Japan's super-solo culture
All the single ladies (and men) fuel growth in “O-hitori-sama” services
In Japan, the term “O-hitori sama market,” describes goods and services aimed at single-person consumers. Yano Research Institute’s 2020 O-hitori sama-related Market Trend Survey estimated that single-person expenditure in the 2019 Financial Year was almost 8 trillion yen (roughly US$56 billion) for eating out and 555 billion yen (roughly US$386 million) for domestic hotel stays. We expect this to increase as the number of single-person households in Japan continues to grow.
Of course, the trend for people to choose to spend more time alone is not unique to Japan; According to the US Census Bureau’s American Time Use Survey, the amount of time the average American spent with friends declined from 2014 to 2019, from over six hours per week to only four hours per week – a pattern that some commentators have ascribed to increased use of social media and mobile devices. Digital experiences are popular in Japan too, but O-hitori sama consumers aren’t all stuck to their screens. Japanese companies are adapting real-life offerings to appeal to them. Let’s take a look at Japan’s emerging solo-oriented services and consider the needs and motivations behind three distinct types of solo consumer behavior.
What you couldn’t do alone, now you can
“I like yakiniku (Korean barbecue) a lot, but yakiniku has an image of being something that you eat as a group. It's also a hassle to decide what to order and in what order with everyone else, say salt tongue first, then ribs, then loin. I don't even want salt tongue to begin with. I used to worry about what people around me would think. The truth is that I have always longed to eat yakiniku alone. I am the kind of person who wants to be free to order and eat only the dishes that I want." (Female solo diner, 20s)
Yakiniku is traditionally enjoyed by a group around a table with a central grill that’s used to cook large servings of meat and vegetables. Yakiniku restaurants typically lend themselves to convivial meals with friends and family, but they’re daunting for individuals who want to dine alone. Yakiniku Like is a rapidly expanding chain of restaurants that wants to change that. What kind of experience does it offer?
The signage: “Now! Yakiniku Alone!” makes it clear from the first glance that this restaurant is for people who wish to eat on their own. Inside, the tables are partitioned by screens that shield diners against the gazes of others, and there’s one smokeless roaster for each customer. Customers can order just the amount that they want to eat, in small portions that are delivered within 3 minutes – minimizing the time that customers on their own are left waiting for their food.
The furnishings are designed with the needs of the single diner in mind. Trays fit the tables perfectly. There are dedicated places for chopsticks and seasonings, within easy reach. Once the customer is settled in their seat, there’s no need for them to move.
O-hitori sama customers are being courted by a variety of businesses that were once seen as group oriented. For example, Jankara, a karaoke chain with stores across western Japan, introduced a system to ease the concerns of karaoke fans who feel self-conscious about entering a store alone. Now, those customers can reserve a karaoke room online and enter it without encountering anyone else. Similarly, Pizza Hut recognized that single customers were hesitant to place orders because they perceived pizza delivery as being for groups. To show the O-hitori sama that they’re welcome, the company launched “My Box” – a set meal comprising a personal pizza, fries, and nuggets.
A common thread through these offerings is that they alleviate the concerns of single customers who are too shy to buy and offer them a way to meet their latent needs. Such customers have functional goals such as “I want to eat yakiniku alone,” or “I want to enjoy Karaoke alone,” and emotional goals like “I want to feel a sense of freedom and self-reliance,” that they achieve when they can do these things. Beyond these desires, we can also glimpse goals related to identity, such as “living my life independently, without worrying about relationships.”
Time alone as an escape from the daily routine
"I like to spend about two hours at the super-sento (a modern, upscale public bathhouse) on my own, soaking in different baths, using the sauna, and just reclining in the chairs. I enjoy watching people who are spending their time just like me. When I am lying drowsily in the tub, I enjoy the smell of the hot water and the random splashing sounds. After the pandemic, I went to a super-sento and for the first time in ages, I saw people other than my own family. I felt somehow moved by the scene of naked men enjoying their free time.” (Male sento user, 40s)
Unlike yakiniku restaurants, Japan's public bathhouses have historically been facilities that people enter alone without hesitation. The hurdle to enjoying time alone is similarly low in places like museums, aquariums, movie theaters, and coffee shops. These days, a growing number of people feel comfortable even to go alone to amusement parks like Disneyland.
While people who like to visit art museums alone may have a stated goal of “appreciating works of art," they also go to meet goals that they might not explicitly express, like "getting away from everyday life and regaining oneself," and emotional goals, like the sense of self-affirmation that they gain from the experience. For these individuals, spending time alone is at least as important as the stated goal.
Some solo visitors to museums and aquariums have similar identity-related aspirations to Yakiniku Like’s customers: "living independently without worrying about relationships." They show an almost Zen-like desire to immerse themselves in the world of the senses by seeking a place away from the herd and out of the ordinary. Conversely, some other solo visitors have paradoxical goals; While they like to go places on their own, they want a sense of “belonging to something,” or “being connected to something.” Isolating them from others, in the way that Yakiniku Like puts screens around its diners, would defeat the purpose of their visit. Rather, these people want to operate autonomously in inclusive environments that inherently give them a feeling of togetherness.
Connecting with Others through Solo Activities
“When I go solo camping, I actually find that it’s easier to open up to people that I happen to meet. I strike up conversations with people and we wind up having a drink together. I learn a lot from my interactions with people I don't know, and I sometimes feel like they change me as a person. Recently, I've been posting on Instagram, and folks who’ve seen my Instagram feed come up to me at the campsite. It's nice to have that kind of casual connection.” (Male camper, 40s)
As the popularity of solo travel and camping has grown, related services have emerged. Among them are services that look beyond travel itself and focus on enabling personal encounters and connections that arise from those activities. Club Tourism, a travel agency that offers tours for individuals, makes a virtue of its focus on singles in its marketing message: “With Club Tourism’s solo tours, you’re on your own but not alone. Everyone on the tour is O-hitori sama, so you can enjoy the pleasure of meeting people without any worries.”
Customers who are attracted this kind of travel experience may have some goals in common with solo museum visitors – psychological goals such as "getting away from daily life and regaining oneself," and identity-related goals like "living independently without worrying about relationships,", but they have a distinct social goal of connecting and interacting with people who share the same values. Furthermore, their identity-related goals are more oriented toward self-expression, self-discovery, and personal growth through connection and interaction.
A popular form of solo-oriented connection and interaction that’s peculiar to Japan is the “Oshi-Katsu,” phenomenon, in which individuals support a favorite pop idol, a character, or some other entity that’s special to them. These super-fans find fulfillment through fervid activities to cheer on their idols; fulfilling their emotional goals such as “immersion,” and “happiness.” Like solo travelers and solo campers, they are driven by social goals related to expressing their personality and connecting and interacting with people who share the same values. In this sense, solo travel, solo camping, and “Oshi-Katsu” are not merely solitary activities, but synapses that connect individuals to each other.
The examples that we have explored here reveal three styles of solo-oriented behavior with different underlying motivations that range from a desire to feel welcome to enjoy a service as a solo customer, through to enjoying immersive experiences, and connecting with other individuals who share the same values. The successful solo-oriented services that we have looked at offer us some hints about how other products and services could be adapted to succeed in the O-hitori sama market.
We anticipate that solo lifestyles have implications across many product and industry categories. That's why any B2C brand with ambitions in Japan should take steps to explore the O-hitori sama opportunity. How can you do that? As a first step, try walking through your offering from a solo customer's perspective. Ideally, leave your workspace and experience things in the customer's environment. Assess the messaging that they see - Does it reassure them that they will be welcome? Get a feel for stores or other environments where your service is delivered - Are the furnishings and floor layouts conducive to the behavioral styles that solo consumers prefer? And finally, examine the products and services themselves - Are you delivering them in formats and sizes that suit solo consumers?
This type of assessment is sometimes called a service safari. It's an effective and inexpensive way to acquire new perspectives, build hypotheses, or develop questions about the way solo customers view your offering. Those questions and hypotheses form the basis for ethnographic research - observing, interviewing, and engaging with existing customers and potential customers to uncover the cultural, social, and psychological factors that influence their behavior. Such insights help companies to tailor products, services, and messaging, to resonate with specific customers and foster deeper connections with them.