want to be a partner in designing "moments of inspiration" that transcend language barriers and cultural differences and allow the people of Japan and Greater China to understand each other deeply.
We have just begun this challenge, but we will deliver a journey that will remain vivid in people's hearts like an akane-iro sunset shining in the winter sky.
We hope you will warmly watch the progress of "Kan Akane" from now on.
