Adding "play" to the essentials of life. Asobuy's mission to revolutionize the leisure industry.

This series features interviews between Dentsu Inc. employees supporting startups and entrepreneurs, executives, investors, CMOs, and others from startup companies. We explore how they overcame challenges encountered during the growth of their companies and businesses.

This episode's guest is Tomoh isa Yamano, CEO of Asobu Inc., which operates the leisure booking site " Asobu! ". What strategies lay behind its growth into Japan's largest platform in the leisure industry? Motofusa Hirota of Dentsu Inc. spoke with him.

【About Asobuy!】
A web service where users can search for and book "play" experiences, including entertainment facilities and leisure activities nationwide. It boasts Japan's largest scale, featuring over 600 types of activities across more than 8,800 facilities and approximately 6.3 million registered users.

People faced common challenges when finding activities at their travel destinations

Hirota: It's been over 15 years since I first met Mr. Yamano, right?

Yamano: We became close friends around my first year in the workforce and often went out for meals.

Hirota: I knew you talked about wanting to start a business someday, but I was surprised when you left Recruit and went independent in just three or four years. You founded the company in 2011, but why did you focus on the leisure industry (leisure market) in the first place?

Yamano: What I learned firsthand during my time at Recruit was that "creating services during the introductory phase of a growth industry is crucial." Essentially, I believed that providing value where customer demand is increasing is how you contribute to society. My reference point was the "Cool Japan Strategy" launched by the Cabinet Office in 2011.

It stated that refining content capable of earning foreign currency would be essential to Japan's future growth strategy, specifically naming six growth industries: traditional crafts, architecture, food, pop culture, fashion, and tourism.

Focusing on tourism—my personal favorite—I researched insights and discovered that many people actually struggled with what to do at their travel destinations. Whether traveling or just going out, they couldn't decide what to do locally. This meant everyone was struggling with "play." Considering the potential for values like those in Europe—prizing leisure time and family time—to spread in Japan, I thought the play industry could become a growth sector where customer pain points remain unresolved.

Hirota: I see. By the way, did you not consider other markets like food or pop culture?

Yamano: For me, all the elements connected perfectly. Tourism is a growth industry. A growth industry is one where customers have many unmet needs. Researching the tourism industry revealed numerous unmet needs specifically in the "play" domain. Furthermore, in Japan, where workaholics are common, the value of enriching "play" will only increase. Our first target was solving travel destination challenges, and from there, we expanded our scope to encompass the entire play distribution ecosystem.

Hirota: I see. Were there any services you referenced?

Yamano: Asobuy's business model itself isn't complex. It's a service that matches consumers seeking leisure information with businesses like leisure facilities wanting customers, all online. In that sense, we benchmarked against all kinds of reservation sites – travel sites, of course, but also taxi booking sites, salon booking sites, and so on.

Management is a continuous series of unknown experiences. Growth lies ahead after persistently solving each challenge one by one.

Hirota: Over ten years have passed since founding, and the team has grown from just three members to over 200 today. As the company rapidly expanded, you must have faced many first-time experiences as a manager. How did you navigate the company's growth and these unknown experiences?

Yamano: It all comes down to tackling each challenge as it appeared. As you said, everything that happened was a first-time experience. Things rarely went according to plan.

First, we refined the product to monetize the service. Once service providers started gathering, we negotiated with them to enable instant booking instead of request-based reservations. After establishing a user-friendly service, we then studied fundraising from scratch and executed it to accelerate growth. As the business expanded and our team grew, we defined and instilled our mission and rules to make everyone's work easier, while also developing core members.

Challenges just keep coming one after another like this. I believe our current position is built on the accumulated history of facing them head-on without flinching and persistently solving them.

Hirota: As employee numbers grow—10, 30, 50, 100—many startups face management and engagement challenges. Despite its scale, Asobue seems strongly mission-driven. Do you have specific criteria for selecting team members?

Yamano: It's hard to list everything in detail, but first and foremost, we prioritize how strongly someone resonates with our mission. We believe Asobuy's purpose within society is paramount, so whether someone shares that sense of mission and vision for the world we aim to create is absolutely crucial.

Another key factor we value is altruism. We believe the root of business is helping customers and receiving money as a token of gratitude. So, we look for people who genuinely want to help others. That's why many of our members are kind-hearted souls (laughs).

The Meaning Behind the New Mission: "Play is Essential to Life"

Hirota: I've been involved with Asobue since the logo creation, but the most memorable project was revising their mission statement for their 10th anniversary. Asobue already had a wonderful mission: "Bringing Excitement to Everyone." This phrase was so deeply ingrained that it even attracted people to join the company.

Yamano: I believe the initial request wasn't to change the mission, but to update the vision. While the vision statement was accurate, we wanted something shorter and more impactful. We hadn't planned to change the mission. However, when I explained our current mission, I was told the wording felt too pop-culture and needed updating. You're right, it was a mission everyone cherished, so I distinctly remember feeling nervous at first, thinking, "Wait, we're changing it?" (laughs).

But the proposed copy—"Live with Play."—felt incredibly powerful. I sensed it could convey our genuine commitment and depth. I believed this could surpass the mission statement everyone loved.

Hirota: That's right. As we held multiple meetings with Yamano-san, we were repeatedly impressed by his passion and high perspective – his drive to "create a fourth culture alongside food, clothing, and shelter." I believe "Live with Play." was the translation of that vision within Yamano-san.

Yamano: Precisely. That phrase emerged because Hirota and the team thought about the company with the same passion as Asobue's employees and truly understood us deeply. It reaffirmed the strength of your relationship-building and creative abilities.

(Continued in Part 2)