Embraced by people and nature: Taketa Station Hostel Cue

Waking to the chiming tunes that ring through the streets at 6am. Taking in the smell of coffee that fills the house. Savoring the hearty breakfast, as the citizens of Taketa city wake and bustle by the cafe window on the ground floor.

That is the morning experience you get at Taketa Station Hostel Cue, a hostel located in quaint Taketa city, Oita Prefecture. About an hour’s drive from Oita city, the centuries-old city is watched over by the surrounding nature, water and mountain ranges. And the Hostel Cue team, led by Takao and Sakura Horiba, is ready to welcome all guests.

The beginnings of Taketa Ekimae Hostel Cue

Although Hostel Cue opened in April 2017, the couple moved to Taketa city about three years earlier, in 2014. Having joined the Regional Development Cooperation Team in the same year, the couple wanted to provide accommodations for travelers coming to Taketa city. It fit their love for travel.

Sakura also saw potential in establishing a place of accommodation in Taketa City. The region had a good size of the population, and the timing was right for them. While there weren’t a lot of tourists, Taketa’s way of life was visible. “When Takao and I travel, we really love having the opportunity to interact with locals. Taketa offered that same attraction, where we could feel the proximity to the locals’ lifestyle. That was also a deciding factor why we decided to move to Taketa city.”

An old 80-year-old house became their destined foothold, as renovations began with its conversion into the now Hostel Cue. Now, Taketa Ekimae Hostel Cue has two additional members, Rika and Mari. Rika too loved to travel and was in the Regional Development Cooperation Team together with the Horiba couple. It seemed like a good match of interest and timing. Mari was born in the Taketa region, and it was a chance meeting that Mari came to cue. Mari happened to be visiting with a friend who planned to stay at cue, and learned that cue was recruiting. She then became a member of Hostel Cue.

Actively building connections between guests and Taketa city

And there is a reason why Hostel Cue feels homely for guests, to keep them returning to Taketa city. “We want them to find reasons to return to this place by connecting with the residents of Taketa and making friends. This way, when they return, they will be greeted with ‘Welcome home!’” shared Takao.

While serving as an accommodation is a given, the team goes beyond to ensure guests discover what the region has to offer. Guests are given a special map of Taketa, which shares information that only locals would know. The team matches the needs of the guests by providing customized information that they will find interesting. It also helps that the members of Hostel Cue are friendly, sometimes bringing the guests to places of interest or even drinks at night. This often forms strong friendships.

“It is important, of course, that we raise the satisfaction level of our guests as an accommodation. However, it is more important that there is a high level of satisfaction in their experience interacting with Taketa.” Sakura reaffirmed. “So even though we have many guests who only stay for a night, they will realize that one night’s stay is really not enough. Perhaps they will then return and stay for another two or three nights.”

Hostel Cue is also for returning residents too

However, Hostel Cue is not just for guests visiting the city. Hostel Cue wants to be more than just an accommodation.

Even with all its gifts, Taketa faces depopulation and population imbalance like many rural areas of Japan. This is evident in the youth population. To further their studies in universities, students often move to bigger cities to attend them and continue seeking employment in big companies after graduation. “We saw a lot of youths leaving Taketa because there was a lack of jobs and job variety. So while many wanted to return to Taketa, their career aspirations demanded they remain in bigger cities.”

When Takao was involved in town planning during his time in the Regional Development Cooperation Team, he saw how the lack of youths is a big issue. Till today, a population imbalance remains a problem in Taketa, especially with youths seeking education and occupation in bigger cities. Therefore the importance of having jobs and job variety cannot be overestimated. If Hostel Cue could be one of the places that provide hospitality work for interested youths, then it would have fulfilled another goal of Hostel Cue: a local business that provides jobs in the region.

Coronavirus against the unwavering vision of Hostel Cue

Yet even as a successful element in revitalizing the city, Hostel Cue has not escaped the economical effects of the coronavirus outbreak. As Takao shared, “Thanks to Rika and Mari, we had the most guests we ever had till March this year. Hostel Cue was in great shape. Unfortunately, we had zero guests in the following month.” That was when the outbreak revealed its ugly head in Japan.

“Prioritizing the health of the Cue members and the town, we decided to close the hostel temporarily,” Takao continued. “This was even before the government announced the closure of [non-essential] businesses. Drawing outside guests and increasing the risk of exposure was not what we wanted for Taketa.”

Even though Hostel Cue reopened in June, it saw an 80% decrease in guest numbers. Though Hostel Cue has an online store to combat the decrease, it will not be able to build a following as fast. Nevertheless, the team is developing new products, with original products and many collaborations with local artisans.

Another main concern the team at Hostel Cue had was maintaining the relationships with returning guests. In response, the team also conducted online tours.

Takao explained, “Rika has experience as a guide, obtained while she was in Panama. We had this plan in the works even before the coronavirus pandemic kicked in, which makes now the perfect time for us to work on and launch this service.”

There is no rush in finding a way to use online – A show of resilience with a strong vision

While many businesses, not just in the accommodation scene, are struggling to adapt and find ways to use online media, Rika, the captain of the team, holds a positive outlook towards this.

“I think it’s alright that we may not know what the “right answer” is. In fact, we may not even need it. What Hostel Cue wants to do is care for our guests, so it is not going to be what the right product to sell to customers is. Sure, we’ll need business planning. But as long as we take care of the guests, it’s okay to get “lost” or “make mistakes” while searching for ways to tackle obstacles.”

Therefore, we can see how Hostel Cue has a key strength. They do not lose sight of their vision, of their ideal self. That unwavering vision is what will tide Hostel Cue through the coronavirus crisis.

Takao concludes, “It’s been said that we can never return to the days of a pre-coronavirus era. And for Hostel Cue, we really value the proximity between our guests and the community. While we want to provide a safe environment for our members to work, we also want to fully leverage online platforms for Hostel Cue.”

SDGs in Taketa – old concepts, new terms

Hostel Cue offers guests a sustainable accommodation too. It was about a year ago when Hostel Cue formally started using the term SDGs. “Formally”, because even though the word was new, the Horibas were already taking actions to benefit nature and the local community.

Trendy words like “sustainability” and “zero waste” may be all the rage in cities. In comparison, there is less promotion of these concepts in smaller Japanese cities and towns. Even mentioning the term “sustainability” raises uncertainty on what the word means. However, while the words are unfamiliar, the concepts are centuries old in Taketa. They already have a natural belief of mottainai (waste not), and a reverence for nature.

Nature is precious. And from it, gratitude for nature

Sakura shares, “When Takao and I came to Taketa, one of the questions we had in mind was, ‘What is real?’ Eventually, the answer came to be whatever comes closest to nature. And in that sense, whatever comes from nature is precious.

“Taketa residents live harmoniously with each other while sharing what nature gives us. Thus, we make choices to benefit the environment, for example buying organic even though it is slightly more expensive.”

We can exemplify this with the two mountains in surrounding regions, Aso and Kuju. This meant that people living nearby have access to two different types of high-quality water. Speaking with both the residents and artisans in Taketa, there is a strong sense of gratitude for these gifts of nature.

We can also see it even in the popular annual Chikuraku Festival, which is also a solution to conserve the bamboo forest for the next 100 years. Because of that, many local volunteers participated, helping to thin 20,000 bamboos to make the bamboo lamps. Even after the Festival, the used lamps are not thrown away. Instead, the bamboos are later converted into coal for fuel. There is a strong relationship with nature and a sense of mottainai, making nothing derived from nature is wasted.

Minimizing Hostel Cue’s impact on the environment from Day Zero

So when renovation on Hostel Cue started, the Horibas were already thinking of ensuring lowering the environmental impact of the accommodation. For example, the building they renovated was over 80 years old. They used rescued boards (repurposed wooden boards from old buildings to use in new buildings) to build the structure. Interior decorations included old antiques that fit the hostel’s atmosphere. It’s even incorporated in day to day activities, like laundry and detergent alternatives, no single-use plastics, and the use of organic products.

What’s interesting is that because living sustainably is such a matter-of-fact for the residents, there really isn’t a point of reference to how important such a lifestyle is. For Hostel Cue, it wasn’t until Rika arrived that they discovered the word, learning how their efforts were actually working towards sustainability.

Aspirations of creating connections

Hostel Cue is just the first step. Of course, while the growth of the relatively new hostel should come first, the Horibas would like to create valuable businesses that benefit society.

As a matter of fact, the name of the Horibas’ company is called Solairo Days, which is a version of the Japanese phrase, “days of the color of the sky.” It refers to the different shades of the sky from day to day, which offers widespread future opportunities, and which we often take for granted. And this concept reflects in the company’s vision of bringing the different aspects of life to their guests and customers. Hostel Cue is one of the manifestations of that vision.

“The word “cue” itself means opportunity. It not only creates the opportunity to travel, but it also becomes an opportunity for the town itself. That is a connection between travelers and Taketa that Hostel Cue can create. The guests retain fond memories of their experiences in Taketa, which can take the form of the delicious water, the locals they talked to, or the knowledge from artisans. These memories can have impacts on the guests’ lifestyles when they return home.”

These connections are treasured in Japan. The guests are sometimes referred to as the “relationship population”, and are considered a big key to regional revitalization. “Relationship population” are people who do not live in the region but has a connection to the region itself. Seeing the kind of connections that accommodations can build, the Horibas would like to expand Solairo Days and offer more of such opportunities.

The importance of human relationships, both internal and external

However, it is not all about the guests’ side. Takao reminds us that the work environment is equally important too, especially for the Cue members. During meetings, they try to incorporate the ideals of Mari and Rika, like the wants to be surrounded by nature and to work anywhere they want.

Takao shared, “There must be choices available, and Taketa City has a lack of choices for work. And Hostel Cue wants to be an example where people can choose to work here, at a time suitable for them. The work-life changes due to the coronavirus outbreak are showing us that it is possible.”

From human interactions, come the best memories

Among all, the Horibas treasures the Cue members the most. The coronavirus outbreak and the temporary closure of Hostel Cue would mean a distance created between them. Would the outbreak mean a separation of the team? In a way, the pandemic made that appreciation apparent.

And the preciousness of human relationships manifests itself beyond the cherishing of the Cue members. In fact, that is something the team witnesses very often. For example, the reversal of hosts and guests as the members visited other countries, like Spain. The Spanish folks, once guests of Hostel Cue, showed their form of hospitality. The close relationships can also be seen even in the daily work at Hostel Cue, when each departure of guests contain smiles exchanged.

Sakura reflected, “We are always grateful for guests coming here for travel or work, especially the repeat customers who have found a connection with Taketa City. To be able to say ‘Take care! See you soon!’ when they leave, and greet ‘Welcome back!’ when they return, we will have created a home, a place of belonging for our guests.”

The future of Hostel Cue

For the team, Hostel Cue is not just about providing accommodation, but also about creation of a community. That is the core purpose of Hostel Cue.

“It would be possible to do automated check-ins and communicate only through digital means. However, what then would be the purpose of Hostel Cue? Any business hotel can replace such an accommodation,” Takao shared thoughtfully.

And it’s a very important step in creating a place of belonging for the relationship population. Indeed, Hostel Cue is an accommodation that goes beyond providing a bed to sleep in.

While Japan’s recent shift towards sustainable consumption (like buying ethical fashion or preventing food waste), the concept of sustainable accommodations is still in its early stages in Japan. Even so, Hostel Cue is determined to maintain its course towards sustainability. This makes Hostel Cue ideal for anyone looking for a sustainable place to stay.

Visit Hostel Cue here!