An Ice Hotel? The Experience Matters!
Understanding the Japanese market takes understanding the Japanese experience.
There is a small town called Shimakappu located right in the middle of the northern island of Hokkaido. From January through February, during the coldest of winter, you can book a hotel room at the Alpha Resort Tomamu, in the exclusive Ice Hotel. This is not your ordinary run of the mill hotel without a heater, it is actually entire guest rooms and amenity areas made of Ice.
The rooms are made of ice, the beds are made of ice and the chairs are made of ice. To top it off the temperatures can get below zero F (-20 degrees C). Do not worry, there are beautiful, world class ski hills to warm up on in the morning!
Why would anyone want to stay here, for the experience. The Japanese consumer loves to try new and fun products and ideas and love to tell about the experience. This is not an experience that is cheap either, the room costs roughly 15,000 yen ($156) per person per night. However, that does include a complimentary breakfast!
Do not count your product out as a possible success story in Japan without giving them a chance to experience it for themselves!
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Before you try to do business in Japan, know this: You don't even know what you don't know. Japanese consumers are hungry for products, but cutting through the Japanese red tape takes experience and manpower in Japan.
Tokyo Trade Company can help you get your products to Japan. We are an experienced partnership between Japanese and American businessmen. We can help you license your product, get government approval and market it throughout Japan.
