Building lasting value
between Japan and Europe.
KYOFLOW is a strategy consultancy headquartered in Kyoto. Through three practices — hotel and ryokan revenue, tourism and regional development, and Japan–Europe business — we connect Japan and Europe.
Our Name
京 × 流
The name KYOFLOW joins 京 (Kyō, for Kyoto) with Flow. For a thousand years Kyoto has taken in people and culture, refined them, and sent them out into the world. Our work belongs in that current.
Shape the current, don't drift with it — that is the stance behind the name.
Message
A message from the founder
Founder, Florian Jourdain
Florian Jourdain / Founder & Principal Consultant
Hello. I'm Florian Jourdain, founder of KYOFLOW. I was born in France, and I've now lived in Kyoto for more than a decade.
For those ten years, I worked on the floor of Japanese hospitality — setting hotel rates, reading booking data, standing between international guests and Japanese operations teams. Those days convinced me of something. When things go wrong between Japan and Europe, the cause is rarely ability or goodwill. Almost always, it's the absence of someone who can stand in the middle and understand both sides.
You can translate the words, but not the meaning. You can read the data, but not the realities on the ground — and the reverse is just as true. I built KYOFLOW to make that in-between space our specialty.
KYOFLOW is deliberately a small, boutique firm. I keep it at a size where I can personally take responsibility, on the ground, for every piece of work we accept. At the same time, I have no intention of it staying a one-person company. People who can bridge Japan and Europe, gathering and growing in Kyoto — that is the kind of place I want KYOFLOW to become.
From Kyoto, bridging Japan and Europe. Let one conversation be where you see how we work.
Fieldwork
A region can't be seen
from behind a desk.
Our work begins on the ground. We take the train, stay the night, sit at the same table as the people who live there. Backed by data, confirmed on foot. Only when both are in place do we think something deserves to be called strategy.
Values
Four things we hold to.
01Start on the ground
Strategy is tested not in the meeting room but at the front desk, in the tea fields, at the negotiating table. We stand on the ground before we write a single slide.
02Think in years
Trust between Japan and Europe doesn't grow in a quarter. Over the next number on the sheet, we choose the relationship that's still standing five years from now.
03Honest in both directions
We bring the same honesty to our Japanese clients and our European partners. A bridge is only crossed when both sides trust it.
04Say the hard thing
Saying 'that won't work' is part of the job. Over a comfortable proposal, we'll give you an honest read.
Company
Company profile
- Company
- KYOFLOW LLC
- Representative
- Florian Jourdain, Founder
- Location
- Kyoto, Japan
- Services
- Hotel & ryokan consulting / Tourism & regional development / Japan–Europe business support / Media & content production
- Founder's background
- More than 15 years in hospitality. Over a decade living in Kyoto. Revenue management and marketing at Japanese hotels. More than 60,000 subscribers on a Japanese-language YouTube channel, with television and newspaper appearances.
- Languages
- Japanese, English, French
- Contact
- florian@kyoflow.com
If the way we think seems to line up with what you're facing.