Shiraoi Town in Hokkaido has seen its population decrease by about 6,000 people in the last 30 years. What's more, about half of the population is over 65 years old. In this town that is becoming increasingly depopulated, there is a unique accommodation facility that attracts young people and foreigners. It's a hostel and cafe bar called "Haku."

"It's scary to take risks."

So says owner Tatsunori Kikuchi. Originally working as a consultant in the US and Tokyo, Kikuchi opened haku in Shiraoi town in 2019.

Attracting a new customer base

In December, the -2°C temperature feels cold on the skin. Even though it was a weekday, about half of the seats in the cafe space at haku were filled with lunch customers. The people chatting away were mostly couples and friends in their 20s to 40s.

Once the lunch crowd had settled down, a man and woman from a foreign country came walking out of the hostel at the back of the cafe space and looked around. When Kikuchi spoke to them in fluent English, they happily replied. The sight of the three of them chatting away in English was something you wouldn't expect to see in a small town in Hokkaido.

According to statistics from Shiraoi Town, more than 20 new stores opened in the town in the five years from 2015 to 2020. Chuo-dori, where haku is located, also has many stores open and is a busy street with a lot of traffic.

"Before, it seemed more deserted, and many stores had their shutters closed," says Kikuchi. However, he says that the increase in the number of stores is by no means due solely to haku. One reason is that Shiraoi itself is now attracting attention, with the opening of Upopoy (Symbolic Space for Ethnic Coexistence), a national facility that serves as a base for the revival and development of Ainu culture, in 2020, and Hoshino Resorts' hot spring facility KAI Poroto, which opened shortly after.

However, Haku has attracted two "new customer groups" that had never visited Shiraoi Town before.

One is young people in their 20s and 30s who come from outside the town. Eight out of ten staff members working at haku are in this age group, and the same eight out of ten are either people who have moved here from outside the town or people who commute from outside the town to work at haku.

There have been cases where people who stayed at haku as guests in the past asked to work there, worked as live-in staff, and then moved to Shiraoi town and settled there. The owners of Ale's Pizza, a pizza specialty restaurant about a 10-minute drive from haku, and the cafe that just opened within walking distance, both worked at haku before going on their own and opening their own shops.

Among the staff, there are several women who say, "I moved to Shiraoi town because of my spouse's work and I'm working part-time." When I asked one of them, "Why did you decide to work at Haku?",

"I used to work in the tourism industry, but I couldn't find a suitable part-time job in this area at the time. When I found out that haku was recruiting staff, I saw it as my chance."

"Yes," she answered. Haku also creates jobs for women who "want to work a little."