*Since July 2021, the salon operation business has been managed by Wing Inc., which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company.
Health Tech Business (Lav®)
The Company offers a government-specific health guidance program (the “Program”) using Lav®, an on-demand training application developed by the Company. The Program is designed to be less burdensome for the users and is delivered through a completely remote support style using the web remote interview and chat function of Lav®. This approach helps to reduce the dropout rate of conventional specific health guidance programs.
The Program provides support to medical professionals, such as public health nurses, dietitians, etc., that assist eligible individuals (age between 40 and 74) who are at risk of developing lifestyle-related diseases that can be caused by an unbalanced diet, lack of sleep, lack of exercise, smoking, stress, and other factors, by reviewing their lifestyle habits through specific health checkups that focus on metabolic syndrome. The implementation of specific health checkups and specific health guidance has become mandatory for medical insurers in Japan, including national health insurance and employee health insurance providers, since April 2008.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has set a nationwide target of at least 70% for specific medical checkup implementation rates and at least 45% for specific health guidance implementation rates. In fiscal year 2021, however, the medical checkup implementation rates and specific health guidance implementation rates were only 56.5% and 24.6%, respectively. As a result, the market for these services is expected to expand due to the government’s effort to achieve the set target implementation rates. According to a survey by the Japan Health Guidance Association, the utilization of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been increasing, and the adoption rate has exceeded 50% due to the impact of COVID-19 in recent years.
As of June 2024, the Company has entered into contracts with 83 corporate insurance associations, and the cumulative number of users of the Company’s Lav® app has exceeded 7,000 people, bringing the total to 7,369 individuals.