Yamazaki is a Japanese restaurant centered around a white-wood L-shaped counter, where guests can savor seasonal ingredients and the artistry of its chefs through all five senses. Within just three months of opening in August 2018, the restaurant earned a star in the MICHELIN Guide Tokyo 2019 and has continued to draw attention from diners in Japan and abroad. Operating with a small team, the restaurant places the highest priority on the time spent face-to-face with each guest — yet it had long faced operational challenges, including the dual management of phone and online reservations and the after-hours back-office work this required. With the implementation of Respo, the restaurant has achieved unified reservation management and improved operational efficiency, while building a foundation that supports the meticulous, attentive hospitality that only counter-style dining can deliver.

**Challenges Before Implementing Respo**

Yamazaki faced the following on-the-ground challenges:

**■After-hours administrative burden caused by dual management of phone and online reservations**

- Phone and online reservations were managed in separate systems, making confirmation and information sharing time-consuming
- With a counter-only, small-team operation focused on attentive service for each guest, staff were frequently left handling administrative work after closing hours
- Entering and cross-checking reservation data was a burden on the floor, cutting into time that should have been spent on cooking and preparing for the next day

**■Resistance to "complex systems" that did not fit the floor's intuition**

- There was concern that overly feature-rich management tools would be hard to put to work on the floor, and could ultimately add to operational burden
- The restaurant had long been searching for a system simple enough for a small team to manage comfortably

**Key Features of Respo**

"Respo" is an all-in-one platform for restaurants provided by Hello, Inc., with its core features offered free of charge in Japan. It brings together a reservation ledger, channel manager, POS, payment terminal, and mobile ordering on a single platform, allowing restaurants to flexibly combine the tools they need according to their size and business model.

**■What you can do with Respo**

- Reservation Ledger: Connects to multiple booking channels, eliminating the need for manual transcription across platforms
- Channel Manager: Centrally manages inventory across your own website and various reservation channels
- POS / Payment Terminal: Completes accounting and payment on a single device, streamlining store operations
- Mobile Ordering: Allows guests to order from their own smartphones or tablets, reducing dwell time
- Customer Information Management: Accumulates visit history, preferences, and allergy information for use in serving returning guests

**Effects of Implementing Respo**

**■Effect 1: Reduced administrative work and more time for cooking and preparation, through centralized reservation management**

Because Respo enables both online and phone reservations to be managed in a single ledger, the burden of confirming and entering data across multiple channels has been significantly reduced. As a result, after-hours administrative work has been cut considerably, securing time for chefs to focus on cooking and on preparing for the next day. Integration with the payment terminal has also made accounting smoother, shortening the time guests spend waiting.

**■Effect 2: The "layered" customer knowledge that only counter-style dining can leverage**

Yamazaki has made full use of Respo's customer information features, making it a consistent practice to record not only visit history but also what was discussed, what was served, and beverage preferences for each guest. Allergies, dietary restrictions, and celebration plans are noted at the time of reservation. With guests right across the counter, having this information instantly accessible enables the kind of attentive, personalized hospitality tailored to each individual.

**■Effect 3: Not just efficiency, but elevating brand value by refining "what makes Yamazaki uniquely Yamazaki"**

With the stress of reservation and accounting workflows reduced, chefs and staff can now spend more time in conversation with guests at the counter, and on serving each dish at its peak moment. This newfound margin supports the restaurant's vision — "we want our guests to enjoy not only the food, but also the space and the time" — and ultimately translates into greater brand value for the restaurant as a whole.

**A Message from Shiro Yamazaki, Chef-Owner of Yamazaki**

The following comments were shared by Chef-Owner Shiro Yamazaki:

> "The biggest reason we chose Respo was that it is 'simple and easy to use.' Systems with too many features can be difficult to put to work on the floor, and often end up adding to operational load. Respo is intuitive, and felt most aligned with the way our floor actually works."
> 

> "Beyond pure efficiency, the most significant change has been our ability to further refine what makes 'Yamazaki' uniquely 'Yamazaki.' With less stress around reservation and accounting, I can now focus on conversation with guests at the counter, and on serving each dish at the very best moment. I would truly love other restaurant professionals to experience this value for themselves — that 'as management becomes easier, the time you can devote to the floor grows.'"
> 

**A Message from Yuki Hariguchi, CEO of Hello, Inc.**

> "Yamazaki earned its Michelin star within just three months of opening and continues to attract attention from diners in Japan and abroad. We deeply resonate with the restaurant's commitment to valuing — above all else — the time spent face-to-face with each guest, made possible by its small-scale counter-style format. That Respo is being recognized 'not as a tool merely for efficiency, but as a system for refining what makes Yamazaki uniquely Yamazaki,' and that it is supporting the floor's renewed margin and returning that time to hospitality and craft, brings us genuine joy. As Yamazaki looks ahead to international expansion, we will continue to strengthen the multilingual capabilities of our services — including AutoReserve — so that Yamazaki's worldview can resonate across borders, and we will walk this path together."
> 

**Case Study Article**

The full story is featured in an interview article with Yamazaki, published on the official Respo website. Please take a look.

▼ Case Study Article

"Reclaiming Time to Focus on Cooking and Hospitality — How the Renowned Japanese Restaurant Yamazaki Chose a Simpler Approach to Reservation Management"

URL：[https://respo.autoreserve.com/ja-jp/cases/yamazaki](https://respo.autoreserve.com/ja-jp/cases/yamazaki?utm_source=prtimes&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=respo-interview-yamazaki)

respo-interview-yamazaki

[Respo] Adopted by Japanese Restaurant Yamazaki

"Installation Table ENSO L'asymetrie du calme" is a restaurant that delivers a "memorable dining experience" through its dedication to Hokuriku ingredients and the aesthetic of a space renovated from a former sewing school. The restaurant is supported by a wide customer base centered on guests in their 40s and 50s, with overseas reservations — particularly from Europe — rising sharply in recent years. At the same time, the restaurant had been facing on-site challenges, including the collection of cancellation fees and the difficulty of managing seating across multiple reservation platforms. With Respo, the restaurant has strengthened its cancellation prevention measures and centralized its reservation management, while leveraging Respo as a "customizable reservation management foundation" that reflects each restaurant's unique operational rules.

### Challenges Before Adopting Respo
ENSO had been facing the following on-site challenges.

■ The burden of handling cancellations
- The previously used reservation platforms often had no built-in mechanism for collecting cancellation fees, or were designed in ways that allowed guests to cancel too easily
- When cancellations did occur, there were many cases where the restaurant could not reach the guest, or the call was hung up on
- As a result, it had become routine for cancellation fees that should have been collected to go unrecovered

■ Inefficient reservation management caused by using multiple platforms
- The restaurant used multiple reservation platforms in parallel, and had no choice but to manage seating by allocating seat counts to each platform
- As a result, the restaurant's overall seating allocation was inefficient, and reservations that could otherwise have been accepted sometimes had to be declined
- Switching between the admin consoles of each platform also created significant overhead and added to the burden on the floor

### Key Features of Respo
"Respo" is an all-in-one platform for restaurants provided by Hello Inc. It brings reservation book, channel manager, POS, payment terminals, and mobile ordering together on a single platform, and can be flexibly combined to match each restaurant's scale and business format.

■ What Respo Offers
- Reservation book: Integrates with multiple reservation platforms, eliminating manual transcription from each platform
- Channel manager: Centrally manages inventory across the restaurant's own site and other reservation platforms
- POS / Payment terminals: Complete checkout and payment in a single device, streamlining store operations
- Mobile ordering: Enables guests to order from their smartphone or tablet, reducing wait times
- Guest information management: Accumulates visit history, preferences, allergy information and more, supporting tailored service for returning guests

### Outcomes After Adopting Respo
■ Outcome 1: Reducing cancellations and eliminating lost opportunities through centralized reservation management
Thanks to Respo's cancellation fee pre-authorization mechanism, guests now have a greater sense of responsibility for their reservations, and no-show cancellations — where guests book but never visit — have decreased significantly. When cancellations do occur, the restaurant now has a system in place to reliably collect cancellation fees that previously went unrecovered, protecting revenue opportunities.
In addition, by managing inventory and seating across multiple reservation platforms in one place, the constraints created by allocating maximum reservation counts to each platform have been removed, creating an environment in which the restaurant can maximize the reservations it is able to accept.

■ Outcome 2: A "customizable reservation management" system that adapts to the restaurant's unique operations
ENSO uses a unique operational style that combines its own paper reservation book — which the restaurant wants to keep — with Respo's web-based reservation book. Because Respo allows reservation statuses to be customized on the restaurant's side, ENSO has been able to set up its own rules — for example, marking reservations awaiting answers to critical questions such as allergies as "Awaiting Confirmation" — and color-codes them accordingly. This has created an operation in which the status of every reservation is instantly visible to all staff.
![enso2](//images.ctfassets.net/x0lx6207qomw/2lKDenVKU4bMhzH0LDeMn8/1f9e4408fdc21fad78a8daf0721dc84b/679e0255-ec97-404f-8b01-7af0deeef58f.png)

■ Outcome 3: Deep use of guest information to support the "memorable dining experience"
ENSO offers a daily omakase course, and to deliver a different experience to returning guests with every visit, the restaurant makes extensive use of guest information notes. By recording everything from past course content, conversations, drinks, and pairing wines — and attaching photos — ENSO is able to provide hospitality grounded in each individual guest's previous experiences. The cancellation fee pre-authorization function has also contributed to building the perception of ENSO as "a restaurant worth visiting even with a reservation fee."

### Comments from Installation Table ENSO L'asymetrie du calme
We received the following comments from the representative at the restaurant.

"We feel that, through our reservation system, we have been able to design the 'value of visiting.' With the cancellation fee pre-authorization in place, especially for our overseas guests, I sense it has led to the perception that we are 'a restaurant worth visiting even with a reservation fee.' The number of guests who book and never show up has also decreased considerably."

"Respo always responds properly, which gives us peace of mind. We are grateful that they address our requests, even step by step, and the level of support is excellent — that is a point we would happily recommend to others in the industry."

### Comment from Yuki Hariguchi, Representative Director, Hello Inc.
"Installation Table ENSO L'asymetrie du calme is a wonderful restaurant pursuing a one-of-a-kind world view in Kanazawa, drawing on Hokuriku ingredients and a building rich in history. ENSO's words — 'through our reservation system, we have been able to design the value of visiting' — felt symbolic of the future of restaurant operations. We hope that Respo will be more than just a tool for efficiency, and will instead grow alongside each restaurant's world view as time goes on. In addition, by strengthening multilingual support across our Dining business, we will continue to help ensure that ENSO's appeal reaches guests across borders."

### About the Case Study Article
### 
The full story has been published on the official Respo website as an interview with Installation Table ENSO L'asymetrie du calme. We invite you to read it.

▶ Case Study Article: "Reservation Management That Supports a 'Memorable Dining Experience': Why ENSO Chose Respo"
URL:[https://respo.autoreserve.com/ja-jp/cases/enso](https://respo.autoreserve.com/ja-jp/cases/enso?utm_source=prtimes&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=respo-interview-enso)

enso1

[Respo] Adopted by Installation Table ENSO L'asymetrie du calme

Hello, Inc. is pleased to announce that AutoReserve now supports four additional languages: French, Italian, Spanish, and German.
Building on our existing language lineup, the addition of these four European languages will significantly enhance the user experience for both inbound visitors to Japan and local users across Europe, further strengthening our delivery of a globally accessible dining experience.
# ◆ Background
According to the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO), the number of foreign visitors to Japan reached approximately 3.69 million in April 2026, the highest monthly figure recorded so far in 2026. Among European markets in particular, France posted an all-time single-month high of 59,200 visitors, underscoring a sustained, long-term upward trend in inbound demand from the four European countries (France, Italy, Spain, and Germany).
(Source: [https://www.jnto.go.jp/statistics/data/_files/20260520_1615-1.pdf](https://www.jnto.go.jp/statistics/data/_files/20260520_1615-1.pdf?utm_source=prtimes&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=european-4-languages))

At AutoReserve, the number of new user registrations from these four European countries has grown approximately 2.8 times year-over-year, making Europe a key growth region for our Dining business.

Hello, Inc. has been accelerating its European expansion, including the establishment of its UK subsidiary, "Hello AI Limited," in London in 2024. Against this backdrop, creating an environment in which users from each country can comfortably book and use our services in their native language has become a top priority. This update is intended to further strengthen user acquisition across the European market.

# ◆ Update Details
This update introduces the following enhancements:

**■ Four new languages now available on AutoReserve and Respo**

French, Italian, Spanish, and German have been added as selectable UI languages on AutoReserve and Respo. Users can now switch to their native language directly from the in-app language selector.
![autoreserve-european-4-languages](//images.ctfassets.net/x0lx6207qomw/30d3sbGBu2aqNwcJRUKRdw/fdb8955bdd9d8f10658860f66a936c8e/image__1_.jpg)

The AutoReserve pages for each language are available at the following URLs:
- French：[https://autoreserve.com/fr](https://autoreserve.com/fr?utm_source=prtimes&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=european-4-languages)
- Italian：[https://autoreserve.com/it](https://autoreserve.com/it?utm_source=prtimes&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=european-4-languages)
- Spanish：[https://autoreserve.com/es](https://autoreserve.com/es?utm_source=prtimes&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=european-4-languages)
- German：[https://autoreserve.com/de](https://autoreserve.com/de?utm_source=prtimes&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=european-4-languages)

**■ The four new languages added to multilingual settings forms**

In forms that allow multilingual registration—such as restaurant names and product (menu) names—the four new languages are now configurable. This enables partner restaurants to communicate brand names, menu items, and descriptions in detail across multiple languages, including for users from the four European countries.
![image (2)](//images.ctfassets.net/x0lx6207qomw/7MOeUf4OT2a3arAkEpEX2N/8746ef5970cc23fb08413f604446c7e5/image__2_.jpg)

**■ Native-speaker translation**

The texts across our services were translated by native speakers of each language. From day one, users can enjoy natural, high-quality copy in every supported language.

# ◆ Looking Ahead
Hello, Inc. will continue to accelerate its global expansion, further expanding its language support and refining features to suit the culture and business practices of each market. With the vision of a world where users everywhere can access any dining experience in their native language, we will keep evolving every service in our Dining business.

autoreserve-european-4-languages-2

AutoReserve, an AI-Driven Restaurant Reservation Service, Adds Support for French, Italian, Spanish, and German

Kyoto Yamagishi Group is a multi-format restaurant group operating eight locations across Kyoto and Tokyo, including Japanese cuisine, hot-pot kaiseki, izakaya, and yakiniku. As the group grew across multiple stores and formats, on-site challenges began to surface — most notably the lack of integration between reservation platforms and the reservation book, and limited sharing of guest information across the group. With Respo, the group has rolled out a "full-suite deployment" that combines mobile ordering and payment terminals tailored to each store, while using Respo as the operational foundation for maintaining "the Yamagishi standard" across every location.

# Challenges Before Adopting Respo
As Kyoto Yamagishi Group expanded into more stores and formats, the team faced the following on-site challenges.

■ __Lack of integration between reservation platforms and the reservation book__
The group used multiple reservation platforms in parallel, requiring staff to log in to each platform's admin console and manually transcribe reservations into the reservation book
Differences in specifications between platforms created an ongoing risk of input errors and double bookings
When staff covered shifts at other stores, the need to share that store's platform login credentials and re-log in created a significant operational burden

■ __Limited sharing of guest information across the group__
Reservation books were managed store by store, leaving guest information siloed across the group
In situations such as "a regular of Tominokoji Yamagishi visiting Nominokoji Yamagishi," details like guest preferences, allergies, and special occasions could not be shared between stores
As a result, there was a risk of inconsistent service quality across different locations

# Key Features of Respo
"Respo" is an all-in-one platform for restaurants provided by Hello Inc. It brings reservation book, channel manager, POS, payment terminals, and mobile ordering together on a single platform, and can be flexibly combined to match each restaurant's scale and business format.

■ __What Respo Offers__
- Reservation book: Integrates with multiple reservation platforms, eliminating manual transcription from each platform
- Channel manager: Centrally manages inventory across the restaurant's own site and other reservation platforms
- POS / Payment terminals: Complete checkout and payment in a single device, streamlining store operations
- Mobile ordering: Enables guests to order from their smartphone or tablet, reducing wait times
- Guest information management: Share and use guest information across the entire group, beyond individual stores

# Outcomes After Adopting Respo
■ __Outcome 1: No more platform logins — streamlined cross-store coverage__
Because Respo integrates reservation platforms with the reservation book, staff no longer need to log in to each platform's admin console individually. When staff cover shifts at another store, there is no longer any need to share that store's platform credentials and re-log in. Even at the store they are covering, staff can check and manage reservations with the same ease as at their home store.

■ __Outcome 2: A "full-suite deployment" optimized for each store__
Yamagishi Group has combined Respo's product suite to match the business format of each location. At the izakaya-format "Nominokoji Yamagishi," the full suite — reservation book, channel manager, POS, payment terminals, and mobile ordering — has been deployed to reduce idle time during ordering and checkout. This has created an environment in which staff can focus on what truly matters: delivering a comfortable dining experience and spending time in conversation with guests.

■ __Outcome 3: Original practices such as "color-coded management" deliver consistent quality across every store__
Using Respo's guest information features, the group has established a shared rule across all stores: key details such as birthdays, anniversaries, allergies, and VIP handling are managed by "color." This has built a system that upholds Yamagishi Group's philosophy of "hospitality tailored to each individual guest," regardless of which store the guest visits.

# Comments from Kyoto Yamagishi Group
We received the following comments from the representative at Kyoto Yamagishi Group who led the Respo rollout.

__"For us, Respo is a tool we use, not a tool that uses us. We hope it will continue to be a partner that listens to voices from the field and grows with us into an even better service."__
── Representative, Kyoto Yamagishi Group

__"Technology shouldn't disrupt the traditions of Kyoto cuisine or the unique world each restaurant has built. It should be the foundation that supports them from below. We hope Respo will continue to provide that 'underlying support' for us going forward."__
── Representative, Kyoto Yamagishi Group

# Comment from Yuki Hariguchi, Representative Director, Hello Inc.
"Kyoto Yamagishi Group is one of the restaurant groups we hold in the deepest respect — a group that cherishes the traditions of Kyoto cuisine and the hospitality of caring for each guest as an individual. We believe technology should not alter that world, but rather serve as the 'underlying support' that reduces the burden on the floor and gives staff more time to be present with guests. We are committed to evolving Respo by learning from voices on the ground, so that it can be one of the foundations supporting the next chapter of Kyoto Yamagishi Group's journey."

# About the Case Study Article
The full story has been published as an interview with Kyoto Yamagishi Group on the official Respo website. The article offers an in-depth look at how Respo is used in multi-store, multi-format group operations, along with the group's original operational practices.
▼ Case Study Article
"Inside the Respo Rollout at a Multi-Store Group Home to Kyoto's One-Michelin-Starred 'Tominokoji Yamagishi'"
URL:https://respo.autoreserve.com/ja-jp/cases/yamagish

yamagishi

[Respo] Adopted by Kyoto Yamagishi Group, Home of the One-Michelin-Star "Tominokoji Yamagishi"

Hello Inc. is pleased to announce that, with the goal of raising the average annual salary in its engineering organization to ¥15 million by the end of 2027, it will roll out a new compensation system and expand its AI utilization support program starting June 2026.

Hello's current engineering average annual salary is ¥11.5 million. AI is already used daily across the entire engineering organization as a "standard part of the company's toolkit." Building on that foundation, this round of institutional renewal positions Hello as a lean, elite engineering organization targeting industry-leading compensation levels. Regardless of whether engineers are new graduates or mid-career hires, compensation will be determined based on role, skill, and performance — not tenure or career history. Together with the continuation and expansion of AI tool subsidies and the integration of AI utilization into performance evaluation, Hello will further accelerate AI adoption across the entire organization.

# Background and Objectives
With the rapid advancement of generative AI, engineering productivity and the skill sets it demands are changing at a pace unlike anything in recent years. Hello regards this shift as a growth opportunity for both the organization and the individual, and has crystallized the following three principles as management policy:
- Company-wide rollout of development and operational processes built on the premise of AI
- Returning the added value generated through AI utilization to individuals via the compensation and grading systems
- Fair evaluation based on role, skill, and results — not tenure or career history
In line with these principles, Hello is renewing the compensation system for its engineering organization and expanding its AI utilization support program.

# Hello's Position: A "Lean, Elite" Organization Built on Selective Hiring
Hello's commitment to maintaining hiring standards and operating as a "lean, elite" team is not for the sake of achieving high compensation. The primary reason is to avoid a situation in which hires who fall short of the required bar increase the burden on other engineers and drag down the output of the organization as a whole.

By continuing to rigorously evaluate each individual's technical capability and problem-solving ability at the hiring stage, we have preserved an environment where every member can focus on the high-difficulty problems they should be tackling. As a result, the value generated per engineer remains stable at a high level, and the structural foundation for offering commensurate compensation is in place.
- __We do not lower the hiring bar.__ For the roles we need to fill, we prioritize the quality of the match — even if it takes time.
- __We keep individual autonomy and scope of impact broad.__ We have built an environment in which high-level engineers stimulate one another daily and accelerate each other's technical growth.
- __We redirect AI-freed capacity to high-difficulty problems.__ Time created by automation and efficiency gains is reinvested into new business, platform improvement, and R&D.

This compensation increase is the natural outcome of that lean-and-elite approach, and it is a statement of Hello's intent to become the first company that comes to mind for top engineers — both in working environment and in compensation.

# Overview of the New Compensation System
For engineering roles, Hello will introduce a new compensation system built on the following two pillars:

| Item    | Details     |
| ---------- | ---------- |
| Salary Range       | The current average annual salary across all engineering roles is approximately ¥11.5 million. The goal is to raise the average to ¥15 million by the end of 2027. Regardless of whether engineers are new graduates or mid-career hires, salary is determined at the time of joining based on skill, experience, and role within the defined range. For Senior / Principal Engineer-level positions, offers exceeding ¥20 million annually are already available.       |
| Grade and Evaluation       | A job-specific grading system has been introduced. Evaluation is based on three axes: "technical scope of impact," "business impact," and "productivity enabled by AI and automation." Promotions and raises are determined by role and results at each grade — not by tenure or length of service. As a tracked result, an average raise of 9.2% has been achieved after six months.       |

# Overview of the AI Utilization Support Program
To standardize AI utilization across the organization — rather than leaving it to individuals — as a precondition for productivity, Hello operates the following systems and culture. What sets it apart is not merely supplying tools, but designing work on the premise that the organization "uses AI to the fullest," and operating it as a culture in which engineers actively give each other feedback.
(1) Tool Provision
- __AI Tool Subsidies__: For all engineers, the monthly subscription fees for business-use generative AI and coding-assistance AI — including Claude Code and Codex — are fully covered by the company.
(2) Organization-Level AI Utilization Tracking
- __Continuous Usage Tracking__: Using the AI usage aggregation service "supateam," the organization's overall token usage is shared on Slack on a weekly basis. The team continuously monitors whether AI adoption is progressing as an organization.
- __Usage Targets__: As an organization, target values are set for AI token usage. Work is designed on the premise of "using AI to the fullest."
(3) Feedback and Knowledge Sharing
- __Support from AI-Proficient Engineers__: Engineers who are highly skilled in AI utilization support other members in adopting effective usage patterns. Improvement suggestions are made daily from the perspective of, "Could this work be made more efficient with AI?"
- __Slack Sharing of AI Use Cases__: AI use cases, prompts, and workflows that emerge in day-to-day work are shared on Slack as they happen.
- __Immediate Knowledge Sharing__: A culture is firmly in place in which engineers routinely gather and share information on new AI services, new features, and relevant research.
(4) Incorporation into Evaluation
- __AI Utilization in Grade Evaluation__: "How much productivity was improved through AI utilization" is explicitly defined as one component of grade evaluation. Engineers are encouraged to redirect the surplus time created by AI toward higher-difficulty work.

# Comment from Hello Inc. CTO, Kazato Sugimoto
"Rather than simply 'writing code with AI,' Hello fairly evaluates and rewards — with top-tier compensation — engineers who 'engineer AI itself to tackle higher-value problems.' We are excited to work with people who are serious about engineering, in a team where a small, elite group of humans leverages a multitude of AIs to deliver results."

# In Closing
In conjunction with this announcement, we have prepared the following touchpoints for engineer recruitment:
- Casual Interviews: Year-round, via our recruitment site (https://open.talentio.com/r/1/c/hello/pages/80664). We're happy to answer your questions 1-on-1 about our tech stack, working style, and compensation.

hello-engineer1

"Top-tier compensation for engineers who master AI" — Hello Inc. targets ¥15M average engineer salary by end of 2027

Hello, Inc. (Head Office: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Yuki Hariguchi), the company behind Respo, an all-in-one management platform for restaurants, today announced that its core features—reservation ledger, channel manager, POS, mobile ordering, and payment terminals—will be offered across Japan starting May 1, 2026, with zero initial cost, zero monthly fee, and zero customer acquisition fee.

# Why Make Everything Free?
One of the structural challenges in restaurant management is that fixed costs and operating expenses continue to weigh heavily on businesses, while the burden of those costs has remained difficult to fully identify and address.

Many restaurants have introduced tools such as reservation ledgers, POS systems, ordering systems, and payment terminals individually, from different vendors, whenever the need arose. As a result, the following issues have emerged:

- __Financial cost__: Total monthly fees often reach several tens of thousands of yen, and reservations made through gourmet listing sites typically incur customer acquisition fees on a per-booking basis.
- __Training burden on frontline staff__: Because tools vary from one vendor to another, staff must learn different systems and workflows, creating training and handover costs that are not always visible but consistently accumulate.
- __Fragmented data__: Reservation, sales, customer, and ordering data remain disconnected, forcing not only management decisions but also day-to-day customer service and recommendations to rely heavily on individual experience and intuition.

Respo addresses these structural issues through a fundamental rethink of pricing.
![respo-japangoesfree2](//images.ctfassets.net/x0lx6207qomw/26BCqmYbcl0J3bUVV0gX2e/bd38ec5f0b56abbb9edae33db2be83cf/20260413_Respo_PR_1200_675_1.png)

With zero initial cost, zero monthly fee, and zero customer acquisition fee, Respo will make all of the essential functions required for restaurant operations available free of charge across Japan, significantly reducing cost burdens for everyone from independent restaurants to multi-location operators. In addition, by integrating data into a single platform, restaurants can more easily identify operational challenges and make better decisions not only for revenue growth, but also for day-to-day service and operational improvement.

Not just reducing fixed costs, but building the foundation for higher sales—free for every restaurant.
That is the vision behind this move to full free access.

# How Respo Helps Increase Sales While Reducing Costs
What Respo delivers is not simply free tools.

By integrating everything restaurants need—from pre-visit reservation and customer acquisition management, to in-store service, ordering, and payment, to post-visit customer follow-up—into a single platform, Respo supports restaurant operations end to end.

With this move to full free access, restaurants will first be freed from a major fixed-cost burden. By unifying tools into one system, the time and effort required for staff training, setup, and operational management can also be significantly reduced.

In addition, by using Respo, data related to reservations, sales, customers, and orders is automatically connected. The longer the platform is used, the more this data accumulates as an asset for the restaurant. By centralizing data, time-consuming manual work—such as reconciling data across locations or matching spreadsheets in Excel—becomes unnecessary, enabling substantial gains in operational efficiency.
![respo-japangoesfree3](//images.ctfassets.net/x0lx6207qomw/6Fsb7JGYyeb4PZ2Mt0X0Nx/44639dc7f8fceb9b8229b4050771d7b2/20260413_Respo_PR_1200_675_2.png)

With data available in one place, restaurants can make decisions such as:
- Visualizing which days of the week and time slots are the most profitable by combining reservation and sales data, then optimizing staffing and menu composition
- Identifying the types of customers most likely to become repeat visitors by combining customer data and visit frequency, and executing more effective marketing measures
- Analyzing data across all locations to uncover performance differences between stores and design targeted improvement measures

These are just a few examples. As AI technology continues to evolve, the insights that can be generated from integrated data will expand even further. Through this full free offering of its core features, Respo aims to ensure that restaurants of every size can benefit from that evolution.

# What Current Restaurant Users Are Saying
## “Reservation and sales management across multiple locations can now be viewed on a single screen”
![yamagishi](//images.ctfassets.net/x0lx6207qomw/2jSSRwNAACpU6i69lZsXAN/4d404e782cfae54a4a4d3c3bd45c3c41/image__3_.png)
### Mr. Yamagishi, Representative of Yamagishi
We operate several restaurants with different concepts and locations, from traditional kaiseki in Kyoto and yakiniku to locations in Tokyo. By implementing Respo’s reservation ledger at our main stores, we were able to centralize reservation management across multiple locations. With site controller integration, reservations from various gourmet websites are automatically imported into the ledger, which has eliminated the need to check each platform separately and helped us avoid double bookings.

We also introduced POS, allowing reservation data and sales data to be connected seamlessly. In the past, each store used a different system, and month-end reporting was a major burden. Now, we can quickly check reservation statuses for each store just by switching between locations, even when we are out of the office, making multi-store management much more efficient.

## “Eliminating the ‘second shift’ after business hours and creating an environment where we can focus on hospitality”
![yamazaki](//images.ctfassets.net/x0lx6207qomw/39879FCwyMevaHVIoHnleH/24ec1e7e377de22791ccc429649ca8ff/image__4_.png)
### Mr. Yamazaki, Owner (Independent restaurant in Tokyo)
As a small counter-style restaurant, what matters most to us is being able to give each guest our full attention. That is why we wanted to keep back-office work to a minimum. In the past, reservation management was time-consuming, and it was not unusual for us to still be tied up with administrative tasks after business hours.

Since adopting Respo’s reservation ledger, we have been able to manage both online and phone reservations from a single screen, greatly reducing the burden of handling bookings. We also use the payment terminal, which has made the checkout process much smoother. For an independent restaurant like ours, having a system that is simple and helps reduce operational hassle has been a tremendous support.

Another major benefit is that we can now serve guests while checking their visit history, something our regular customers have really appreciated.

## “Instantly recognizing regular customers and delivering service that no longer relies on memory alone”
![manryou](//images.ctfassets.net/x0lx6207qomw/2Vn8qDo8Uc2UEHs9QNrGCm/fc7069f529f4dffdf4b2ecd2b9280b18/image__5_.png)
### Mr. Takimoto, Representative of Manryo
We operate six yakiniku restaurants in the Kansai region and welcome a wide range of guests, many of whom are regular customers. One of our top priorities is improving customer satisfaction, and as part of that effort, we introduced Respo’s CTI integration.

The moment the phone rings, the customer’s name, visit history, and most recent visit date appear on screen across all of our group locations. This allows us to greet them right away with a comment such as, “Thank you for visiting our [store name] branch previously.” We believe that making customers feel remembered leads to a better customer experience, and these small personal touches are what create the greatest value.

## “Centralizing reservation management across multiple locations for smoother, error-free operations”
![savoy](//images.ctfassets.net/x0lx6207qomw/2gsLxoG41trkBwdBux3mZS/ee1114ba4bf188cf2e95c993047370e1/image.png)
### Mr. Kikuchi, Manager of SAVOY Azabu-Juban Main Store
We operate several specialty Neapolitan pizza restaurants in Azabu-Juban. Because our restaurants are centered around counter seating and accommodate a limited number of guests, even a single double booking or missed reservation check can directly affect the customer experience for that day. Since introducing Respo’s reservation ledger across all of our locations, we have been able to check the reservation status of every store in real time on a single screen, which has greatly reduced both the time spent confirming reservations and the risk of oversight. At our main store, we have also introduced a payment terminal, allowing customer information from the reservation ledger to be carried over directly to the payment process, which has shortened the amount of time customers need to wait. When we opened a new store, it was also smooth and easy to start operating under the same system right away.

# Future Developments
Respo already offers a customer management function that uses reservation and customer data accumulated in the reservation ledger together with dining data from the POS system.

This makes it possible to understand customers based on their visit history and usage patterns, which can then be used to encourage repeat visits and improve service quality. Going forward, this customer management function will be further enhanced to support more advanced customer segmentation and outreach.

Respo’s goal is to first consolidate restaurant data through a fully free infrastructure, and then help transform restaurant management itself through the use of that data. This is the first step in bringing that value to every restaurant in Japan, from independent operators to large-scale chains.

# Comment from Yuki Hariguchi, Representative Director of Hello, Inc.
What Respo aims to achieve is very simple: helping restaurants increase sales while reducing costs.
To make that possible, we decided to make all of the essential tools that form the foundation of restaurant operations free of charge. Reservations, POS, payments, and even customer acquisition fees—everything is zero.
We want restaurants to use the money they save for better food, better service, and better support for their staff. And we want to make data-driven management the norm, whether for independent restaurants or multi-location operators. Respo aims to become the platform that supports that future.


respo-japangoesfree1

Respo Makes Core Restaurant Management Features Free Across Japan

Hello, Inc. will be sponsoring "RubyKaigi 2026," an international conference on the Ruby programming language, as a Gold Sponsor, and will be hosting a drinkup event on the first day, Wednesday, April 22, 2026.

RubyKaigi is an international conference on the Ruby programming language. It is the world's largest gathering of Ruby developers and the place where Ruby core developers meet every year. It plays a central role in showcasing Ruby's latest features, connecting the global Ruby community, and shaping the future of the language.

RubyKaigi 2026, marking its 20th edition, will be held over three days starting April 22, 2026, at Hakodate Arena and Hakodate Citizen Hall. Speakers will include Yukihiro Matsumoto (Matz), the creator of Ruby, along with well-known speakers from Japan and around the world.

**RubyKaigi 2026 Event Details**

- Dates: Wednesday, April 22 – Friday, April 24, 2026
- Venue: Hakodate Arena & Hakodate Citizen Hall (Hakodate, Hokkaido)
- Official Website: [https://rubykaigi.org/2026/](https://rubykaigi.org/2026/)

**Join Us for "Hello Drink Up**
![rubykaigi20260422](//images.ctfassets.net/x0lx6207qomw/L7eZHPHpSF69OwF49Nxtc/fd5b5c1812f01bcad5c7b512fdb2157e/Rubykaigi_drinkup_Hello.png)
Hello, Inc. will host a drink-up event, **Hello Drink up**, on Wednesday, April 22, the first day of RubyKaigi 2026, as an after-party following the Official Party.

At this event, we will offer local cuisine and sake unique to Hakodate, Hokkaido, providing a casual setting for RubyKaigi 2026 attendees to connect with one another. Building on the excitement of the conference’s first day, we hope to create an opportunity for participants to deepen their connections while enjoying conversations about technology and product development.

Registration is first come, first served and requires advance sign-up. We warmly welcome your participation.

- Date & Time: Wednesday, April 22, 2026, from 21:30 (RubyKaigi 2026 Day 1)
- Registration & Details: [https://helloinc.connpass.com/event/389120/](https://helloinc.connpass.com/event/389120/)
- Eligibility: RubyKaigi 2026 attendees only

rubykaigi2026

Hello, Inc. to Sponsor "RubyKaigi 2026" as Gold Sponsor and Host Drinkup Event

AutoReserve has surpassed 5 million total registered users.

The growing demand for inbound tourism to Japan has directly contributed to the increase in overseas user registrations on AutoReserve.

Leveraging its strengths in multilingual support (including Japanese, English, Chinese, and Korean) and its destination-based restaurant search functionality, AutoReserve enables seamless dining experiences at travel destinations, enhancing overall satisfaction throughout the user’s journey.

![20260219-ar-500million-pr2](//images.ctfassets.net/x0lx6207qomw/1Mqh8SNwycnEj3LuXAnOTh/aaaa98323e4c9d20a056690fc2d4df7f/20250202_AR_PR_1200_675_2__1___1_.png)

Moving forward, AutoReserve will continue to strengthen its global value as a platform supporting restaurant reservations around the world.

AutoReserve Website: [https://autoreserve.com/](https://autoreserve.com/)

20260219-ar-500million-pr

AI-powered restaurant reservation service "AutoReserve" surpasses 5 million registered users!

In recent years, as membership bases continue to expand, the number of outstanding payment collection calls has risen sharply across the e-commerce and subscription industries. At the same time, the emotional burden unique to reminder calls has become a major source of stress for staff.
Under these circumstances, Oisix ra daichi has achieved a fundamental transformation of its operations by introducing HelloX. By having AI handle approximately 5,000 reminder calls and related data entry tasks each month, the company has been able to reliably execute collection efforts totaling nearly ¥100 million, while significantly reducing the psychological strain on staff and shifting the nature of the work toward higher-value activities.

# Challenges Before Implementation
With approximately 500,000 members, Oisix ra daichi saw the volume of overdue payment reminders increase in direct proportion to its growing customer base, requiring nearly 5,000 outbound calls every month.
The key challenges were centered around three areas: physical limitations, emotional burden, and the growing workload of administrative tasks.
### Physical Limitations
- With around 5,000 calls required each month, it became increasingly difficult to complete all outreach by the deadline, raising the risk of uncollected payments.
- The pressure of recovering nearly ¥100 million while being unable to finish calls in time created significant stress on frontline teams.
- As membership continued to grow, call volume was expected to rise further, making it clear that staffing alone could not scale to meet demand.
### Emotional Burden
- Reminder calls are not generally welcomed by customers, and reactions could sometimes be strong or escalate into complaints.
- Operator stress was reaching its limit, prompting growing internal voices asking whether this work could be automated.
- There was also a recognition that resources should instead be allocated to initiatives that directly contribute to revenue growth.
### Expansion of Administrative Work
- After each call, staff spent several hours daily entering results such as “payment expected on XX date” or “no answer” into internal systems.
- Because call durations varied widely and could become lengthy, after-call work (ACW) increasingly weighed down the overall workflow.

# What HelloX Can Automate
### Automated Outbound Calls
HelloX interprets call lists generated in the CRM system and automatically determines which customer to call, when to call, and what message to deliver, executing outbound calls autonomously.
### Inbound Call Handling
HelloX also responds to customer return calls, operating 24/7/365 to ensure no opportunity for contact is missed, regardless of customer availability.
### ACW (After-Call Administrative Processing)
- __Automatic record saving__ : HelloX automatically logs conversation outcomes—such as promised payment dates or cases of absence—into the existing CRM system.
- __Automated preparation for the next day__ : Based on call results, HelloX generates the following day’s call list automatically, eliminating missed follow-ups entirely.

# Results Achieved Through HelloX
![HelloXPROisixradaichiinc](//images.ctfassets.net/x0lx6207qomw/6f3V4GgJNDF1CYDkRqMENM/942ee1d7b94b328fa1f4455109c81c93/20260206_HelloX_PR_1200_675_1.png)
### Resolving Challenge 1: Physical Limits
__Achieving Full Call Coverage While Maintaining Collection Rates__
HelloX enables simultaneous outbound calls, making it possible to handle the massive volume of 5,000 calls per month. This established a system where even customers previously unreachable could now be notified—often multiple times—helping maintain collection rates.
With natural conversational pacing comparable to human operators, HelloX can respond instantly to customer statements such as “I will prepare payment on the XXth,” smoothly confirming payment dates. As a result, all cases are now addressed before deadlines, successfully reducing the risk of uncollected payments.
### Resolving Challenge 2: Emotional Burden
__Protecting Staff and Shifting Toward Creative Work__
The introduction of AI agents was not merely about efficiency—it was also a measure to protect staff from psychological stress.
By taking over the emotionally taxing reminder process, HelloX enabled staff to focus on higher-priority initiatives such as revenue growth strategies and customer satisfaction improvements.
### Resolving Challenge 3: Administrative Overload
__Reducing Workload Through ACW Automation__
With call outcomes automatically stored in existing systems, several hours of daily manual input work became completely unnecessary.
In addition, automated preparation of the next day’s workflow eliminated missed follow-ups and improved the overall overdue collection process. The solution was also highly valued for being implementable without major changes to existing CRM systems or operational flows, supported by flexible development and close collaboration.

---

# Comment from Oisix ra daichi Representative
“The biggest reason we decided to implement HelloX was that our previous approach simply could not keep up with the high call volume. HelloX solved this challenge.
With the implementation, we were not only able to reduce labor costs, but also contact every unpaid customer in a short period of time and deliver consistent messaging without omissions.
Because it has also eased the emotional burden of this stressful work, we are now expanding HelloX to other call operations as well. Going forward, we aim to further build an environment where staff can concentrate on more creative, core responsibilities.”
# Comment from Yuki Hariguchi, CEO of Hello Inc.
“We are truly honored that the implementation of HelloX has contributed to the full automation of Oisix ra daichi’s overdue payment reminder operations, while also alleviating the psychological burden on their staff.
By allowing AI to take on work that no one wants to do, humans can devote themselves to creative tasks that only people can perform—this is exactly the ideal form of ‘co-creation between AI and humans’ that we strive for.
Moving forward, we will continue to go beyond simple operational efficiency and serve as an ‘AI business partner’ that expands human potential and supports sustainable corporate growth.”


HelloXOisixradaichi

Oisix ra daichi Inc. Adopts HelloX

Thank you very much for your continued support.

We would like to inform you that Hello Co., Ltd. will be closed for the year-end and New Year holidays during the following period:

- **Last Business Day of the Year:** Friday, December 26, 2025
- **Holiday Period:** Saturday, December 27, 2025 – Sunday, January 4, 2026

We will resume normal business operations on **Monday, January 5, 2026**.

Please note that inquiries received during the holiday period will be addressed as soon as possible once business resumes.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding. We look forward to your continued support in the coming year.

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