Eureka: CEO Naoki Mita explains how Le Furo created the ‘espresso’ of hot springs

0:15You're listening to Eureka on Monocle Radio, brought to you by the team behind the entrepreneurs, the show all about inspiring people, innovative companies and fresh ideas in global business. I'm Tom Edwards. Japan is the world's leading hot spring nation, home to more than 27 ,000 natural sources indeed. But one company is looking to reinterpret the ancient onsen ritual for a modern global audience. Naoki Mita is the CEO of LeFuro, a business producing craft onsen, highly concentrated hot spring solutions designed to capture the therapeutic benefits of Japan's mineral-rich waters and make them accessible far beyond the country's volcanic shores.

0:54Their craft onsen bottles are made possible by technology that concentrates hot spring components up to 10 ,000 times, what they call the espresso of hot springs. So how do you attempt to bottle the very essence of onsen and what does it take to share something so deeply rooted in place with the wider world? Well, here is Naoki Mitter with more.

1:21Japan's hot springs has long been seen as a part of tourism. But when you look at them scientifically and medically, they contain really rich natural minerals with proven health benefit. So despite being a rare natural resource like oil and gas, house springs do not have a market. I thought that creating a market for them would generate significant business opportunities. Throughout my career, I have been involved in the trade of natural resources. We are a company that specializes in utilizing Japanese natural house springs, not only within Japan, but also on a global scale. Our business model is based on natural resources like oil and gas.

2:17We are setting up the marketplace to be able to trade natural springs from the supplier side to demand side and matching like oil and gas exchange. So we developed a craft offspring plant to make the natural offspring to craft onsen product. Before founding Rufuro, I worked in trading companies and investment banks, consistently engaging in resource trading, especially in commodities like oil and gas. Through the experience, I came to recognize the potential of Japan's hot springs as a valuable natural resource. So I saw that just like energy resources, hot springs had a capacity to form a structured distribution market, which never exists now.

3:15So that realization led me to start Ruflo with the aim of redefining the hot spring as a strategic asset and building a global platform for their utilization like a market.

3:35The oil market didn't exist over 100 years ago. And after automotive brand applied gasoline as the tool of the motorization, I think the oil market expanded dramatically. So we learned from the history and I think we need to develop the technology to transport and keep the natural resources of hot springs. So in the early days of oil and gas, there was a period of developing uses and building infrastructures, followed by a rapid expansion of the market during the popularization phase. So we are also starting by getting involved in the entire horse spring value chain and creating an environment where horse spring can be delivered to customers.

4:30We have a manufacturing function to concentrate into the natural horse springs by mixing the natural horse springs and the pebbles. And we make the raw material which is called the craft horse springs, which is over average 10 ,000 times of the ingredient compared to the natural horse springs which is possible to dilute into the water which is easy to transport. I consider horse springs to be a higher concept than water in addition to wellness uses such as sparse. Preserving the mineral composition and effectiveness of horse spring water during Concentration and transportation requires years of research, and it covers a wide range of water-related businesses, including beverage, cosmetics, and agriculture and livestock.

5:31To my knowledge, there were no established businesses exporting concentrated offspring as a wellness product at a global scale when we started.

5:48My business partner is a member of Saudi royal family. They have a deep interest and understanding of wellness history, including Japanese culture. And Middle East is investing heavily in wellness and health care and tourism as part of its long-term vision. So countries like Saudi and UAE are looking for unique, high-quality awareness solutions. So Japan's hot springs with their natural and authentic value fit perfectly into their demand. The Omani government has directly requested our support in developing manufacturing and tourism industries that utilize hot springs as the next step in its decarbonization effort.

6:3990 % of the world hot springs' resources concentrated in Japan, so we have a big advantage. So we believe this is a collaboration that demonstrates a deep understanding of the value of these resources. Our vision is to transform the system rising from hot springs into the power of our country. Japan has built its history in a harsh natural environment and earthquakes and volcanoes. As a result, our spiritual world is rooted in the idea of co-existence with nature, which is very important in modern society. We want to create a business that transforms Japan's house spring resources into the power of our country.

7:33And as a result, deliver horse spring to people around the world, making everyone healthy, happy, and peaceful through the power of nature. My strategy is based on the government point of view. There are over 28 ,000 kinds of horse springs in Japan. I think they're owned by mainly the regional government. so we have to explain what the difference between the natural horse spring and craft onsen and how it's going to be used for the outside of the region so we need to educate the people in japan and people outside of japan

8:21that was naoki mito the ceo of le furrow and you can learn more by heading to le-furo.com. And that's all for this episode of Eureka. Big thanks to Ryuma Takahashi for his report. We'll be back at the same time next week, but do look out for the entrepreneurs. In the meantime, that's available every Wednesday. Eureka is produced by Laura Kramer with audio editing by Jack Dewars. If you'd like to get in touch with us, do email Laura on lrk at monocle.com. I'm Tom Edwards. Goodbye, and thanks for listening to Eureka.

8:56Thank you.