QPlease introduce yourselves.

We are the Canadian eight times Rhythm champion, the Mumbo world finalists and the Arthur Murray Latin champions. We are also judges for Arthur Murray International and we coach and train all the top professionals. We were also a part of the Hollywood version movie, "Shall We Dance?" that is with Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez.
Arthur Murray’s is the largest dance organization in the world. Almost for a hundred years and in sixteen countries, millions of people have enhanced their social lives by learning to dance quickly and easily the Arthur Murray way. At Arthur Murray, we teach people from beginners to the highest level of dancing.

QWhy did you choose Osaka?

There are currently eight Arthur Murray's in Japan from Yokohama up to Hokkaido. And we wanted to expand south and west to bring dancing to the people and to share what the studios can provide. Osaka is such a fun and lively place so it is really exciting to expand Arthur Murray's in this area. It’s perfect.

QWhat is your impression of Osaka?

The people are definitely very fun. They are friendly and very open, which is perfect for a business.
It is creating more fun and enjoyment for the people. One word we would use to describe the people in Osaka is “colorful”. So we come back! It has a nice energy in this place. I have often gone riding my bike and meet people and they are very friendly and they show you directions. As long as you try a little Japanese, they are quite happy to help out. So that is very nice. It's very comfortable to say "Ohayogozaimasu" to people on the street or in the elevator and it's very friendly.

QIs this your first time to live in Japan?

Yes. Osaka is great. The city has a very lively feel to it. We were recently in North America and the cities that we visited didn't feel as lively. (Here) there are lots of people walking around at night. It feels like a very safe environment here. We see lots of ladies walking around at night and that's something that you don't see often in North America. So, we think it is a very good, healthy culture.

QHow is the food?

Food! Fabulous! Great! Any dish that we try, we were amazed like even just the pasta. The pasta is great, how it's cooked balanced with the sauce. Even by any Japanese dish like Tonkatsu, Sushi, anything that we have really tried, even Mexican food. I guess it's the attention to the details of how it's made. It's great. It feels like it's a well homemade cooked food. And very healthy portions, not too big not too small. So that's good. It's perfect!

QIs O-BIC helpful?

Very much so. Right from the beginning to, helping us with the direction of anything we needed done. O-BIC made us feel comfortable that we can call them for help if we need to and everybody is always there to provide us with help and definitely have been helpful in every way. One of the great things was the business meetings. I think as a new company coming into Osaka where we've never done any business before, that is a pretty cold situation to be in. So, by going to the business meetings and "Meishi meetings", those are really great ways to network with other companies. And we know that like the new student coming into a studio, they are pretty scared and not sure what to do, so by having those meetings it allows for other businesses like ourselves, who are new to Osaka, to really get to know what's available out there which is really wonderful. That has been a really great help for us. And, we definitely would recommend and tell our friends or anyone who is starting business to contact O-BIC. It's a great organization for many businesses.