Photo/Illutration Masae Hase, the fifth-generation “okami” manager of Maruhon Ryokan, an inn in Kazamaura, Aomori Prefecture (Provided by Shimokita Tabi Assist)

An onsen resort with a storied history in northern Japan is asking those wishing to serve as a ryokan inn manager to apply for an internship program available there.

Kazamaura village in Aomori Prefecture is soliciting participants for its internship project to offer prospective managers a taste of both the duties of an “okami” proprietress of a well-established inn in the Shimofuro Onsen area and life in the municipality.

If a selected intern decides to relocate there through the initiative, the prospective okami will then go through full-fledged training under the central government’s local transfer support program.

“We are looking forward to seeing interns who love communicating with others, are ready to cater to customers and are willing to think of the future of Shimofuro Onsen with us,” said Masae Hase, 65, okami of Maruhon Ryokan.

Turning more than 130 years old, the historic Maruhon Ryokan will accept two female interns as okami candidates. They will prepare meals, clean baths and do other tasks of okami during their four-day, three-night stay there.

Following the internship, the interested candidate is expected to work with Hase for an additional three years before being officially appointed as the inn’s next okami. Kazamaura village will arrange the hands-on training in 2025 or later under the relocation support system.

A longer internship program lasting one to three months is scheduled for next year as well.

The decision to embrace interns was made after a drop in the numbers of visitors and accommodation facilities.

Shimofuro Onsen is known as the northernmost hot spring resort on Japan’s Honshu mainland.

It was already known in the Muromachi Period (1336-1573) as a hot spring spa zone among those seeking a cure for a range of ailments.

The local Nanbu domain is said to have been responsible for the onsen resort’s management during the Edo Period (1603-1867).

Data from Kazamaura village show upwards of 45,000 visitors stayed there in 2000, but the figure halved to 22,000 around 2011.

That fell to fewer than 20,000 in 2020 largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A paltry 13,000 tourists showed up at accommodation facilities last year.

Shimofuro Onsen was home to 26 lodging facilities in around 2000. Only nine of these are still operating in the area and only two have successors to preserve their establishments.

Given their aging facilities, many will likely close for good soon.

With that dire situation in mind, Hase decided to act.

“I can’t even find words to apologize to my ancestors if our ryokan is shut down in my generation,” she recalled thinking. “Everything could be finished unless I take action right now.”

Hase contacted Kazamaura village, which shared in her sense of alarm over the possibility that accommodations disappearing could undermine the village’s foundation for tourism because the industry is as important as the fisheries industry is there.

They agreed they would take advantage of the state’s transfer assistance program in the hopes of discovering an individual who would move there to replace Hase as the new okami.

The village commissioned Shimokita Tabi Assist, a tourism promotion company, to find interns via Nihon Keigyo Bank’s matchmaking platform to help pass down small enterprises for posterity.

Interns will not need to pay training fees. However, they will need to cover transportation costs as well as expenses for lunch and dinner on their own.

Interns can decide when to work at Maruhon Ryokan, but the internship program will be held by the end of November.

Applications will be accepted through Nov. 10.

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