柳川藩主立花邸「御花（おはな）」 立花家18代にあたる立花千月香様が国際英語学科の一年生に特別講義をして下さいました。「御花」は、柳川藩主・立花家の別邸として建てられ江戸時代から400年の歴史を持っています。東京での商社勤務、そして、アメリカの大学への留学を経て2015年に御花代表取締役社長に就任いたしました。特別講義の様子を Doyle 准教授がレポートします。
Ms Tachibana, the President of OHANA, a Ryokan in Yanagawa, came to speak to the first-year students in Fresher’s Seminar on November 26, 2025. Ms Tachibana gave an extremely interesting talk about her journey to becoming the Company President and facing many challenges that the company has to overcome.
□ The Importance and Influence of Study Abroad
□ Overcoming Difficulties
The Corona virus was a difficult time for the hospitality industry and Ohana wasn’t any different. But from these challenges it also brought an opportunity to rethink the future of Ohana – Ms Tachibana had some time to reflect and hired a designer and marketing person to help bring Ohana together and create a brand. The introduction of digital tools increased efficiency and Ms Tachibana encouraged students to develop these digital literacy skills while at college.
Creativity and Branding
Ms Tachibana offered an example of the Cultural Tourism and Destination Tourism which is the new brand that Ohana has become. 「お船で朝食プラン」is a plan which looks to offer tourists the delightful local cuisine, but on a boat which is part of the local culture. By offering it as breakfast this means that guests would stay at the hotel. Thereby, creating an opportunity to increase guest numbers. This of course led to further innovation whereby the boat plans became more sophisticated and offered different customized experiences to guests.
This creativity is also evident in that Ohana tries to get the most out of its cultural assets through its offerings, tea ceremonies, art exhibitions, concerts and so on. This had helped Ohana reach new and different customer bases.
□ The Importance of Mission, Vision, Value (MVV)
The importance of the MVV was introduced and how the whole staff at Ohana were involved in setting a new MVV. The students were encouraged to read the MVV of any companies that they are interested in working at as it is important to see if the company is a good fit for you! She introduced the fact that once every 3 months employees have staff development meetings or ‘Ohanism’. Ms Tachibana introduced how she had used crowdfunding to secure the next 100 years of such a priceless cultural asset. The introduction of organic amenities sourced locally in Fukuoka was also highlighted. The message here is that the tourist industry is a creative industry! 「観光業はクリエイティブ業」It is not just a service industry ― a small innovation can lead to a big hit or it can be the difference between a guest liking their stay or not! Creativity is highly valued.
Being Globally Active from Japan
Ms Tachibana had always dreamed of working abroad but she became the President of Ohana which is based in Fukuoka, as a result she found herself working in Japan! However, her work means that she interacts with people from all over the world daily. She has given a lecture in Cornell University, she travels abroad to promote Ohana as a destination regularly. She found that if she challenges herself to try new things, it does bring change! All of this while based in Fukuoka, Japan. This is a great example of working globally within Japan. You don’t need to go work abroad to be active globally, you can be active globally in Japan too!
□ What Kind of Person Do You Want to Be? 『どんな自分でいたいか』
□ Students' comments
I listened to Ms Tachibana's story and learned important things about business. I also learned that taking proactive actions on my own is a shortcut to achieving my dreams. I thought I would also try to maintain a positive mindset like Ms Tachibana.
Her presentation was so amazing because she said she wants to improve her hotel and staff more and more, and make customers happy. I know she made a wonderful hotel by herself, so I want to be like her. If I have an opportunity, I want to visit the hotel to meet her.
