PokeEarn Interview Takahiro Matsui | PokeEarn Official Site | PokeEarn

Matsui recalls that when the company was founded, Nine Hours put effort into design in order to win over a user base different from that of conventional capsule hotels.

"Capsule hotels once had the image of a place where people who missed the last train reluctantly stayed. To break away from that image and create a facility that a new user base, women in particular, would use, we drew on the power of design."

In creating the hotel, the sensibility of product designer Fumie Shibata was fully brought to bear.

"Working from a woman's perspective, Ms. Shibata pared away the elements that were thought essential to a capsule hotel, such as the communal bath and the television inside the capsule."

As a result, Nine Hours became a capsule hotel whose core users are in their 20s and 30s, with many female guests. Above all, it became a facility that guests actively choose, rather than one they stay at reluctantly.

"We won design awards in Japan and abroad and generated some buzz, and thanks to that, Nine Hours was able to steadily increase its number of buildings."

However, Matsui is concerned that design appeal alone will make it difficult to survive going forward.

"The hotel business is hard to differentiate, and you never know when your design advantage will be caught up with. In fact, there was a period after our success when capsule hotels that put effort into design increased."

So, what Matsui turned his attention to was "sleep data."

"What we came up with to create a new point of differentiation was the 'Sleep Analysis Service,' which collects scientific sleep data inside the capsule and shares it with the guest."

In the "Sleep Analysis Service," sensors, microphones, and cameras installed inside the capsule measure a guest's sleep, and the results are provided as a report.

"We set ourselves apart by offering value not only as a well-designed lodging facility, but also as a wellness facility where guests can gain a deeper understanding of their own sleep."

While speaking with sleep experts in the course of developing the service, Matsui learned that sleep can easily be the gateway to poor health.

"I came to see that giving guests an opportunity to become conscious of their health condition is also part of this service's mission."

Starting with a single location in 2021, this service has now expanded to six locations. It continues to evolve, introducing new capsules with high sound insulation, among other improvements.

"The capsules are designed so that sensors and cameras can be swapped out as needed. Just as automobiles and electronic devices have evolved their products alongside advances in semiconductors, we felt the capsule should also adopt the optimal device for each era and keep evolving."

Matsui says there are many positive reactions from guests, such as "This is exactly the kind of service I wanted!"

"The need to know one's own sleep is surprisingly great, and nearly one million people a year use the service."

Because images and audio are recorded, which involves privacy, guests are asked to sign a consent form, but only about 20 percent decline.

"On top of the need to understand one's sleep, capsule hotel guests tend not to be overly concerned about privacy, which is likely another reason there are few dropouts. There is no difference in the dropout rate between men and women, which shows the need exists regardless of gender."

It currently provides a report covering items such as heart rate during sleep, the number of times one turns over or snores, and the number and duration of breathing pauses.

"Many people are especially concerned about their breathing. Some come after a family member has pointed out that they stop breathing while asleep. In such cases it is important to first see a medical institution, but I feel this service has become a catalyst for raising people's interest in sleep."

In fact, the "Sleep Data Provision Plan" is priced exactly the same as an ordinary overnight stay. Nine Hours' sleep business generates revenue by providing anonymized sleep data to companies, among other means.

"At first we conceived of it purely as a business that provides data to our customers, but even during the preparation stage we received a surprising number of requests for data from companies and other organizations. That was when we learned that, because sleep is such a private matter, there is an overwhelming shortage of data on it."

The sleep data that only Nine Hours can obtain is being used to help solve social issues, through research and development at companies engaged in sleep-related businesses.

"Sleep is deeply connected to health, yet there is no data, so research and development haven't advanced. Feeling that I wanted to contribute if it could help solve a social issue, I decided to provide the data."

The data provided to companies and other organizations is basically collected and customized for each research purpose. The collection period is limited, but even so, being able to secure numbers large enough to turn into big data is one of Nine Hours' strengths.

"If a company wants to understand the relationship between a certain product and sleep tendencies, Nine Hours can collect data from several thousand people in two weeks. As reference data for a company's product development, that is a very large sample size."