Kira Bella: Rural Revitalization and Preserving Japan’s Cultural Heritage
I have sort of become a coordinator for a bunch of activities, accommodations, and experiences out in the countryside of Japan. I’m offering a chance for not only locals to see with new perspective why their community is so interesting, why their activities are interesting, but people from around the world, they’re able to see something and be in such intimate spaces. They don’t even exist online or Google Maps. It becomes like a special destination for people that was never on the map before. This is Creator, the podcast from Matador Network. I’m your host, Ross Bordon, and I believe creators are the future of all global advertising. So, join me as I sit down with top creators to hear about how they got started, the challenges they’ve overcome, and the tips you need to become a full-time creator. All right, we are back with another episode of Creator the Podcast. Tonight I have an amazing guest coming live and direct from Japan. We’ve got Kira Bella who is a young entrepreneur in Japan. She is the founder of Kiraki, a business she started when she moved to Japan that’s focused on revitalizing the countryside town of Kita Hiroshima through cultural exchange programs and experiences. She built a following of over 100,000 followers across platforms as she’s documenting the journey in building this business. Kira, welcome to the show. Thank you so much for having me. So, why should people ditch the big cities or let’s say go to elsewhere in the countryside when they go to Japan? Why go to all the places that no one goes to when people travel to Japan? I think to find the essence of Japanese culture and to find a deeper sense of community. It’s really not in the big cities, especially in places like Tokyo that are so metropolitan and people are just exhausted on the trains. The atmosphere is just totally different in the countryside and I find people are just way more naturally happy out here. So that’s why I ditched any life in the city and moved out here. And how did you find yourself in the countryside of Japan? That kind of is a long story that comes from lots of years of traveling and I’ve been to over 40 countries and I guess I’ve just always had a, you know, big passion for exploring things off the beaten trail and I have so much travel experience that I sort of got a good range of city life, suburban life, countryside life. And after being in Japan for a couple years, I was just moving around a lot. And the happiest I was was when I was surrounded by nature and meeting great people and kind of taking things at my own pace without being surrounded by buildings all the time. So, how long total have you lived in Japan? Now, I guess I I got here June of 2023, so I guess just over two years. Okay. So, still pretty new, but you’ve you’ve started this incredible business that caught our eye. So, tell us about Kiraki. What is it all about? What’s the vision and the mission and how’s it going? Yeah, you have opened a can of worms. Um, I am so passionate about my business. Basically, the moment my eyes open till I can’t think or do anything else, I I am just always thinking about this work and basically I’m super passionate about community and culture and preserving things that I love. So whether that’s nature or you know beautiful traditions that exist in the world, I think that this sort of became a cultural conservation of sorts. So basically what I’m doing here and with my sort of skills in outreach and connecting with people all over the world, I have sort of become a coordinator for a bunch of activities, accommodations, and experiences out in the countryside of Japan that are not easily accessible to the rest of the world. So, I’m trying to make things as accessible as possible. So, I’m hosting stays and programs that range from half-day tours to months on end of volunteer opportunities to come live in the countryside, come experience life here. So, whether you come for a 3-day, twoight program, and I lead you everywhere. And basically, I’m your non-stop guide for 72 hours and you get a big dose of every tradition out here. or you come stay for a couple months or you’re on a special visa and you want to just immerse in the community and I host you at the Kiraki Center. I sort of offer a whole range of experiences for ranging from 5-year-olds to 85 year olds. Everyone is welcome here and it’s been a really enriching journey of just bringing the right people to the right places. So, you’re like a onewoman DMC basically for this town in Japan where you organize the stays, the activities, the cultural intros. I guess I’ve always found when I travel in Japan, it’s like it’s a place that’s where access matters and you can’t just like walk in anywhere and have access. There’s obviously like a language barrier and I found that almost when you go in especially I would say in Tokyo when you’re if you’re speaking English sometimes they’re like oh full sorry like they don’t even let you in because they just don’t want to deal with someone who doesn’t speak Japanese. Is that is that true? And is that is even more pronounced in the countryside? Yeah, absolutely. I think uh I live in a really interesting town where people are very curious about the outside world and welcoming to the outside world, but they also don’t know how to reach these people. But what is amazing is all of the existing infrastructure exists already. Like there’s incredible accommodations, there’s incredible experiences and activities and all these beautiful things to do. and even like a mobility center in the town that encourages people to rent electric bikes and come experience samurai history. So these existing infrastructures are already here but the the main thing is the accessibility of course and that is something that I really love and when I travel I I don’t get material things like I like to pay for experiences and things that truly it feels like money can’t buy these things like money can’t buy you a ecosystem of a community here in Japan that is welcoming to foreigners that want people to experience the traditions. So what I’m offering is a connection to the entire community. It’s like a portal to this community that when you contact Kiraki, you are basically able to get in touch with all these places that they don’t even exist online or Google Maps. They’re like places that are so off the beaten trail. I’ve only been able to find them because I I’m just a very social person and I I’m constantly going around the town and I’m like, “What do you do?” And they’re like, “Oh, I make miso at my house.” And I do it in a really traditional way. I don’t go grocery shopping. I just produce everything at home. And I know that people really are curious about these things. And from the countryside perspective, they might not even see why is it interesting, what what is so great about this. So, I’m offering a chance for not only locals to see with new perspective why their community is so interesting, why their activities are interesting, but people from around the world. They’re able to see something and be in such intimate spaces in a way that you can’t you can’t just walk into a place and do it. You have to be friends with somebody. So, would you say that most of these experiences that you’re curating, they didn’t even exist for tourists before you? you like met a guy who makes miso in his house and you’re like this is a this is a traveler experience that we could create. Yeah, you could say that for sure. And I I think uh yeah, in general I think the day-to-day life of like a countryside grandma is like really sweet and wholesome. And even from the work I’m doing here with renovating old traditional Japanese houses and I’m doing all these traditional methods of restoring these paper doors and all of these architectural things that are so like commonplace knowledge for Japanese people. It’s very interesting to the outside world and Japan was closed off for hundreds of years from the from like any country besides Japan. So all these things are really amazing interesting things in the world that are so exclusive to just Japan. So because they’re so untouched and like there’s not much communication and history with outside countries, it is so well preserved already. And now I have a chance to kind of have this global perspective of, you know, as a like a dual citizen of Australia and the US. I’m sort of like this is interesting to me. I know what people would find interesting and I have people I guess that’s how my social media following got got built up. And then in terms of the the demand side, are you seeing just from your social media? Are you getting a lot of people coming out to see you specifically because they saw you on social and you’re like your your tours or whatever you call this your entire business Kirachi is pretty busy already. Yeah. Yeah. It’s it’s crazy. It’s it’s it’s amazing. And I’ve had, you know, people like not even just foreigners, but actually Japanese people as well that see my content and they live in the cities and they are, you know, so captivated by the fact that there’s a girl that just loves culture and I’m kind of nerdy about it too. Like I’m obsessed with like Japanese mythology and I’ve just dove so deep and a lot of Japanese people are like, “You’re like more Japanese than I am cuz I don’t know anything about like the gods or these religions.” And I just have dove so deep and I have people that have flown across the world like from recently like two weeks ago a guy from uh like San Francisco area he flew across the world just for a Kiraamechi program and then he left the day after. So he came all the way to Kita Hiroshima for a 5-day fournight program. I took him and saw all the highlights of the town. He just met everybody did everything. And this has happened many times like people for their first visit to Japan or their 20th visit in Japan, people have found what I’m doing and they’re like this is a real amazing experience and it becomes like a like a special destination for people that was never on the map before. Is it growing faster than you thought when you started this? Did you think you were going to be hosting people from all over the world and even like na, you know, Japanese nationals coming from other parts of Japan to come take your partake in your experiences? Yeah, you know, you could say it’s just one big happy accident, I guess. Um, things really evolved very quickly. I guess some context to all of this is that, you know, I started this business just out of pure passion. And before starting this business, I maybe had around like 10,000 followers on Instagram. Just I’m I’m a world traveler. Like I’ve never been an influencer. I’m just very extroverted. So everybody who knew me on social media was like someone I had met before. And these people were kind of like my target audience. Like I’m like I have enough friends that would love to do this. And I’m also a full-time master student still. So my ideal situation like my best case scenario when I started everything in like March of this year was hosting one program or one group a month for the year. Like I’m like I can only handle this. Like I don’t know I don’t know anything. And I was like let’s do one program a month and then that’ll be more than enough and I can still do my school travel enjoy. And then I just I posted a video explaining my business and then I think I gained like 60 70,000 followers like b practically overnight and everything exploded. So now I probably host about you know four to five six programs a month and mind you it’s only me working on this. So I’m leading all these people. On top of that I have hosted so many volunteers and interns coming to you know support me or renovate the house. So, I’ve had, you know, like at least 50, 60, 70 people come to this town just because of my social media and because of me. And I’m hosting like an artist residency program as well. There’s there’s like a dozen people at this other house in town I’m working with collaborators with. It’s just way more than I ever anticipated and it’s just so fun and overwhelming, but I’m I’m just, you know, I think I have to ride the wave and I think it’s a it’s a beautiful thing. I mean the tourism thing in Japan is happening today and it’s happening now. And I think one of the things of qualities of being American is to sort of, you know, send it and try it out and fix what’s broken after you try it out. I’m not one to like, you know, plan this for 10 years and then lose all the demand and I’m just I’m just going to roll with the flow. Yeah. Ride the wave. I love it. I mean, I think like clearly it’s a great idea. It’s resonating right off the bat. You’re you’ve built awareness, it sounds like, with one video that blew up and now it’s this thing that’s known. So, I would imagine you might have to hire some locals to be your employees pretty soon. Um, if you’re going to grow the business and where people stay, are you like renovating a bed and breakfast hotel while you’re doing this or where does one stay? Do you partner with like local hotels in Kita Hiroshima? Yeah. And you know it sort of relates into the question of like you know having employees and stuff because if I specifically have employees for Kiraki their role is very you know specific. They’re like leading people around to these collaborating places. So you could say that I’m working in this ecosystem of established you know companies and stays and activities in the town. So I don’t feel like it’s all on my shoulders for one person to have a great experience. It’s like, okay, I know if I take you to this experiential inn that was built by this incredible friend of mine in town, you’re going to have a good time, and I know that if I take you to this performance that’s in this historic village where everybody is so, you know, kind and welcoming, I know you’re going to have a great time. So, for me, I I I just really enjoy bringing people to these places. And yeah, I I at the same time I am working on my own sort of like guest house situation, but you could say that my vision for the Kiraki Center is kind of it it doesn’t really like this thing doesn’t really exist yet. It’s it’s like a basically a cultural international cultural exchange center in the countryside of Japan that I can use as a model for other places in Japan because any place to do rural revitalization that can sort of be your stop as a foreigner to go into the countryside and be like it’s not a tourism office but it’s like you have kind of like a safe place like whether we have you know uh some like a a study space or like a work space or you know there’s always a kind live in and out of amazing people from all around the world. We have my headquarters where like me and my my employees, my interns will all be and it’s going to be like a resource for like truly a rural revitalization headquarters. So that is what I’m working on and I thankfully have a really crazy property of like three really large connected properties. So they’re all totally different. And the first one that I’m fully almost done with is the guest house portion. And I’m going to be spending maybe the start of 2026, this will be a place where I could like book guests. But then the other side is just totally like my office headquarters. And then the other side I’m trying to make into like an English school and like a rural revitalization like kind of workshop you could say. So I’m I’m working on all these things uh step by step, but the guest house is basically done already. It just it’s just I I don’t really there’s so many collaborators in town. I’m trying to support the community directly. This is just to manage the demand that I have because there’s so many people that want to come to the town. There’s not enough accommodations for people and I think people want to travel like on a budget and sometimes they just relax for a bit and not have like a really tailored experience all the time. So I’m trying to accommodate for everybody. Sounds like you have a lot going on. It’s a an amazing vision. So what is the town like? like Kitah Hiroshima. I’m kind of, you know, you read about these places in I would say like the countryside of Japan or parts of Italy where there’s like a big problem with like population decline and the buildings are sort of run down, a lot of vacancies. Like is that what that town is like or was like before you got there? Yeah, it’s interesting. I guess uh just from traveling around Japan, I’m more on the side of like trying to save something proactively because Hiroshima Prefecture as a whole, it’s the second largest prefecture in Japan with declining population. And there’s, you know, obviously Hiroshima has had a really difficult history. And actually, for the past 100 years, basically, there’s been so much discrimination against people living in Hiroshima or if you’re from Hiroshima. For a long time, women from Hiroshima couldn’t find husbands because people weren’t sure about radiation and if their kids would, you know, have problems. So, there’s always been this sort of dark cloud over Hiroshima. And I think, you know, that’s probably why the prefecture isn’t, you know, on par with Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto. But if it wasn’t for the bomb, I really truly think Hiroshima would be one of those super cities. It was like that. And it’s rebuilt from the ground up. And it is like that. So, it’s just facing, you know, those stigmas. But as for where we live, we are actually, so there’s Hiroshima Prefecture, and there’s this amazing prefecture 10 minutes from where I live called Shiman. And I’m right in the center. So I’m closer to this other prefecture than I am to the city where the bomb happened. And we are right in the mountains in the mythological epicenter of Japan. This is really where the birthplace of Japanese mythology is. And it’s a very upandcoming place where I’m starting to see a lot of things on social media. I’m just the one with like the center that’s here. It’s called the Chu Goku region. This whole mountain range is called Chugoku. And we have so much history. Like when you think of Hiroshima, I don’t think it goes past, you know, 86 years ago. But when you come here, it’s like thousands of years of traditions. And it’s a lot of agriculture. It’s a lot of nature. It’s a lot of like crazy masks and performances that are happening every single day. We have a huge range of seasons. It is extremely snowy in the winter and most beautiful in the spring. And every single week it’s like a different micro season is happening. So you’re going to have the whole range of every season and it keeps it very interesting compared to a place where you only travel to because oh summer isn’t a good season. It’s like every single season here is so interesting and that’s the beautiful part of Japan. It’s the transient beauty of the seasons. So I found a really amazing place and it’s got a population of about 20,000 people for this huge region. So it’s like four kind of different smaller areas of Kitah Hiroshima that make this huge region very sparse and that’s 20,000 people. So it’s a big chunk of Japan with only 20,000 people and it’s so it’s amazing nature and kind of like very rural but magical. It’s amazing. Yes. Yes. But also relatively accessible compared to other very rural towns in Japan. Like we have the the highway bus from Hiroshima City comes every hour and that comes straight into my town and even where the Kiraamechi Center is 2-minute walk away which is very rare is a local bus stop that that can take you anywhere in our little town and if I go to the bus interchange I can take a direct bus for 5 hours to Osaka. So, it’s a really really kind of like amazing place where it’s countryside, but it’s super accessible and I think that’s that’s why I really love being here. So, most of the travelers from let’s say the US are coming through Hiroshima City, flying in there or or going or flying to or taking a train to Osaka and then taking the bus to you. How do most people get to you? Yeah, it depends on who where if people are staying in Japan long term, but the easiest way to get into my town is from the Hiroshima like train station and that’s where you take the bus that comes straight to my town. The other way is we have an airport in Hiroshima. Like another really great thing about the city. So people can fly into Hiroshima, but they still have to like go to the JR station, the train station, and then go straight up to my town. So regardless, the train station is like the access point to get to anywhere in the countryside in Hiroshima. Is Hiroshima City is the entire area prefecture. Uh is it popular with international tourism? I feel like you hear about Osaka, obviously Tokyo. um these places that everyone goes it seems when they go maybe Hokkaido or Sapora if you’re going to be skiing but do you feel like like even Hiroshima city at all is on the map with international tourists? Yeah, it’s actually one of the most I guess strategic things about my business is Hiroshima is the one of the most major tourist destinations for all travelers. It’s basically like oh I’m in Japan for like two weeks. Where should I go? It’s like Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima. And then they they leave and the I’m actually in a lot of correspondence with like the prefectural government and all of the tourism boards in Hiroshima. They’ll be coming to my property to like do a promotion thing soon and I’ll be on all of their websites soon. But basically in Hiroshima, there are two things that people see. They go to the atomic bomb museum and they go to an island called Miaima Island, which is great. And it’s like a UNESCO World Heritage Island. And then they leave. So people spend like one night or like two nights here maximum. And we have a lot of amazing things in Hiroshima. Like there’s like beautiful islands. There’s like such a amazing like a ramen hot spot called Onomichi. Then we have the whole countryside underexplored. So, what I’m trying to help them with is get people away from those two destinations or when they come here for those destinations, maybe they want to extend two, three days and go to a very traditional, you know, beautiful nature spot in the in the prefecture and I’m trying to assist with that. So there’s yeah hundreds and thousands of people that visit this city. And it’s so great that I’m in such a good point where people are already coming to Hiroshima that they might as well add, you know, even a day trip or two days to just experience traditions in Japan you might be looking for in Kyoto, but it’s too touristed there. So where else can you go? Talk about language for a little bit. I assume you speak Japanese. Did you learn Japanese? Did you already know Japanese? You learn Japanese in your two years of living in Japan? Yeah, I learned in the two years of living here and I can’t say that I’m totally fluent, but yeah, it’s this weird thing where I like understand so much and I might like like I’ll understand everything and if I have an interpreter with me, they’ll like try and translate, but I already understood it. So, I’ll just speak to the interpreter and they talk about it’s like this like triangle thing where I’m more eloquent and more, you know, certain of myself speaking English, but I understand the Japanese. So, if it’s just conversational, I can communicate. And, you know, everything I do in Japan is just out of pure survival. Like, I never had any formal education. It’s like when you live in the countryside, like nobody speaks English. Like, you just have to speak or understand Japanese. It’s like full-blown like immersion. And that that’s it’s honestly a really awesome way to pick up a language. Like I just I mean one day I just woke up and I could like read and it was so strange. I’m like wow I can like see the signs and understand everything and it’s like a slow process but I’m not Japanese at all. I I just come from a very international background and I’m like half Burmese. So the the benefit of that is I’m not such a like unfamiliar kind of like a like different face for people. Like if I walk into a in a restaurant, people don’t like watch me the whole time. Unlike many foreigners entering Japan, if you’re in really rural places, they’re sort of like, “Who are you? How did you get here?” But for me, I I even look more Japanese than like half Japanese people sometimes. Like I look more Asian. So I think that really helps me and with the the level I speak I get enough respect for studying and working hard to learn the language but also enough like you know people are very relaxed with me cuz there’s no pressure to like speak very formally. So it’s nice. I’ve had that experience too in visiting Japan. My friend Abram uh from California has lived there for like nine years and now he started a business in the food industry and brought it back to the US and is very successful. But I would notice that like when we’d go into a restaurant, everyone would kind of be like turn around and look and like, “Oh boy, two gringoes.” And then Abram would just be like start chatting up the bartender or the hostess or you know the chef, the sushi chef in like perfect Japanese. And everyone would be like, “Wow, wow, that that guy really speaks Japanese like very well.” And then it would just it would it would change everything. It would be again like that key to the culture and everyone would just relax and it was just like I was like man I couldn’t be here without Abram. It would be it would be a disaster. So that’s amazing. So you have this like massive vision. You’re building essentially a boutique hotel. You have the cultural center. You’ve got I saw a video of you like partaking in uh speaking of culture in like a UNESCO like what was that? I’m part of like one of the 2,000year-old uh Kagura dance teams in the town. I I joined I decided I think I’ve been in the team now about eight or maybe 10 months and it’s like twice a week we have practiced from 8:00 p.m. to 10 p.m. and I’m just part of this dance team and I uh yeah I was invited to be part of this UNESCO World Heritage event and the backstory a little bit of this you know Kagura performance is it’s sort of a combination of storytelling for Japanese mythology but actually it’s all about blessing agriculture and blessing you know harvests so the rice planting festival is the UNESCO world heritage event I was part of and that is a really really cool thing. It’s like a like sort of like the dance team that I’m in, but this is like only women are able to plant these, you know, rice in the field. We do like a parade and we we sing. There’s all the men in the back that are playing all the instruments. We have these beautiful huge black cows that are adorned in all of these, you know, accessories that till the fields for us. And basically, uh, throughout this prefecture, there’s a couple of these taw is the word for it. It’s like rice planting festivals, but where we are for some reason, the MiBU is like the the area in the town Miu is like the neighborhood. The MiBu no Hanae festival is the one that’s registered as like an intangible cultural heritage event. And they wanted me to be part of it because I’ve been really trying to, you know, talk about the town and promote the cultures and traditions. And they thought it would be really great to have me kind of represent it. And I was on the the Hiroshima home TV uh segment. They did like a 15minute segment of me and my whole sort of like journey to be able to do this cuz I did like two months of really intensive practice for this and I had to for someone who’s not fluent in Japanese like I’m singing like ancient Japanese script which is really crazy for even Japanese people. You can’t even really understand it. It doesn’t sound Japanese. It’s very like ritualistic like you’re singing at a temple. So I just practiced like crazy and was on TV and a after that everyone in the town is like, “Oh my god, it’s it’s it’s Kira from from the festival.” And I was recognized for being in this festival. It sounds like that the town has kind of adopted you in a way. Like I bet they’re so flattered that you’ve come here and you’re like, “All right, we’re going to, you know, celebrate your culture and we’re going to do it the right way and we’re going to bring people from all over the world to come learn more about the culture here and the land that you guys have, you know, called home for many generations. Is that is that what it feels like? Do you feel like the sort of like this star of the town that’s like, you know, I mean, what what do the people think about that are there?” When you got there, I’m sure they were like, “Wait, you’re doing what? you’re gonna you’re gonna move here and start bringing travelers here and now that you’re making it happen, like how do they react? Yeah. Yeah, that’s a really beautiful way of putting it. I can’t wait to like listen to the podcast, hear that again. But yeah, you know, I think the the main thing like even when I I was doing an internship in Tokyo and learning a lot about, you know, just policies and community and like how people receive foreigners in Japan and one of the main things that’s important is public acceptance. And, you know, if you’re not accepted by the community, you really shouldn’t like, you know, try and do something that’s so, you know, out of the ordinary because you’re just going to you’re not going to be able to integrate well. And I think I had a very kind of nice and natural progression of things in this town where I came here sort of like just as a tourist basically like I came here as a tourist and the the origin of me being here is I had a friend in town and he asked me to take care of his cats and koiish while he was traveling uh in Europe for two months and I was basically like the housesitter. So, I came to this town just taking care of cats and koiish and I was also starting my master’s degree. So, when I first came to the town, they’re like, “Oh, it’s Kira, the master student that goes to John’s Hopkins.” Like, it’s it’s recognizable to them and they’re like, “Oh, Kira, like she’s doing this.” And then I joined the Kagura dance team. So, they’re like, “Oh, Kira, the girl in the Kagura team who’s also the master student who’s taking care of the cats at this house.” And then I had the idea of starting the business. So then it was like, “Oh, Kira, the girl who’s already done these things and she’s shown how much she cares about our town. She’s part of this team and they, you know, perform every week. They recognize me from like the stage basically.” And my idea was so I guess you know I was really embracing everything the town had to offer that it was this really nice progression of I already had so much respect in the town that I started this business and you know instead of me starting my own guest house and bringing people here and not engaging with the community everything is centered on me supporting the community. So I have brought so many people and I even do like kind of volunteer English events like I go to like this old temple in town and I host events for teaching English and I bring new customers or guests from all over the world every time and they all kind of like recognize me as this person that just really cares about their community and is really global and everyone I meet is like so excited to be here and so appreciative of the town and the culture. So they can recognize that it’s not just me that’s like this. It’s like everyone who comes here because of me is also someone that cares about them too. And it’s just been, you know, proof in my action. And I had to I had to just continuously build respect. And that’s the key in Japan. You know, you will get so much trust from the people here if you really, you know, genuinely care about them and you just prove it with every single action you take. Yeah. I’m sure they would have reacted totally differently if you just showed up and said, “Well, this is going to do. I’m going to build the tourism business here.” They’d be like, “Who is this outsider?” But you’d already earned their trust through that. So, what was the moment when you’re like, you went from housesitting cats and koiish to like, I’m staying. I’m going to do this and build a business right here. Was it when you joined the dance group or like when what was the moment you decided? Yeah, it’s funny because I joined the team without Yeah, obviously there’s maybe a language barrier or something because they invited me and I was like, “Yeah, like I want to do that.” It’s actually like a lifetime commitment. Like when you join a team, like people are in that team from like ages five to like until they die. And I didn’t really think about this being a lifetime commitment, but I felt, you know, so comfortable in that state. And I guess I uh I was just, you know, I was researching a lot about my my visa, my working holiday visa I got because I’m Australian. That was what I was on. And I was in Japan for like 18 months. And it was going to expire in January of this year. And I it was around like August of last year that I moved to this town. And I remember just, you know, enjoying my life. I didn’t really have any plans after January. I didn’t actually know. I’m I’m very, you know, like I just live in the moment and I plan a little bit ahead, but I just knew that I really love living in Japan. So, I was doing some research about, you know, various ways I could stay in the country and then they the startup entrepreneurial program sort of like came into my line of sight and it was actually before Tokyo released theirs. So, it was very hard to find on this tiny little fine print on some website from the Hiroshima Prefecture like government site. They had this like application for like a startup visa. And mind you, I’ve never had any business experience, but I I just spent day and night for two weeks and I just applied without a lawyer, without any consultation. I just applied and I got it and it was really easy and interesting and I I just sent it and I did it. And then I didn’t realize what that entailed. I I just got the thing. I was the third foreigner in Hiroshima Prefecture to get this special visa. So it’s hard to get it’s hard to get that visa. Like not they don’t just give them out to anyone who wants to start a business. Yeah. You need to have like a five-year plan. You need to have Oh, things have actually changed a lot in the past week. Starting October 2025, all of the rules that I went through have changed. So now it would be totally impossible. But for me, when I applied, it’s like had to create a business plan, had to have 5 million yen in the bank, which is about like 30,000 USD, which I had saved from working for many years. And then basically that’s it. Like you didn’t even have to employ anyone. You didn’t have to do anything. And then starting from October of this year, your requirement is uh 200 million yen, which is or 20 million yen, which is like 200,000 USD and you have to employ someone in Japan. And I was like 200 million yen. That sounds like 20 million something like that. It’s like I know that it’s like 200k USD you have to have in the bank and you have to employ someone and you have to have three years in like an MBA in like business. and they made all these new kind of things and I’m grandfathered into the the initial thing that I applied for. So I it was just like right person, right timing and I with all the people that you know they do people have done consultation calls with me on like how to do it. They’re like oh I’m talking to this lawyer. I did everything alone and I did great. So I kind of was like I don’t if if you could still do it like you did it. I I don’t think a lot of people could pull off what you’ve pulled off in such an authentic way and be like, “Welcome to the community in such a way.” So, I mean, I’m glad you got in under the closing door. But, um, what you’ve done is extremely unique and and special. So, if this if this continues to grow at the rate it’s growing, what’s next? like will you do will you like duplicate this and there will be like Kira studio you know Kira practices all over different countryside prefectures of of Japan. Yeah, that’s sort of my my aim for things. And the first step for me is kind of hiring more people. I actually just opened up some work applications. So I’m officially going to start hiring people. I’m thinking start of 2026. I’m just I need to duplicate myself is what I need to do. And I I did hire one person already. I have a personal assistant who’s just saving my life right now. And he’s just doing everything and I no longer feel so, you know, overwhelmed. And then I’ll start hiring people in 2026. And the idea is right now, I mean, even in a couple weeks because of social media, a lot of prefectures in Japan just want me to go to different places to help promote different things. So my plan is to go to you know different prefectures and then the idea is to replicate what I’m doing is like I have the sort of like model of what should be done but what you really need is like the people that want it the collaborators the experiences the activities and the accommodations and then I act as the coordinator. So if I just have that knowledge and I can market it on my website and I’m the one that actually brings the people there and has the the demand then we can replicate it all over Japan just depending on who wants to kind of get in on it as well. So it’s a very like collaborative thing and basically I would be the marketer and coordinator and ideally if I could open more of these centers in different places it would give like more of a variety of stays. Like if you look up Kiraki then it’s like well I know I’m going to get great cultural experiences with locals in different places. This is just the the entity that is like the big branch like if you look up you know workaway.com you can see all these opportunities but if you see kiraki and the meaning of kiraki is like a place people go to shine and the community shines too. So it’s this really I was going to ask you about the name so that’s what Kiraki means. It’s like your name and then that’s what Mechy means. Yeah. So kira or kira or kira means like shining and sparkly and uh mechi is like village or a place but together the the the feeling it gives is like a place you go to shine and it’s it’s this really really nice meaning and I I wanted to sort of combine that. So, it’s just this this mission of like Kiraki is something that can be everywhere in Japan. And I even have people like across the world that are like, I want to do a Kiraki program in like Taiwan or like, you know, all these all these different countries that just have a lot of culture, but are just not easily accessible. And the main thing is I I just want to support the people that exist there already. I love businesses like this where you’re doing something good and it has the potential to become a huge business. That’s like the the ultimate business idea. So, congratulations. It’s really amazing. Thank you. Um and and we work at Matador, we work with, you know, hundreds and hundreds of tourism boards. We’ve worked with um the National Japanese Tourism Board a couple times. Are other like DMOS or tourism boards within Japan reaching out to you to try to duplicate what you’re doing in their undervisited prefectures or undervisited rural towns? Yeah, it’s mostly been in like because I’m just in a small town in Hiroshima. So even expanding outside of this town into like Hiroshima Prefecture is kind of like a big step. So that’s what I’m doing already. Like I’m working a lot with Hiroshima Prefecture as a whole. And then I’m soon going to be going to uh Gefu, which is this really amazing place in Japan, underrated, but very traditional, very cool. I’ll soon be going there. And then I have friends in like Kochi Prefecture and in Shikoku Island and there’s a bunch of places across Japan. But as for like a national board, I think my my main goal for this year, you know, you heard my initial goal of like one group a month. So this sort of like kind of all exploded in my face and I’m just hoping that I can create a good proof of concept and then do something really successful here. And the idea is, you know, just with the way I’m monitoring data and I’m even inventing this new like community revitalization contribution kind of data set of like what are people actually giving to the town and how much they’re stimulating the economy. Basically, I’ll gather all this, make a presentation, give all this, and then I can actually propose this idea as like a scaling concept to bigger organizations in a very like professional academic way, which is the way I’m running this whole business. Yeah, super smart. And then uh before we go, we’re we got a wrap in a minute, but other than coming to Kiraki for four days, what would you recommend travelers do in Japan that’s off the beaten path? I’m sure you know the country pretty well by now. Are there other places that you’ve been or experiences you’ve had that you’re like, “This is the real Japan and everyone’s missing it.” Plenty. And um you know I think that you know the the best way the best experiences I’ve had in Japan honestly come from when I’ve like rented a car. And I know that like some of the coolest places you can go to are so like so far away from like accessibility from public transport and I think that’s what makes it so special. So, if you’re able to, you know, rent a car in Japan, even for a couple days in various cities you go to, and there’s an app called like Table Log, and that’s where all the Japanese people leave their references for food. It’s better than Google Maps. It’s more accurate and treasure of data right there. Table log. Exactly. Table log. That’s where all of the uh Japan highlights for food are. And I would just, you know, Japanese people are very harsh critics. Like if it’s a place, you know, it’s like, “Oh, great food, great ambiance, three stars.” Or it’s like, “Oh, this place is great, but two stars.” Like they are so critical. So if you just filter through this app and find what’s highest rated, I would just go visit and plan your trip around food. You’re going to go to some really special local places, you’re going to have a great time. And I’ve had amazing experiences in Hokkaido and Shikoku Island and even in Kyushu region. And these are like, you know, the bigger bigger kind of parts of Japan. And I think, you know, for me as well, I like to travel based on kind of seasonal attractions. So when people come to Japan and they’re like, “Oh, I want to see cherry blossoms.” And it’s only for kind of one week and then they’re all gone. They don’t really realize that the cherry blossoms start in the south and they last for like 2 months. They go all the way up Japan. And if you just if you miss them in one place, go up north. they’re going to be in full bloom and it’s so amazing to just follow the flowers is what I would do and I think that’s the most kind of magical way you can experience the country and you know seasons are a very integral part of the culture here and appreciating the beauty of all these changing flowers and the animals the the nature I think that’s a really like magical way to experience the country the Kiraki follow the flowers trail coming soon 2027 That’s great. This is just getting me pumped to come back to Japan. Like I we’ll definitely come check you out, do a Kirachi tour and I always think of Japan as like this endless endless trove of amazing food, travel experiences, skiing. It’s just like it’s one of my favorite. By the way, I ask everyone who come on the comes on the show um if your passport only worked in three countries for the rest of your life. So, you had to live and travel in only three countries. You’ve been to, you said you’ve been to 40 countries, right? So, or at least 40 countries. What would your three countries be, Kira? That’s really interesting. Oh, it’s I don’t know if it’s going to be controversial, but don’t worry. Don’t worry about controversies. Just answer answer. Be true to you. So, I definitely want to do Japan because again with the endless treasure trove of activities and things to do. Then one of You’re locked in for life. You can never you can never leave. I guess so. I guess so. You’re in the dance crew. All right. Japan. That’s no surprises there. Yeah. And then I’m thinking Peru is like one of my favorite places I’ve ever visited and I had an amazing time there. I could visit there all the time and it makes me so happy to think about it. And then the last one is kind of interesting because I really loved, you know, my other favorite countries are like Spain and New Zealand, but when I think of traveling for the rest of my life, I want to pick a place that is very underexplored for me that is so enormous. So the country that comes to mind is China because China has a amazing range of experiences and when I was there for like a week I went to you know Beijing and then I went to like Jang Xia like the Avatar mountains and if I go way further west I can go to these amazing mountain landscapes and China comes to mind for like variety of you know geography and culture and everything. So, I’d be very curious to kind of like dive into this huge landscape of China. Japan, Peru, and China. We’ve never had that answer. That’s a great That’s a great combo. All right, Kira. Well, huge congrats on the business. Uh we will spread the word far and wide and um I mean, I really I I think you’re going to do so well and I’m really happy for you. And um this is these are the good things about social media. People are finding your story and coming to check you out. So, um, yeah, I’m I think the town’s very, very lucky to have you and, uh, excited to watch your journey, come back and and go on the show in a year or two and give us an update. Oh my goodness. Yeah, maybe I’ll be somewhere else talking about Kiraki’s expansion. So, thank you so much for having me and for asking such great questions and for getting me really hyped up. So, thank you for that. Absolutely. Thanks for coming. [Music] Creator the podcast is produced by Matador Network. We are a leading global travel publisher focused on travel and adventure. If you enjoyed today’s episode, please subscribe. Every week I interview a new top creator. New episodes are released every Tuesday on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and everywhere podcasts are found. Thanks for listening.
Kira Bella, Founder of Kirameki and rural revitalization entrepreneur, joins CREATOR: The Podcast to discuss building a cultural tourism business in the Japanese countryside. In this episode, Kira shares how she went from house-sitting cats and koi fish to becoming the third foreigner in Hiroshima Prefecture to receive a startup visa, including her journey of joining a 2,000-year-old Kagura dance team and performing in a UNESCO World Heritage rice planting festival. Host Ross Borden explores Kira’s transition from traveling to 40+ countries to settling in Kita Hiroshima, diving into the challenges of language barriers in rural Japan, the art of gaining community acceptance as an outsider, and her vision for scaling cultural exchange programs across Japan. Kira offers behind-the-scenes insights about navigating Japanese business culture without formal training, plus practical advice on building authentic relationships in traditional communities. Whether you’re an aspiring entrepreneur or simply interested in cultural preservation, this conversation delivers a valuable perspective on creating meaningful tourism that benefits local communities.
Follow Kira on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/earthkira/
To learn more about CREATOR: The Podcast, visit https://creatorthepodcast.com/
Subscribe to CREATOR: The Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/creator-the-podcast/id1788987273
Subscribe to CREATOR: The Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6aHdngxWvkUbpDlmmCq8Z6?si=zQjPxLneRaOUIwP-y5BmyA
00:00 – Introduction to Kira Bella
02:08 – How Kira Discovered Rural Japan
03:07 – What is Kira Meki? The Vision and Mission
07:40 – Creating Unique Experiences That Didn’t Exist Before
09:08 – Building a Following and Growing the Business
11:38 – From One Program a Month to Viral Success
16:21 – The Town of Kita Hiroshima: Population Decline and Revitalization
19:37 – Getting to Kita Hiroshima: Accessibility and Location
21:28 – Why Hiroshima Prefecture is a Strategic Tourism Hub
23:16 – Learning Japanese Through Immersion
26:19 – Joining a 2000-Year-Old Kagura Dance Team
29:25 – Earning Trust and Acceptance from the Community
32:49 – The Moment Kira Decided to Stay in Japan
34:45 – Navigating the Startup Visa Process
36:42 – What’s Next? Scaling Kirameki Across Japan
39:54 – Working with Tourism Boards and Prefectures
41:39 – Travel Tips: Off the Beaten Path in Japan
46:48 – Closing and Where to Find Kirameki
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