Onsen inn exports Japanese hospitality to Taiwan

For obvious reasons, Taiwanese tourists in Japan have enjoyed relaxing dips in hot spring waters, having meals already waiting in their rooms, and watching kimono-clad staff cater to their needs, including filling glasses with cold beer.

Now, a prestigious hotel company will bring the hospitality and other hallmarks of Japanese onsen to Taiwan in December in the form of a sprawling inn in Beitou.

The Radium-Kagaya resort is being built by Kagaya Hotels Co., operator of the Kagaya inn in the Wakura Onsen resort area in Nanao, Ishikawa Prefecture, with help from Taiwanese real estate developer Radium Life Tech Co.

The giant 14-story hotel near Taipei will have 90 guest rooms and four underground levels, and feature a huge bath with natural hot spring water flowing in from Beitou's sulfuric source.

The estimated construction cost of the hotel is 6 billion yen ($71.1 million).

Kagaya's move in Taiwan comes amid interest from various communities in Russia and Vietnam in using Japanese expertise to run hot spring facilities at their own resorts.

For 30 straight years, the Kagaya inn has received the top rank in the annual list of Japan's 100 best hotels and inns selected by professionals in the industry.

The Kagaya inn receives 8,000 to 10,000 guests from Taiwan a year, and many are repeat customers.

To ensure the same hospitality at the Radium-Kagaya resort, Kagaya since January has been training 70 to 80 Taiwanese staff in Japan on how to serve meals in guest rooms and pour drinks for customers.

"The hardest part for many appears to be sitting straight with their legs tucked underneath," said Masao Torimoto, executive director at Kagaya Hotels.

A 26-year-old female services staff member from Taiwan said the content of services is basically the same in Taiwan and Japan.

"The big difference is that in Taiwan, service is provided only after guests seek it, whereas in Japan, service is provided before the customer even asks," she said.

The dinner menu at Radium-Kagaya will be basically the same as the one in Japan: a course of 12 to 13 dishes that includes sashimi, grilled meat or fish, and stewed and steamed vegetables.

A one-night stay in a room shared by two will cost a minimum 32,000 yen per person.

Radium-Kagaya expects Taiwanese to make up 70 percent of its clientele, followed by about 20 percent from Japan and the rest from Southeast Asia.

An official at the Japan Tourism Facilities Association in Tokyo said it is rare for a traditional Japanese inn to expand overseas.

However, interest in motenashi--traditional Japanese hospitality--and water-supplying systems of onsen spas in Japan is growing abroad.

According to the Tokyo-based Japan Spa Association, many participants from abroad at the 2009 Congress of the World Federation of Hydrotherapy and Climatotherapy held in Yokohama appeared keen on gaining Japanese onsen know-how.

The largest delegation came from Russia, which has large hot spring resorts on the Kamchatka Peninsula. Many Russian delegates visited Japanese spas in Kusatsu, Gunma Prefecture, and other areas.

"The opening (of the new inn) is an export of Japanese onsen inn culture," said Kagaya's Torimoto. "We hope to score a success and expand to other countries and regions."