OYO brings hassle-free apartment renting service to Japan with OYO LIFE

In February, OYO had launched its Japan operations, through a joint venture with Yahoo! JAPAN, aimed at bringing its housing rental product to the country, starting from March this year. The service called OYO LIFE, has gone live now with over 1,000 residential units across Tokyo.

With this, the hospitality firm will be looking to provide hassle-free, affordable and furnished rental apartments to home seekers, thus doing away with the need for a hefty security deposit, key money, and introduction fees.

“We are really excited to announce that OYO LIFE is now live in Tokyo. OYO LIFE is focused on creating unique living experiences for the Japanese citizens, students, and young professionals, looking for good quality affordable accommodation,” said Ritesh Agarwal, CEO & Founder, OYO Hotels and Homes, commenting on the launch.

He added,

“OYO is already the most preferred brand in the budget to mid-segment hospitality space in several markets like India and China, where our operational expertise in identifying, transforming and managing properties has helped us gain significant momentum, and we are certain that we will continue to grow in Japan and deliver great value in the Japanese market.”

Loaded with immense possibilities for a sharing economy, the solution has already hit the right nerve with the young population in the city, especially among the students and young professionals. So far, the company has received more than 11,000 pre-registrations and was already touching an occupancy of over 114 percent at the time of the launch, the company said in an official release.

Also Read: OYO starts operations in Japan, with Yahoo Japan Corporation

Along with OYO LIFE, a subscription-based membership program – called OYO Passport program – has also been launched, which will be available to the OYO LIFE residents without any extra charge. Through this Passport, subscribers will have access to offers, discounts, trials, events, and they will also be able to avail benefits from a growing list of companies that are part of the Sharing Economy Association of Japan (SEAJ).

Furthermore, to leverage the power of the internet and digitise the real estate industry, OYO Partner Real Estate stores were launched. OYO Partner Real Estate represents a chain of stores and customer touchpoints for what is intended to be an enduring partnership with the real estate industry in Japan.  

Hiro Katsuse, CEO of OYO Technology & Hospitality Company, Japan, who was present for the launch along with Ritesh Agarwal and Kentaro Kawabe, CEO, Yahoo! Japan, talked about leveraging OYO’s hospitality experience to offer an end-to-end housing experience.

“I look forward to leveraging our partnership with Yahoo! Japan and OYO's expertise from across the world to scale OYO LIFE, a product built in Japan for the Japanese customers. We are delighted to have Yahoo! Japan's support as we bring OYO LIFE to more and more people in Japan,” he added.

Also Read: How OYO is working to become the world’s biggest hospitality chain, one hotel at a time