Child care growing into lucrative business in Japan

ANN/The Daily Yomiuri, Tokyo

Children play at Kids Square in Imperial Hotel Osaka. With the growing number of nurseries at shopping facilities, children are increasingly able to receive educational services, such as English lessons, while their parents shop. Such services apparently are aimed at luring more female customers.

At La Cittadella -- a commercial complex in Kawasaki that houses 60 eateries and movie theaters -- a nursery called Casa Del Bambino opened in September. The nursery is operated by Family Support Co., a child care service provider based in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo.

The nursery, which was remodeled from a clothing store, boasts a five-meter-high ceiling that creates a massive space and glass walls that help promote a pleasant, open atmosphere.

The nursery offers babysitting services for shoppers at hourly rates starting at 1,365 yen. It also provides day care services on a monthly basis at 84,000 yen for 40 hours.

Among popular services at the nursery are preschool educational programs, such as English-conversation classes taught by native speakers. Such programs take two to four hours each. Yasuko Nakadate, president of Family Support, said, "Many mothers have a good time having tea and shopping while their children are at the nursery."

Conventionally, parents use nurseries at shopping facilities simply to allow them to shop and dine on their own. But in recent years, new styles of nurseries have developed, focusing on teaching children. Parents use their time shopping and dining while waiting for their children to finish such educational programs.

Citta Entertainment Co., which jointly operates the nursery with Family Support, aims to synergize the parents' visit to the shopping center by offering a package service that includes movie tickets and babysitting services. The package is available for 5,100 yen --nearly half the normal price.

Similar child care services are available at Roppongi Hills in Minato Ward, Tokyo, Tamagawa Takashimaya Shopping Center in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo, and other large shopping malls across the country.

An official of Toshin Development Co., which operates Tamagawa shopping center, said, "Nurseries are indispensable to improving customer services." Hotels in major cities also have caught on to this trend.

Imperial Hotel Osaka houses a nursery called Kids Square in the corner of a guestroom area on the seventh floor. The nursery, which is run by Kyoto-based Alpha Corporation Inc., has been used by guests who come to the hotel to attend weddings and dinner shows on weekday nights, weekends and holidays.

During the day on weekdays, the nursery offers day care services for children living near the hotel. Such services have become popular at hotels, and some hotels have waiting lists for them.

Asked to explain the reason for the nursery's popularity, Hidemi Sakamoto, managing director of Alpha Corporation, said, "In a luxury hotel where security can be ensured, parents feel safe leaving their children at the nursery."

A growing number of shopping districts also are operating nurseries. In July 2002, the Obisun Road stores association in Kochi established Obisun Child Square MaFa in the center of the city. To regain support from customers currently favoring large supermarkets in the city's suburbs, vacant shops in the district were refurbished to create the nursery.

The association provides people who shop at its member stores with discounts at the nursery. Such efforts to attract more customers have caught attention from local governments and other small shop operators nationwide.

"We've received inquires from municipalities amid growing concerns over the hollowing out of local shopping districts," an association official said.

Nurseries also have ventured into the precincts of stations. At Keikyu Kids Land, the nursery adjacent to Idogaya Station in Yokohama run by Keihin Electric Express Railway Co., parents are allowed to leave and pick up their children without passing through the ticket gates. Many commuters and shoppers living nearby get off trains at the station to leave their children at the nursery, and pick them up on their way home.

The services at the nursery are intended to help people living along the railway line and to enhance the railway's value, according to the division of the company that operates the nursery.