top of page
日本語
 
WASABI Insider~ "An exclusive business club for passionate business owners & C-level executives with an interest in Japan & the rest of Asia" 
Produced by WASABI Creation
​
​
Creating opportunities in Learning, Marketing, Networking, and Collaboration among business owners and C-level executives for a purpose driven and goal orientated business community.

Proposal to Increase Foreign Travellers to Japan with Mobile Application, Website, and Social Media

​

​

Objectives

​

  1. To increase the number of foreign travellers from Southeast Asia (as well as Hong Kong, Taiwan, and China) to visit Japan.

  2. To reach out to and engage users to travel to Japan.

  3. To encourage travellers to visit Japan again and again.

 

​

​

Unique Value Proposition

​

"A total solution for foreign independent travellers

to discover new contents in Japan always."

Target Market Segments

Demography

  1. Foreign Independent Travellers (FIT) who travel individually, with friends, or with their families.

  2. Millennial (people born in early 1980s to early 2000)

  3. People who are Internet savvy, active user of Internet and social media.

  4. Professional working adults with disposable income for overseas travel.

  5. Children of affluent elderly people who plan travel for the family.

  6. People who are interested in Japan, its culture, products, and tourism.

  7. Repeated travellers to Japan

 

Geography & Language

  1. Singapore (English, Simplified Chinese)

  2. Malaysia (English, Bahasa Malay)

  3. Thailand (English, Thai)

  4. Indonesia (English, Bahasa Indonesia)

  5. China (English, Simplified Chinese)

  6. Hong Kong (English, Traditional Chinese)

  7. Taiwan (English, Traditional Chinese)

Existing Problems

​

  1. Too many tourists all at the same places

  2. Lack of niche, in-depth content for popular destinations (only the obvious things at obvious destinations)

  3. Lack of travel information for smaller cities, and rural areas

  4. Lack of customised content for individuals need (Halal, family, elderly, vegetarian)

  5. Lack of English speaking staff & English information

  6. Lack of interaction with local people

  7. Lack of product information

Solutions: A Mobile Application that serves as:​​​

​

​

  1. Personal itinerary 

  2. Provide maps and directions to attractions

  3. Provide trails to explore attractions

  4. Location triggered content:

    • To learn about the history, background, and interesting stories of the places

    • To find famous shops and restaurants nearby

    • Interactive activities and games for users to be more engaged with the tour

    • Win points for exchange of awards and prizes

  5. Match a local family for a meal together or homestay

  6. Online shopping for tickets and transportation

  7. Make reservations

  8. Provide product information to tourists by scanning barcode on products

    • Information such as ingredients, application will appear in foreign languages

  9. User input: Sharing, Review, Recommendation for their social network

  • Personal travel guide

Information on Japan's UNIQUE Travel Destinations, Attractions, & Experiences
Trail Programmes for Travellers to Explore Numerous Attractions in Each Destination
Location Triggered Content, Activities, Games for Better Understanding & Experience
Visiting & Dinning: Information Needed by Travellers All in One Place
Shopping: Use the App to Scan Barcodes for Product Information in Detail
Promotion, Recommendation, Loyalty Points, E-commerce for Repeated Customers
Matching Travellers & Locals for Authentic Japanese Meals Together

Content Formats

​

  1. Videos

  2. Photos

  3. Audio

  4. Maps

  5. Short & long articles

  6. In app Activities & Games

  7. Augmented Reality

  8. Virtual Reality

Marketing Strategies

​

  1. Website

    • to promote App content

    • to encourage App download

  2. SEO & SEM

  3. Content marketing

    • Social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube)

    • Email marketing

    • Influencer marketing

  4. Regular app notifications for new content to users

  5. Partnership marketing

Influencer Marketing by Foreign Influencers of Target Markets

Types of Content for Website & Social Media

​

​

  1. Travel destinations in Japan

  2. Travel experiences

  3. In-depth and less known contents

  4. Seasonal contents for travel, fashion, and food

  5. Traditions and History

  6. Latest trends and happenings in Japan

  7. Curated contents that are interesting to foreign travellers

  8. Travel plans, Itinerates, and maps

Business Model

​

  1. Funding from Japanese prefectural government and Ministry of Tourism for promoting tourism in Japan.

  2. Advertising and Marketing fees from tourism related companies, retail shops, and restaurants.

  3. Service fee and Commission from the sales of tickets, and products from the App.

  4. In App purchase of travel trails and guides.

  5. In App purchase of Japanese products by E-commerce.

How to Begin?

​

​

  1. WASABI Creation will form a team to build the product, content creation, conduct marketing and sales.

  2. The App can be built from scratch, OR to commission existing tech companies to develop the Mobile Application.

  3. Brangista will be the seed investor for the initial development of the product.

  4. Further project planning, budgeting, setting milestones will be required.

  5. Several rounds of investment will be raised at different stages of development.

About WASABI Creation

​​

WASABI Creation is an innovative consulting, business support, and project production company based in Singapore, creating awesome projects & events for bridging Japan and Singapore. It has deep knowledge in both countries' culture and insight, its mission is to discover the wonders of Japan and share it with the rest of the world. 

​

WASABI Creation helps companies, governments, organizations and individuals to organize various types of projects and events to help them achieve their goals. It believes in creating revolutionary and attractive projects by combining creative design, effective communication, and the latest technology. With a cosmopolitan team and partners, WASABI Creation aims to be one-of-its-kind consulting and project management company in the world.

 

WASABI Creation’s services include:

Business Consultation・Project Production・Advisory & Professional Education・Business Matching & Partnership・ Business Communication Training & Consultation・Event Marketing & Production・Tourism & Culture Marketing・Film Festivals & Short Film Distribution

WASABI Creation's Past Projects on Tourism in Japan

Residential Coworking Space in Kyoto

47RONIN~

Global Residential Coworking Space in Kyoto, 2013

47RONIN is a global residential coworking space where we provide valuable information & connections to visiting entrepreneurs who could stay with us, work on their projects, interact with our local coworking communities while they explore, experience, & enjoy Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan. 

​47RONIN provides accommodation facilities in a semi-rural part of Kyoto, a peaceful Japanese residential town with nature & rich historical heritage. Instead of the usual downtown hotel or the overly touristic sightseeing areas, 47RONIN gives you a different experience of Kyoto. Yet, it is only 30 minutes away from central Kyoto, accessible by train & buses. You will be able to work on your projects at our coworking facility & meet the coworking community of Kyoto through our many events & activities. Who knows you may generate new ideas, make new partners, or open a new chapter to your business.

​

47RONIN is produced & operated by WASABI Creation

www.47ronin.co

Tourism Seminar

 

Kyoto Tourism Symposium  

A deep Kyoto experience for inbound tourists, November 2013

 

Kyoto is famous as the old capital of Japan where foreign tourists can discover many traditional culture and heritage treasures in this unique part of the world. 

 

WASABI Creation organized this Kyoto Tourism Symposium to gather all kinds of travel experience providers to give a presentation about their businesses and discussed about challenges they face. These travel experience providers include Ikebana, Japanese tea ceremony, Koto (Japanese music instrument), theater performances, Nishiki textile, Japanese cooking, Kyoto walking tours, and many more.  This symposium also allows the participants to learn more about the tourism industry of Kyoto. 

Architecture Tour

 

Kyoto Sanjo Architecture Tour 

A historical walk in Kyoto, November 2013

 

Sanjo is one of the most prominent roads in Kyoto. Located in the heart of Kyoto City, Sanjo is where many shops, restaurants, cafes, bars, and theatres are located. It is also a place that reflects the lives of people in Kyoto. Over the centries, Sanjo has also transformed itself into the modern world while keeping many things unchange and hidden, forming a time capsule with rich histroy and interesting stories.

 

Together with Kyoto Architecture Society and Sanjo Association, WASABI Creation co-organized this Kyoto Sanjo Architecture Tour for 30 participants. They include foreigners living in Kyoto who have huge interest in the history of the city, but had little chance to learn about it. This tour provided a precious experience for everyone to explore the many hidden corners of Sanjo that tells many unknown stories. 

Factory Tour

 

Suntory~ The Premium Malts 

The best beer in the world from Kyoto, October 2013

 

Suntory, The Premium Malts is considered as one of the best beer in the world, loved by many Japanese as well as everyone in the world. Its factory is located 20min by train from JR Kyoto station, where you can spend an hour to join a guided tour of the factory, and have beer tasting together with the guide. 

 

WASABI Creation organized this factory tours for 20 Japanese and foreigners from Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe to find out about the manufacturing processes of The Premium Malts, and to find out the reason why it tastes so good. 

Outdoor Film Festival

 

Tenmaku (Sky Screen) Film Festival 天幕映画祭

An outdoor film festival at Gion Festival, July 2013

 

GION Festival pf Kyoto in July is one of the three biggest Japanese festival in Japan. 

In conjunction with this huge festival, Tenmaku Film Festival was held along Shijo Road where numerous screens were setup screening films from traditional samurai movies, black & white Japanese animation, to modern short films. 

 

WASABI Creation was invited to support the event by contributing short documentaries from our One Day in Kyoto project. One Day in Kyoto is a short documentary project where foreign film makers living in Kyoto were to produce a short documentary in one day's time. 

Tourism Web Portal

 
Japantourist.jp

Japan's fastest-growing foreign language tourist website

JapanTourist aims to become the largest and most trusted reference website for travel to Japan, by creating content and a software platform that facilitates sharing and being shared.

JapanTourist is fast becoming the largest web database of English-language travel articles in Japan, and currently is Japan's only travel site to use a fully enabled English-language user reviews engine.

 

If you love travelling and sharing some unbeaten paths in Japan, join us as a Travel Journalist to contribute interesting and insightful articles and photos. 

See here for more detail.

See here for Chinese contributors

 

WASABI Creation is the Regional Partner of Japantourist.jp in Shiga Prefecture

www.japantourist.jp

​

Online Travel Experience Market Place

 
Voyagin

Discover amazing, unique travel experiences

We believe that there isn’t one world, but that we live in a multiverse with many different cultures, religions, languages, and personalities. We believe that the best part of traveling is the ability to meet people and view the world in a different perspective. Until now, these encounters have been greatly facilitated by luck. Meet Voyagin: our mission is to increase your chances and facilitate interactions to one-of-a-kind otherworldly experiences. Whether that’s achieving Buddhist enlightenment in the mountains, making new friends while enjoying a traditional meal with a family in Japan, getting a glimpse of world’s hidden underwater treasures with divers that love and respect the ocean is completely up to you. Anyone can experience something new, at any price point, whether you’re a food lover, into the offbeat or just want to to relax. We hope you’ll enjoy both the journey and the different values you experience. We’re not just building a marketplace, we’re building a community.

 

WASABI Creation is the community partner of Voyagin in reaching out to unique amazing travel experiences, as well as cool and interesting hosts. 

Join us as an experience host or an interpreter guide. 

www.govoyagin.com

​

Tourism Research Tour

 

Tour de Osaka

A monitor tour for international students, November 2012

 

Ministry of Tourism invited 20 foreign students to join a tour in OSAKA to give them a special experience in the second biggest city in Japan. They tried out famous Osaka food at Shinsekai（新世界）, and went into a time capsule of Japan’s entertainment in the 50s. They also visited Smart Ball（スマートバール）, a game center of the past created before video game is born. There is also Tsutenkaku （通天閣）, a metal tower built in 1912 during the Meiji period, which was the tallest structure in East Asia then. Last but not least, the students explored a historical shopping arcade called Janjanyokocho （じゃんじゃん横丁）that was built in the post war period. 

Surveys were regularly done for each places of interest, including the ease of travel, sufficiency of English materials, and service quality of the staffs. 

 

WASABI Creation was tasked with the recruitment of international students as participants and assisted in the tour to ensure smooth execution of the programme. 

 

Tourism Research Tour

 

Tour de Biwako, Shiga Prefecture

A monitor tour for international students, October 2012

 

A monitor tour around Biwako Lake in Shiga prefecture was organized by Shiga Prefecture and the Ministry of Toursim. About 40 international students from Kansai area were invited to participate in this tour to find out how to improve tourism in the area. Places of visit included ferry rides on Biwako Lake, temples and shrines, Biwako Valley, and Hikone Castle. Surveys were regularly done for each places of interest, including the ease of travel, sufficiency of English materials, and service quality of the staffs. 

 

WASABI Creation was tasked with the recruitment of international students as participants and assisted in the tour to ensure smooth execution of the programme. 

Tourism

"GEAR"

non-verbal entertaining performance in Kyoto

First of its kind in Japan, GEAR is a unique non-verbal performance that stimulates your five senses with a moving story set in the future. Accompanied by impressive stage effects set up using techniques ranging from those used in Kabuki plays to the latest technologies, GEAR is bound to offer a theatrical experience the audience will never forget! The story revolves around a toy doll who finds herself having a human heart after interacting with "Roboroids" (humanized robots), and unfolds as world-class performers bring you through a series of mime, breakdancing, Juggling and magic performances all without a single word. 

 

WASABI Creation is the overseas promotion agent for "GEAR". Besides providing translation in multiple languages for its website, we also worked on pamphlet design, PR to media companies, overseas reservations, and marketing to reach out to overseas audience who visit Kyoto in huge numbers every year. 

www.gear.ac



​

Tourism Experience

 

Dragon Boating Expereince, Biwako, Shiga Prefecture

A new travel experience, November 2012

 

WASABI Creation was invited to organize a Dragon Boating Experience Tour with a dargon boat team from Biwako of Shiga Prefecture. More than 40 foreigner and Japanese participated in the tour. It was the first dragon boating experience for many, whle it is also a totally new experience for others with the scenic view of Biwako and unique features along the coast. 

 

WASABI Creation is the organizer of this Dragon Boating Expereince Tour. 

Japan Traditional Industries

Kyoto Kitayama Cedar~ Harvesting Workshop

The Kitayama Mountains north of Kyoto city produce the cedar, called ‘Kitayama Sugi’ used to build traditional Japanese ‘sukiya’ architecture. It has a 600 year history, making it the oldest forestry culture in the world. In addition to being unique and producing exquisite wood, Kitayama Forestry is very environmentally friendly.



This cultural heritage has largely been lost as Japan has adopted mass produced housing, leaving Kitayama and other traditional Japanese forestry products to fall into disuse. Fortunately, this has begun to change in recent years as some Japanese rediscover their own culture, and export opportunities have arisen.

​

Together with the company, we organized a visit to the cedar plantation forest to see how cedar trees are being harvested and processed, and also learn about the history and characteristics of "Kitayama Sugi", the cedar trees of Kyoto.

 

WASABI Creation is the producer of this event.

Japan Traditional Industries

Nishiki Textile Cultural Exchange Event

錦を観ながら交流会

Expereince Nishiki textile of Kyoto, September 2011

 

NIshiki was once a very important textile industry in Nishijin Kyoto where it produced beautiful Kimonos for the whole of Japan. Although many had closed down due to a drop in Kimono demand in modern days, there are some factories that survive over many centuries and continue to produce fabulous textile in the most tradtional way. There are one of those few places that reserves and continues the glory of Nishiki Textile in Kyoto. 

 

WASABI Creation organized a tour to one of these long standing Nishiki textile factories in Nishijin Kyoto for foreigners living in Kyoto. The 8th generation company president gave a lecture on the history of Nishiki, while participants also had the chance to have a hands on experience to make Nishiki textile with those tradtional weaving machines.

Japanese Traditional Crafts

 

Japanese Paper Doll Making Workshop （和紙人形）

A cultural experience, July 2011

 

Japanese paper (Washi) is popular for its high quality and brilliant colors. The famous Origami is made out of these special Japanese papers. At a higher level, these Japanese papers can be made into Japanese dolls. 

WASABI Creation invited a Japanese Paper Doll master to give a one-day workshop to a group of foreigners who are deeply interested in Japanese culture. Furthermore, the workshop was held in a 100 year old cafe with a Japanese room, making it an authentic Japanese cultural experience.

 

WASABI Creation is the organizer of this Japanese paper doll making workshop. 

Japan Traditional Industries

PAGONG Kyoyuzen ~

Kyoto Traditional Dyeing Workshop 

A company tour and hands-on workshop was organized for PAGONG, a Kyoto based traditional textile dyeing company, in order to introduce this Japanese traditional craft to a group of 20 foreign visitors. It allowed a deeper understanding of Kyoyuzen for foreign visitors and also promoted such trade to potential customers outside of Japan. Foreign participants followed the instruction of the experienced craftsmen and produced their own prints using the Kyoyuzen technique.

​

A tea reception with the company's president was also held after the workshop. The president shared about the company's history, the dyeing process, and how the business has transformed itself to meet market changes and the newest trends in the textile industry.



WASABI Creation is the producer of this event.



Tourism Experience

 

White Water Rafting, Seta River, Shiga Prefecture

A new travel experience, October 2011

 

WASABI Creation organized a White Water Rafting Tour for a group of 30 foreigners living in and visiting Japan. Seta River is the only river flowing out of Biwako Lake, the biggest lake in Japan. It provides geograpical feature that is ideal for white water rafting, yet it is safe even for beginners. The tour is to promote such adventurous activities as a tourism experience for travellers who are seeking some excitment during their trip. 

 

WASABI Creation is the organizer for this White Water Rafting Tour at Seta River. 

About the Founder

Tong Cheuk Fung

Founder, CEO of WASABI Creation, Networker, Project & Event Producer

Hong Kong born Singaporean, worked & lived in Kyoto, Japan

 

Tong was born in Hong Kong and spent his early childhood there. Like many Hong Kong families, due to the return of British Hong Kong to China in 1997, his family migrated to Singapore when he was 9. Tong grew up as a Singaporean through elementary school to high school, completed his 2.5 years of military service as a commando, and obtained his bachelor degree in Chemical Engineering and minor in Entrepreneurship from National University of Singapore.

 

Upon his graduation in 2009, Tong started his new life in Kyoto, Japan where he worked as a marketing engineer in a biodiesel manufacturing company. 2 years later, he joined a project management company in Osaka, where he helped in the launch of Knowledge Capital in Grand Front Osaka in Spring 2013.

 

While living in Japan, Tong co-founded We Are One Japan, a non-profit social networking & international community in Kyoto, organizing countless international events & projects with the purpose of transforming Japan towards becoming an international society. He is also a founding member of PechaKucha Night Osaka, Future Shorts screening organizer of West Japan, and a volunteer member of TEDxKyoto 2013.

 

In 2014, after spending 5 years in Japan, Tong returned to Singapore to set up WASABI Creation, for “creating awesome projects between Japan and Singapore”. Although Japan has lost some of its shine economically, as well as interest in its subculture due to the rise of other Asian countries, Tong thinks that there is still a lot of attractiveness about Japan worth discovering and can offer to the rest of the world. On the other hand, Japan has a lot of catching up to do, if the Japanese aims to do business with foreigners, and continue to shine as an international business partner of the world.

 

Tong’s goal is to make WASABI Creation the catalyst for creating business opportunities, developing close relationships, and explore possibilities between Japan and Singapore, as well as the ASEAN region. WASABI Creation’s mission is to spice up ASEAN with a sprinkle of Japan’s wonders, just like the overwhelming taste and burning sensation of the green Wasasbi.

 

In the press

Kansai Scene

Soil & Sprouts

The Daily NNA 13 Oct 2015

The Daily NNA 24 May 2016

NewsPicks 8 Oct 2016

Singapore Stars 23 Oct 2016

The Daily NNA 28 Apr 2017

UUUM Blogpost 1 May 2017

​

​

 

Contact Information

Tong Cheuk Fung (Mr.)

Founder, Managing Director

WASABI Creation Pte Ltd

​

Singapore Shopping Centre

190 Clemenceau Avenue

#06-03 Singapore 239924

​

+65-86567631

hi@wasabicreation.com

www.wasabicreation.com

​

​

bottom of page