Japan’s increasingly popular gym franchise Chocozap offers services such as teeth whitening, photo booths, and exercise equipment at $20 a month.
Photographer: Noriko Hayashi/Bloomberg日本日益受欢迎的健身连锁品牌 Chocozap 提供牙齿美白、照相亭和健身器材等服务，月费为 20 美元。摄影师：Noriko Hayashi/Bloomberg
Gyms in Japan Now Offer Laundry, Karaoke, Hair Removal Machines
日本的健身房现在提供洗衣、卡拉 OK 和脱毛机
The Chocozap chain reached No. 1 in membership in two years and is aiming for more growth at home and abroad.
Chocozap 连锁在两年内达到了会员数量第一，并且正在寻求在国内和国际上的更多增长。
An increasingly popular gym franchise in Japan costs around $20 a month, offering teeth whitening, photo booths and — almost as an afterthought — exercise equipment.
在日本，一家日益受欢迎的健身连锁店每月费用约为 20 美元，提供牙齿美白、照相亭以及——几乎是附带的——健身器材。
The patchwork concept is called Chocozap, run by Rizap Group Inc., a billion-dollar fitness company that made its name in high-end personal training. In less than two years, the sub-brand has tapped into a casual and frugal gym user base with more than 1,500 locations and 1.2 million-plus customers.
拼凑概念被称为 Chocozap，由 Rizap Group Inc.运营，这是一家在高端私人培训领域崭露头角的十亿美元健身公司。在不到两年的时间里，该子品牌已吸引了一个休闲且节俭的健身用户群体，拥有超过 1,500 个地点和超过 120 万客户。
Typical memberships in Japan’s ¥278.4 billion ($1.9 billion) gym industry are on par with the UK or the US, at around $60 to $80 a month, but Chocozap has taken the concept and adapted it for a wider base, seeking to draw in casual users willing to sign up at a lower price. That’s made the business a major player in the sector, which saw a 2.2% rise in the number of customers to 2.8 million last year.
日本 2784 亿日元（19 亿美元）健身行业的典型会员费用与英国或美国相当，约为每月 60 到 80 美元，但 Chocozap 将这一概念进行了调整，以吸引更广泛的用户群体，寻求吸引愿意以较低价格注册的休闲用户。这使得该业务成为该行业的主要参与者，去年客户数量增长了 2.2%，达到了 280 万。
The oddball gyms — some of which also have gel manicure equipment — was created as an experiment during the coronavirus pandemic when Rizap’s core business of personalized training was suffering. As people spend more time working flexible hours and at home, they’re also seeking out more enriching experiences while keeping fit. Most recently, some locations even began offering CT scans.
这些奇特的健身房——其中一些还配备了凝胶美甲设备——是在新冠疫情期间作为实验创建的，当时 Rizap 的核心业务个性化训练受到影响。随着人们花更多时间在灵活的工作时间和家中，他们也在寻求更丰富的体验，同时保持健康。最近，一些地点甚至开始提供 CT 扫描服务。
东京 Chocozap 健身房的牙齿美白展位。摄影师：林纪子/Bloomberg
Chocozap 不断根据服务在用户中的表现添加和移除服务。摄影师：林纪子/Bloomberg
“We decided to incorporate elements of convenience stores — open 24 hours, in convenient locations, and frequently change the offerings,” said Takayuki Suzuki, president of Rizap Technologies, the subsidiary involved in developing the Chocozap concept.
“我们决定融入便利店的元素——24 小时营业，位置便利，并且经常更换商品，”瑞萨普科技的总裁铃木隆之说，该子公司负责开发 Chocozap 概念。
The first part of its name “choco” has nothing to do with cocoa beans, but comes from the Japanese word chokotto, or “a little bit.” Despite their offerings, the gyms are designed to save on costs; there are no showers because most customers stop by on their way home, or pop in for light exercise. Chocozap constantly adds and removes services depending on how well they do with users.
其名称的第一部分“choco”与可可豆无关，而是源自日语单词 chokotto，意为“一点点”。尽管提供了各种服务，这些健身房的设计旨在节省成本；没有淋浴设施，因为大多数顾客是在回家的路上顺便停下来，或是来进行轻度锻炼。Chocozap 根据用户的反馈不断增加和删除服务。
A standard Chocozap location is small and unmanned, which has made it easy for Rizap to deploy locations amid a chronic labor shortage. Members enter the locations by accessing the gyms using their smartphone app. Inside, they’ll find gym equipment, and use the various offerings that usually need to be booked in advance. The color scheme is minimalist white and yellow, making it seem cozier than conventional gyms.
标准的 Chocozap 地点小而无人，这使得 Rizap 能够在长期劳动力短缺的情况下轻松部署地点。会员通过使用智能手机应用程序进入健身房。在里面，他们会发现健身器材，并使用通常需要提前预订的各种服务。色彩方案为简约的白色和黄色，使其看起来比传统健身房更舒适。
“They’ve managed it well to make it efficient,” said Kyoichiro Shigemura, an analyst at Nomura Securities Co. “The business model is hard to pursue as scale-of-economy is needed to make a profit, so anyone who attempts to challenge them will face two to three years of losses.”
“他们管理得很好，使其高效，”野村证券公司的分析师重村恭一郎说。“这个商业模式很难追求，因为需要规模经济才能盈利，所以任何试图挑战他们的人都将面临两到三年的亏损。”
Chocozap 是在新冠病毒疫情期间作为实验创建的，当时 Rizap 的核心业务个性化训练正遭受困境。摄影师：林纪子/Bloomberg
尽管提供了各种服务，这些健身房的设计旨在节省成本；没有淋浴设施，因为大多数顾客在回家的路上顺便来，或者只是来进行轻度锻炼。摄影师：林纪子/彭博社
Rizap went public in 2006, and is known for its TV ads showing Japanese celebrities becoming slimmer and fitter in a matter of months. Its intense gym program can cost as much as ¥600,000 for two months of instruction but was a hit, helping the company reach a current market value of around ¥140 billion.
Rizap 于 2006 年上市，以其电视广告而闻名，广告中展示了日本名人在几个月内变得更瘦更健康。其强度较大的健身项目两个月的课程费用高达¥600,000，但非常受欢迎，帮助公司目前的市值达到约¥1400 亿。
Chocozap reached profitability on a monthly basis in late 2023 and expects to be profitable this year. A cleaning service comes through twice a week — and the company has also experimented with membership fee discounts if customers are willing to help with cleaning.
Chocozap 在 2023 年底实现了月度盈利，并预计今年将保持盈利。清洁服务每周提供两次——公司还尝试过如果客户愿意帮助清洁，则提供会员费折扣。
To keep costs down, Rizap employees visit the China Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou every year to see what kinds of funky and fun products are available. So far, some of the equipment introduced include single karaoke boxes and massage chairs.
为了降低成本，Rizap 的员工每年都会前往广州参加中国进出口商品交易会，了解有哪些新奇有趣的产品可供选择。到目前为止，介绍的一些设备包括单人卡拉 OK 盒和按摩椅。
“We realized on-site staff are not fundamental values gym offers, and lowering barriers to visit as much as possible unlocks demand,” Suzuki said.
“我们意识到现场员工并不是健身房提供的基本价值，尽可能降低访问门槛可以释放需求，”铃木说。
标准的 Chocozap 地点小且无人值守，这使得 Rizap 能够在长期劳动力短缺的情况下轻松部署地点。摄影师：林纪子/Bloomberg
The brand aims to more than double number of stores to 3,000 by 2027, and eventually reach 10,000 — on the same scale as convenience-store chains. There are plans to add more services and machines, and also expand overseas. It already has about a dozen locations overseas, mostly in China, and one in Santa Monica.
该品牌旨在到 2027 年将门店数量增加到 3000 家，最终达到 10000 家——与便利店连锁规模相当。计划增加更多服务和机器，并扩展海外市场。它在海外已有大约十几个地点，主要在中国，还有一个在圣塔莫尼卡。
“I keep the membership for the Karaoke machine,” said Miwa, a part-time worker in her 40s who initially signed to exercise. “The only complaint I have is how the Karaoke box isn’t perfectly soundproof.”
“我保留了卡拉 OK 机的会员资格，”米瓦说，她是一名 40 多岁的兼职工作者，最初是为了锻炼而注册的。“我唯一的抱怨就是卡拉 OK 包厢的隔音效果不够好。”
