Talk and learn at SAUNA "AOU no MORI," Komono town, Mie prefecture

"AOU no MORI ~ CO-CREATION SPACE ~ (below: AOU no MORI)" is a private sauna facility located in Komono Town, Mie County, Mie Prefecture. Ventures and start-up companies are also paying attention as a place to spend time in a relaxed and extraordinary space, talk in the sauna, and learn together.

This time, we interviewed Ms. Makoto Ao, the representative of LEO Inc., which supports entrepreneurs and community building, about the reason for the birth of "AOU no MORI" and its purpose.

Click here for the experience report

Life Designs

2021.12.27

Totoi is the best in the forest of Komono Town. Experience report on the tent sauna of "AOU no MORI"!

https://life-designs.jp/webmagazine/aou-no-mori

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({});「AOU no MORI」ってどんな場所？「AOU no MORI～ CO-CREATION SPACE ～」は、ただサウナを楽しむ施設だけのではありません。「CO-CREATION （コ・クリエーション」）とは、さまざまな立場の人たちと対話をしながら、新しい価値を生み出していく考え方のこと。これからの社会で新たな事業・価値をつくっていくベンチャーやスタートアップの企業を中心に、自然豊かな非日常な空間で、サウナで語り、共に学ぶ場所として利用してほしいという想いが込められた施設なんです。確か...

“AOU no MORI” is located in Komono Town, Mie County, Mie Prefecture, which is rich in nature. About 1 hour by car from Nagoya. It is located about 10 minutes by car from Shin-Meishin Expressway "Komono IC".

It is a fully chartered private facility where you can enjoy two types of saunas, a 13 degree water bath, a steam bath, and an open-air bath in the great outdoors.

There are two types of saunas: Finnish tent sauna "SAVOTTA" and Russian tent sauna "MORZH".

The water bath uses natural water flowing from the Suzuka Mountains. You can always enjoy fresh natural water.

Bath towels, face towels, shampoo and treatments, sauna hats and sauna slippers are also available for rent, so all you need to do is bring your swimsuit and a change of clothes, and you'll be empty-handed!

In addition to enjoying the sauna, AOU no MORI is also a social demonstration site that accelerates the creation of new industries such as startups and ventures. Therefore, it is equipped with a work space along with a sauna.

This is the "Instant House" jointly developed by LIFULL and Nagoya Institute of Technology, which is used as a workspace. It can be used as a resting place after a meeting or sauna. As the name suggests, it is a "house" that can be built in a day (actually in a few hours).

AOU no MORI was one of the first to introduce this instant house, complete with monitors, projectors, and even Wi-Fi. They have all the necessary equipment, so you can work while enjoying the sauna.

"Increased work productivity"
"Creative ideas were born"
"I was able to work while relaxing in a natural environment."

Recently, it is often used for meetings, practice presentations, and workcations.

If you like a sauna, make one!

Born in Mie Prefecture. Makoto Ao is the representative of LEO Co., Ltd., which supports entrepreneurs and community building.

CEO of LEO Co., Ltd.
Profile of Makoto Ao

After graduating from university, she engaged in software development as an engineer. In 2016, while working as an executive at Pasona Tech, she founded the Kansai-based AI venture company Exine Intelligence Co., Ltd. In 2020, she founded LEO, which supports entrepreneurs and community building, and assumed the position of CEO.

Currently, she is a producer of the incubation facility "Nagono Campus", a navigator of ZIP-FM "Startup[N]", a visiting professor at Musashino University's Faculty of Entrepreneurship, and a visiting associate professor at Nagoya University's Industry-Academia-Government Collaboration Promotion Headquarters. Active in many fields.

– First of all, please tell us what inspired you to create AOU no MORI.

Ms. Ao: "The reason I created AOU no MORI was simply because I liked saunas. Ever since I was working in Tokyo, I found time to go to various saunas.

Meanwhile, the spread of the new coronavirus in 2020 has made it impossible for me to go to the sauna at all. Then I thought I'd make my own! So I decided to create AOU no MORI.

At first, I was planning to build a small one on my parents' house, but I happened to find this place in Komono-cho by chance.

In fact, many entrepreneurs love saunas. I thought it would be great if I could create a community for start-up companies while in the sauna, as well as a place where I could have worcation.

It took only three months from the idea to the opening (laughs).”

- Ms. Ao's ability to take action is formidable...

As a “place for social demonstration” to receive feedback from consumers

AOU no MORI, thus born, serves not only as a place to enjoy sauna, but also as a place for social demonstration. Of course, you can also receive advice from Ms. Ao, who has served as a judge in numerous business contests.

Ms. Ao: "For example, the Instant House workspace. We were one of the first to introduce the Instant House developed by Keisuke Kitagawa, a professor at the Nagoya Institute of Technology Graduate School of Engineering, and are using it as a social experiment at AOU no MORI.

Instant houses were developed as a result of temporary housing in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake, and they can be easily constructed in a day. The shape and size can be freely selected to suit your needs. They have high heat insulation and sound insulation properties and can be used in any season, so by utilizing them in AOU no MORI,  we are proposing a way to make use of instant houses as well."
​

Ms. Ao: "You can enjoy the herb loyly in the sauna, and this herb is grown at AOU no MORI.

We are demonstrating the recycling cultivation system of the start-up "TOWING", which is a graduate of Nagoya University's Faculty of Agriculture, aiming for agriculture in space.

In order for entrepreneurs to give shape to their ideas, it is important to get them out into the world as quickly as possible and have them actually used. To that end, I hope this place will become a place for social demonstrations."

The sauna strangely allows us to talk more in depth than usual. In fact, another writer was there that day for an interview, but by sharing a sauna together, no ice-breaking was necessary.

Have a meeting in the sauna, clear your head in the water bath, and organize yourself in the open air bath. No one talks in the open-air bath, so you can organize and deepen your thoughts.

By actually experiencing it, we found the sauna more suitable for meetings than we had imagined.

Ms. Ao: "I think it is important to have time to think about yourself, even if it is only for 10 minutes a day. AOU no MORI is the place for that.

The sauna, which makes people more creative, allows them to meet themselves more honestly than usual. Through this place, by confronting oneself, various people will meet and something new will be born. That is the kind of place I want to make."

Ms. Ao is always surrounded by attractive people. Whenever we see her, we always feel energized and motivated. Perhaps it is because we are inspired by the air that Ms. Ao herself emits.

Sauna is a place where you can talk at your leisure and face yourself.
Try AOU no MORI for a special time.