Wellbeing Revolution: Redefining Work with Healthy Company Culture Seminar and Networking Event
YuLife Japan proudly announces its first-ever collaboration with Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI)—a groundbreaking hybrid event focused on the future of workplace well-being in Japan. Titled 'Wellbeing Revolution: Redefining Work with Healthy Company Culture,' this special seminar and networking session brings together top government officials, HR leaders, and certified well-being experts for an afternoon of learning, dialogue, and inspiration.
Held on Thursday, July 24, 2025, at Dai-ichi Life Hibiya First in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, and available online via Zoom, the event offers an invaluable opportunity to explore how health management and employee engagement strategies can drive long-term business growth. The seminar (15:30–17:00) will be followed by an optional networking session (17:00–19:00), connecting forward-thinking leaders across industries.
Key Topics Include:
The measurable impact of well-being initiatives on organizational performance
Japan's latest policies and certification programs, including the Certified Health & Productivity Management Organization initiative
Practical, actionable tips to promote health and happiness at work—starting tomorrow
Who Should Attend?
This event is ideal for HR professionals, CHROs, executive leaders, and anyone exploring innovative approaches to human capital management, health management certification, and employee engagement in Japan.
Event Details
Venue: Dai-ichi Life Hibiya First, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Language: Japanese only
Note: In-person attendance capped at 50; selected registrants will be contacted by the organizers.
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Kyodo News Digest: July 28, 2025
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The Mainichi
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Although a tour to a dyeing workshop in Kanagawa costs 50,000 yen ($345) per visitor on average, hordes of international tourists have signed up, according to the Kanazawa City Tourism Association. 'Eighty percent of visitors to our workshop are from overseas, and the rest are Japanese officials in the kimono industry,' said Hitoshi Maida, a Kaga Yuzen craftsman who guided the inspection tour. Many of the tourists, he added, snap up pricy products sold at the workshop, such as glass panels sandwiching a piece of silk kimono cloth dyed in Kaga Yuzen style for display. A large one costs up to 2 million yen. GROWTH IN RICH TOURISTS Japan saw a record 36.87 million international arrivals in 2024, who spent a record high 8.14 trillion yen during their stay. The average per person was 227,000 yen. But some forked out several times more, and these are the tourists that the JNTO's program is targeting. 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'The economic benefit will be exceedingly high and contribute to the revitalization of the regional economy,' the agency said on its website. One of the model sites is the Setouchi region, which consists of seven prefectures, including Hyogo, Hiroshima and Kagawa, around the Seto Inland Sea. After the selection in 2023, Setouchi tourism officials attended the Monaco Yacht Show last year to better understand the type of tourism big spenders prefer. The officials' catchphrase now is that the rich can make a journey in the Seto Inland Sea on their large yacht. A trip on a luxury cruise ship has been popular in the region. The two-night, three-day cruise on the Guntu ship costs between 600,000 yen and 1 million yen per passenger. The cruises have been booked to capacity, according to the operator. One magnet in the region is Naoshima, a small island filled with museums and famed installations in Kagawa Prefecture. It has been called a 'modern art haven.' The number of tourists taking helicopter rides to Naoshima from Kyoto or Osaka is rising, according to local officials. At least eight upscale hotels, many of them using foreign capital, are expected to open in the region by the end of 2029, according to the Inland Sea, Setouchi Tourism Authority, a consortium of tourism companies from the seven prefectures. Among them is Mandarin Oriental in Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture, which is scheduled to open in 2027 with a spa and swimming pool. The room charge will start at around 80,000 yen. Another hotel with a quaint atmosphere is expected to open on Naoshima around the same time. Tourists to the Setouchi region provided 183.5 billion yen in revenue in 2024, up 45 percent from a year earlier, according to an estimate by the Inland Sea, Setouchi Tourism Authority. The figure is the highest since the organization began collecting such data in 2017. The average monthly wage in the lodging industry in the region was 250,000 yen in 2024, 23,000 yen higher than in 2018, the year before the coronavirus pandemic struck. The 2024 figure is lower than the national average of 269,000 yen for services industries. But the wage growth in the region's tourism-related sector is steeper than in other regions. A majority of locals are skeptical about whether promoting tourism will truly benefit their communities. In a 2024 questionnaire of residents in Setouchi, 44.2 percent said they felt the economic benefits of tourism, down about 4 percentage points year on year. The ratio of respondents who felt little or no economic upside from tourism stood at 55.7 percent. 'An increasing number of residents have begun to view foreign tourists, including higher spending travelers, in a negative light as they become more aware of the unfavorable aspects of overtourism that have cropped up in many parts of Japan,' said Hiroshi Sakamoto, senior managing director of the Inland Sea, Setouchi Tourism Authority. LABOR PITFALLS Yoshihiro Sataki, a professor of tourism policy at Josai International University in Chiba Prefecture, said hosting luxury accommodations in regional areas can put a strain on other sectors because job hunters will likely flock to the better-paying positions at upscale hotels. At Niseko, an internationally renowned ski resort in Hokkaido, a housekeeper at a luxury hotel could earn more than 2,000 yen an hour during high season, double the minimum wage for Hokkaido, in 2024. The trend of locals seeking jobs at high-end facilities makes it even more difficult for operators of nursing care centers and restaurants that are already suffering from chronic labor shortages. In Kyoto, construction of luxury hotels has led to soaring land prices and higher housing costs for residents. The trend has had disastrous consequences for the ancient capital. More Japanese residents moved out of Kyoto than from any other Japanese city for three straight years from 2020. The exodus included many families raising young children. Toshiya Miyazaki, chief researcher with Mitsubishi Research Institute who is well-versed in tourism policy, said focusing on big spenders can help the local economy, given their strong interest in the traditions and cultural heritage of their destinations. 'If they purchase expensive classical handicrafts of local regions that average Japanese cannot afford, it will contribute to the preservation of the traditional craft industry,' he said. But he warned against overreliance on tourism. He said while Nara Prefecture is widely seen as a heavily tourism-oriented prefecture, its tourism industry makes up less than 10 percent of the overall amount of local banks' outstanding loans. 'Relying on tourism as the largest single source of revenue is a wrong approach,' he said. 'A rise in higher-spending visitors alone will not be enough to bolster the regional economy.'
