URESHINO, Japan >> Working remotely from tourist resorts and other vacation destinations is attracting attention, and efforts are growing to turn hot spring inns into offices.

Wataya Besso, a long-established ryokan (inn) in Ureshino, Saga prefecture, is one of the first inns in Japan to adopt the work-at-ryokan system, dubbed the “Ureshino model.”

The ryokan has been in the spotlight since April 2020, when the nation was grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic and 11 companies from around Japan began using the inn.

Amid the sound of a stream and a chorus of birdsong, Ayano Nire, 36, worked at a computer in what once was a ryokan guest room. Nire works for Innovation Partners Inc., a Tokyo-­based promotion company for tourist resort revitalization projects. Wataya Besso, located in the Ureshino Onsen hot spring resort, is serving as the company’s Asia head office.

“The smell of the wood makes me feel relaxed. I also get more work done here,” Nire said.

About eight of the company’s approximately 20 employees work at the ryokan. Their perks: bathing in the hot springs and accessing a cafeteria for ryokan employees.

Nire was hired in Tokyo and required to move to the area, and she has been working in Ureshino since January. She gets into the hot spring whenever she has a mental block and often comes up with ideas while chatting with workers of other companies in the ryokan’s common space, she said.

“There is something about the ryokan that makes people more friendly,” Nire said.

Wataya Besso, established in 1950, encompasses an area of more than 710,000 square feet. When Yoshimoto Kohara, 47, became its president in 2013, he felt the ryokan was not making the most of the area’s rich assets, including the Ureshino hot spring said to beautify skin, as well as tea and pottery known to be among the best in Japan.

After Innovation Partners suggested renting out some of the ryokan’s spaces, Kohara explored ways to extend his company beyond the conventional ryokan business model.

Wataya Besso once received more than 100,000 overnight visitors a year, but it suffered financially after pandemic and was in such a slump that it received only two guests a day. In fact, there were many days when its 130 guest rooms and 25 banquet rooms were unused.

“I realized how fragile the ryokan industry was,” Kohara said.

The situation prompted him to try something different. In April 2020, he began renting out renovated guest rooms. Fees vary depending on the size of the room, ranging from about $1,300 monthly for startups to as much as $5,200.

Thanks in part to a city subsidy program, the ryokan now houses a Tokyo-­based web production company and 10 other firms. This has also led to the creation of about 50 jobs locally.

The ryokan’s efforts illustrated a new way to attract enterprises to local areas. Over the past three years, it has received more than 3,000 visitors from businesses and central and local governments.

The central government is urging companies to allow more employees to work remotely at tourist spots and vacation destinations. These environments could help reduce stress, improve motivation and increase productivity, it says. In return, the setup allows hotels and ryokan to generate stable revenue.

In fact, the Ureshino model has been used in various locations, including long-established ryokan in the hot spring resort of Gamagori, Aichi prefecture, and a ski resort in Myoko, Niigata prefecture.

“It’s more comfortable to work at this ryokan than in any other office building in the Tokyo metropolitan area,” Kohara said. “We aim to offer even more high-value services.”