Thais have long been blessed by the kindliness of royal benefactors. The King has traditionally sought out ways to bring them happiness and a measure of prosperity.

King Chulalongkorn the Great (Rama V) initiated an annual winter festival that shared royal performances of khon and the all-female theatre lakhon nai that the general populace had rarely seen. In 1904 he added a photo booth that gave thousands their first chance to have portraits made with the still-recent invention.

The Grand Palace and Sanam Luang will have one start and finish line.

King Vajiravudh (Rama VI) revived the winter festival following the mourning period for his father. It was held at various times in the Royal Plaza at Dusit Palace, at Sanam Sua Pa, at the Chitralada Villa Royal Residence and at Saranrom Palace.

And this year, thanks to the benevolence of His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn, the historic festival was reborn again – as “Un Ai Rak Khlai Khwam Nao” (“Warm Love to Temper the Cold”). The festival returns the same year as “Un Ai Rak Khlai Khwam Nao Sainam Haeng Rattanakosin”.

It will be at the Royal Plaza of Dusit Palace and Sanam Suea Pa from December 9 to January 19.

The festival will have cultural performances and an exhibition on Rattanakosin history, including artists’ models of the Aisawan-Dhipaya-Asana Royal Pavilion in Bang Pa-In, the royal barges and dwellings typical of the early period.

It will be an occasion for citizens to dress in period costume and appreciate the pageant of history since the time of Chulalongkorn.

T-shirts specially made for the bike event bear a cheerful cartoon drawn by His Majesty himself.

His Majesty wants the event to bring cheer, pay tribute to the achievements of Kings Rama V and Rama IX, and celebrate Thai traditions and culture.

He also wants to see Thais healthy, so the festival will boost bicycling – a favourite pastime of the King – with a cycling tour of Rattanakosin Island and its many historic sites.

Announcing plans for “Bike Un Ai Rak” on Wednesday, Air Marshal Pakdee Saengxuto, assistant secretary to His Majesty, said the route would take cyclists from the Royal Plaza at Dusit Palace past Sanam Luang and across Phra Pok Klao Bridge to Lat Pho Park in Samut Prakan. Then it’s back to the palace, for a total distance of 39 kilometres.

Shorter distances – four to 11km and 16 to 24km – will be marked out along the same approximate route. It’s expected that 100,000 bikers will attend.

The winter festival, “Un Ai Rak Khlai Khwam Nao Sainam Haeng Rattanakosin”, affords a splendid chance to don traditional garb and celebrate the past.

“The King is concerned about people’s health and wants to encourage families to strengthen bonds, while at the same time getting to see several tourist attractions and historic places,” Pakdee said.

“The participants and spectators will have the chance to greet King Rama X and ride along behind his cycling group.”

First Army Region deputy chief Maj-General Narongpan Jitkaewthae is in charge of all 12 cycling routes. Route A is reserved for His Majesty, B and C for representatives of the government and private sector, he said. He estimates that 3,800 cyclists will cover the 39km distance on these routes, taking in Wongwian Yai, Somdet Phra Pinklao Hospital and Dao Khanong, returning to the palace by the Memorial Bridge.

The Khlong Lat Pho Floodgate Project initiated by King Bhumibol is among historic canal scenes along the cycling route.

Route D is 4.2km and is expected to draw 8,000 people, chiefly families. They’ll get to visit and learn about the Giant Swing, Wat Suthat and the National Museum.

Route E1 runs 16.2km and will take 10,000 cyclists from Nang Loeng Racecourse to Khlong San. E2 for 12,000 participants extends further, to Rama VIII Bridge.

Route F will carry 20,000 cyclists 11km, G 4,000 people 20.6km, H 5,000 people 23.2km, I 15,000 people 24.3km, J 15,000 people 23.7km, and K 11,000 people 23km.

With events also planned in several other provinces, all cyclists across the nation will be flagged off at the same time – 3pm on December 9.

Cyclists on one of the routes will be learning about the amazing Giant Swing.

“Everyone on all the routes will get to see the King and anyone can follow along behind him,” said Narongpan, who predicted that the event would “make history”.

Group Capt Somsak Khaosuwan, deputy permanent secretary of the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, said 2,600 cyclists would be allowed to closely follow in the King’s wake.

“We want this event to have multiple dimensions and include families and the disabled,” he said. “We have arranged with Muang Thai Life Assurance for free accident insurance for all participants through the 24 hours starting at 6am on December 9.”

Everyone can also get a commemorative T-shirt bearing a cartoon drawn by His Majesty himself. The yellow-and-blue shirt has the “Biker Family” illustration on the back, depicting a father, mother, their children and a pet on a bicycle built for plenty of passengers.

The main bicycle route deliberately passes no fewer than 25 historic canals, including Khlongs Mana Nak, Phadung Krung Kasem and Lat Pho, as well as the foremost example of a water-management project initiated by King Bhumibol.

Rama I had Khlong Maha Nak excavated in 1783, just one year after he established the Rattanakosin Kingdom. One of Bangkok’s oldest Muslim communities rests on its banks. The waterway once teemed with boats, the rowers often coordinating their strokes by singing klon sakkawa – poems set to music.

Khlong Phadung Krung Kasem was dug in 1851 as a new outer moat to extend the expanding city’s boundaries from Rattanakosin Island northward and eastward.

Khlong Lat Pho was only 10 to 15 metres wide and a metre or two metres deep until King Bhumibol chose it as the location for floodgates to accommodate overflow from the Chao Phraya River.

Wheels at the ready

– Find out more and register to participate at http://www.BikeUnAiRak2018.com or call the 24hour government hotline 1111.

Taking place over the December 8-9 weekend from 3pm until late, the EDM festival brings a host of international stars to Bangkok including Armin Van Buuren, Skrillex, Vini Vici, NWYR, REZZ, Troyboi and Whethan.

Reservation for tickets costing Bt3,199 plus postage can be made at http://www.808Festival.net.

Your money and your life

Also coming up is the financial exhibition “Money Expo Year-End 2018”, which makes a return to Halls 99 and 100 of Bitec Bangna from November 29 to December 2.

The second annual financial exhibition is designed to showcase convenient and comprehensive financial services and investments, including home loans, car loans, education loans, SME loans, life insurance savings, savings lottery, bonds and investment in the stock market such as Derivatives, Include Debt.

It’s open on all days from 10am to 8pm.

Get more details at (02) 691 4126-30 extension 1317, visit http://www.MoneyExpo.net or join the conversation at Facebook: Money Expo.

Bangkok’s ‘big day out’

The Ploenchit Fair, the biggest fair in Asia, returns this Saturday to its original home at the British Embassy Bangkok from 10am to 8pm.

Designed as a traditional British fairground, it offers a great opportunity to meet all your friends, pick up some fabulous bargains, sample great international cuisine, exhaust the children with a variety of funfair games and rides, or just knock back some champagne, cold beer or even Pimms while enjoying great bands who perform throughout the afternoon on the main stage.

Find out more at Facebook.com/events/1993884244199937/.

All revved up

Learn everything there is to know about new cars at the 35th Thailand International Motor Expo 2018 taking place at Challenger Halls 1-3, Muang Thong Thani, from November 29 to December 10.

The Motor Expo, whose concept this year is “Enjoy Driving! Before the Driverless Era”, consists of 36 car companies and 23 motorcycle companies.

Tickets are Bt100 at the door and the Expo is open daily from noon to 10pm.

Check out http://www.MotorExpo.co.th.

Downtown Christmas cheer

The Teddy Bears Charity Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony will brighten up the Rembrandt Hotel & Towers, Bangkok from December 1 to January 7 at 6pm.

This beautiful traditional event offers a chance to get into the festive mood and is enhanced by a live pianistin the lobby, Christmas carols and a visit by Santa Claus, Christmas cocktails, and the sale of festive goods and teddy bears.

Ticket cost Bt350 at the hotel with part of the proceeds going to the Thai Red Cross Aids Research Centre.

Three decades ago, the only people who had heard of Ban Dong were its residents and those who lived in the surrounding villages.

Today, the success of its Weaving Women Group has put the Lua village in the mountains of Mae Hong Son on the map, and it’s all thanks to one of its residents, the energetic Pim Kayanyaiying.

The 42-year-old Lua woman has been leading her fellow female villagers in producing hand-woven fabric for more than 25 years and her enthusiasm for learning new skills, developing new products and continuously improving quality has made the textile known all over Thailand as a One Tambon One Product (Otop) of Mae Hong Son.

Sangla Praimeekha, Ban Pa Pae’s village headman, poses with the country’s first rice bank.

But she still sees room for growth, which is why she is so pleased that her village has been selected as one of target areas in a research project for the Thai farmer-based tourism initiative.

It is said that the Lua people, also known as the Le Wuea and Lawa, lived in Lanna Kingdom before Chiang Mai was founded more than 700 years ago. Although its population is relatively small, with just 50,000 Lua in Thailand, the ethnic group has preserved its unique of way of life.

It is that uniqueness which inspired local researcher Thananchai Mungjit to encourage the highlanders to further explore their values and the meaning of their lives with the aim of establishing a community-based tourism programme.

Thananchai Mungjit

“Our goal [in conducting the research] is to make the Lua communities able to develop their own potential,” says Thananchai, who started the research project last month.

Under the research, the Lua’s way of life will be explored and the data obtained communicated to the world, explains the 44-year-old Mae Hong Son native.

Supported by the Thailand Research Fund [TRF]’s community-based research division, Thananchai selected three remote Lua’s villages – Ban Dong, Ban Laoob and Ban Pa Pae – as the research areas and recruited villagers from each of them to help him in the research project.

Each village has its own unique characteristics that will be highlighted in the research.

Ban Dong is famous for its beautiful terraced rice paddies stretching all along the hillside as well as the top quality local hand-woven fabric while Ban Pa Pae’s first rice bank of Thailand and the community’s sufficiency philosophy has become a model for other villages.

Ban Laoob, meanwhile, produces silver jewellery that’s second to none.

A senior Lua villager dyes colourful thread in Ban Pa Pae.

Located in Mae Hong Son’s Mae La Noi district, Ban Dong’s weaving women’s group turns their textiles into clothing, bags, and home decor items, which are sold at the Mae La Noi Royal Project Development Centre not far from the village.

In the past, the group wove cotton fabric, which is popular across the province.

As the group leader, Pim thought she needed to find something new to differentiate the group’s hand-woven goods from the rest of the market.

So in 1999, when Pim learned that Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn would visit her village, she learnt how to weave wool fabric, the famous fabric produced in Ban Huay Hom neighbourhood, and made a woollen scarf as a gift for the Princess.

Pim then asked the Princess for some sheep so the village could produce its own wool and was granted 20 sheep to raise. Her group has mixed the wool with cotton in its weaves ever since.

A member of Ban Dong Weaving Women Group weaves the local fabric.

“Our hand-woven fabrics are very soft and have a unique structure and extraordinary tribal patterns,” says Pim.

The Lua people’s patterns are inspired by nature and traditional patterns include a reticulated python and peacock’s tail, Pim explains.

Pim, who is also working with the project, hopes the research will help preserve this folk wisdom and bring back the traditional woven cloth for the younger generation and for sale, as well as help in the design of new patterns that represent the uniqueness of her tribe.

A women’s group in Ban Pa Pae makes bead necklaces to earn a living.

A 10-minute ride north of Ban Dong is Ban Laoob, a Lua village in the same district and home to fine silverware and woven cloth. This village was chosen for the research project to gather information on the knowledge and traditions of Lua people’s jewellery.

Silver jewellery has been an integral part of life of the ethnic group for more than 130 years so they usually have their own silversmith under their roof, says Narong Pimjaiprapa, a silversmith at Ban Laoob and a team researcher.

The silver jewellery worn by the Lua people on sale at Ban Laoob

The most common jewellery worn are bracelets, earrings and necklaces made of silver, according to Narong, who has earned a living silversmithing since he was 16 and now earns some Bt100,000 a month from his handicrafts.

In the old days, the number of pieces or size of the jewellery symbolised the social and economic status of the hilltribes, Narong explains, adding that while he was told the history of silverware in his village by his forebears, the research will help him find out more about traditions related to the craft.

Further south in Ban Pa Pae of Mae Sariang district, the Lua are very proud of their country’s first rice bank as well as their sufficiency economy, a philosophy developed by His Majesty the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Traditionally, the villagers here are rice farmers, cultivating one crop per year on terraces.

The beautiful rice terraces are one of the tourist attractions of Ban Dong.

They recall the hard times when drought prevented them from growing enough rice to eat and how King Bhumibol changed their lives completely.

“King Bhumibol visited the village in 1970 with Her Majesty the Queen. The King suggested that we establish a rice bank to guard against food shortages and granted Bt20,000 as startup costs,” recounts Sangla Praimeekha, the village headman.

The villagers spent the money on 20,000kg of rice and shared it among the villagers.

The concept of the rice bank is to lend rice to villagers at 20 per cent interest. In short, anyone who borrows 10kg of rice has to return 12kg of rice another year, explains the village headman.

These days the villagers have enough rice to consume and thus no need to borrow from the bank. However, the bank is still operating and keeps an annual stock of one or two tonnes – just in case.

The villagers farm rice for their own consumption but in years where the yield is high, they will allocate some for sale.

“If we have enough rice to eat, it means we are welloff. We can survive with what we produce because we adhere to the sufficiency economy philosophy,” he says proudly.

Sangla hopes the research will help elevate Ban Pa Pae’s quality of life, while making the village known to the outside world and preserving their traditional rice growing rituals as well as rice species.

None of the residents of the three villagers are strangers to tourism, welcoming visitors every year and providing a homestay service, but they still lack the capacity to manage community-based tourism, Thananchai says.

And tourists visiting the villages do not understand how the paddy field or the hand-loomed fabric are so intricately woven with the Lua way of life, he adds.

“So, we hope the research will pad out an understanding in the tribe’s way of life,” he says.

“And for the villagers, we hope the Thai farmer-based tourism initiative will be a tool to drive the communities to be able to manage tourism by themselves, thus improving their economy and raising their income.”

Once the research results are in, the team is planning to design a route trip connecting the three villages together. In this way, visitors will learn about their unique characters and experience Lua life first hand.

IT HAS ITS roots in holistic beauty and Asian wisdom but world-renowned South Korean skincare brand Sulwhasoo is also a firm believer in art and has chosen to mark the opening of its new Amorepacific headquarters in Yongsan, Seoul by hosting two art exhibitions – “2018 Sulwha Culture Exhibition: Fortune Land and Gold Leaf” and “Beyond Folding Screens”.

Cultivating balanced beauty both inside and out, Sulwhasoo is named for the allure of winter blossoms springing from the snow. Following the creation of the ABC Ginseng Cream in 1966, Sulwhasoo was set up as a holistic beauty brand based on Asian medicinal herbs and particularly Korean’s famous ginseng root, which has been recognised for its exceptional qualities since the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1932). Today, the brand is globally promoted and a favourite with women in pursuit of beauty products that use only natural ingredients

Sulwhasoo’s most popular formula is known as the Jaum balancing complex, an optimal blend of five ingredients carefully selected from 3,000 medicinal herbs and ginseng that restores skin balance easily lost with age.

Its scientific team studies not just the ginseng root but also the largely ignored leaves, stems, flowers and berries, combining them into the anti-ageing Concentrated Ginseng line. This includes the newly released Concentrated Ginseng Renewing Serum, which blends the precious ingredients into an oil and packs it into soft capsules.

The new headquarters building of Amorepacific was designed by the acclaimed British architect David Chipperfield and accommodates the Amorepacific Museum of Art (APMA), which was established in 1979 as the Pacific Museum and given its present name in 2009.

APMA is engaged in a wide range of art and cultural related activities, both traditional and contemporary. Its first exhibition showcased the private collection of the founder and former chairman and chief executive, Suh Sungwhan, an art devotee.

At the new Amorepacific headquarters in Yongsan, galleries on the basement level and the atrium, a space stretching from the first to the third floors, are designed as spaces to communicate with the local community through culture. Entering the lobby, the visitor is greeted by a museum shop, the exhibition space “APMA Cabinet”, as well as the exhibition catalogue library, the Amorepacific Library of Art Project (apLAP). Learning spaces and the main auditorium are on the second floor and the exhibition spaces expand into the outside garden and roof garden, where the works of world-renowned artists, such as Olafur Eliasson and Leo Villareal, are displayed. Also on show is the work of contemporary electronic artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer.

The exhibition “Fortune Land – Gold Leaf”, which runs until December 14, underlines the company’s commitment to highlighting the beauty and dignity of traditional Korea culture and ensuring this is maintained and continued. The Sulwha Cultural Exhibition is an effort to preserve the nation’s rich heritage and bring the younger generations closer to traditions by presenting new artworks by 12 contemporary artists using the Korean traditional gold leaf technique. There are also three masterpieces by traditional gold leaf masters. In South Korea, gold is a symbol of eternity, beauty and authority.

This diverse reinterpretation of the aesthetic sense of traditional gold leaf art in a modern way is based on the theme “amusement part” representing the harmony of old and new.

Kim Deok-hwan’s “Kum Bak Yeon”, which presents the hong wonsam or red ceremonial robe, is one of the highlights. The hong wonsam was a ceremonial costume of women during the late Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), and the wonsam with gold-leaf patterns was made exclusively for royalty. The red wonsam was the ceremonial robe worn by the queen and was further dignified by adding phoenix designs with pure gold and gold-leaf dragon insignias. “Myeonsa” or the royal veil by Kim Ki-ho and Park Soo-young displays the square-shape fabrics used to cover the entire body from head to toe. They were used as part of the ceremonial costume for queens and royal concubines during Joseon Dynasty and were decorated with diverse gold-leaf patterns.

The contemporary carousel “Time is Gold is Time” created by Soundance, Seo Dong-ju and Lee Hyun-tae, symbolises the amusement park by using a typical ride of the West to express Eastern sentiment through Korean traditional gold-leaf patterns. Combined with waltz-like background music, the movement of the carousel suggests the circular nature of time and the eternity of gold.

Designer Lee Seo-jeong of high-end brand C-Zann E, reinterprets traditional gold leaf in a contemporary way by using Korean ramie fabric to emphasise its elegance. The vest draws on the traditional men’s ramie summer jacket, which can be worn in many ways, while the dress is inspired by the back hem of the traditional gentleman’s robe, made with the intention to bless those who wear them.

Moving to the basement gallery, the visitor can admire “Beyond Folding Screens”, a large-scale exhibition featuring 76 folding screens, from both the Joseon period and Korea’s modern era. The exhibition, which runs until December 23, shines the spotlight on this traditional form of art that was popular in Asia in the 19th and 20th centuries. The screens, which were used to decorate various court ceremonies, banquets and rituals, vary in size; many are large works.

The works on display, produced by court painters as well as individuals, come from the museum’s collection and private collectors as well as other institutions. A highlight is the famous Joseon Dynasty 8-panel folding screen of “The Sun, Moon and Five Peaks”, which was used as an emblem of royal authority and placed behind the king’s throne.

Another folding screen depicts a panoramic scene of Pyongyang and a procession by the governor of Pyongan Province, which is registered as Seoul Cultural Heritage item No. 176, while a 10-panel folding painting on silk screen, “Taoist Immortals Crossing the Sea,” belongs to the Amore Pacific Museum of Art.

IF YOU GO

– The 2018 Sulwha Culture Exhibition can be viewed until December 14. Advance reservation is required. Entrance bands and exhibition maps will be distributed upon registration at reception. Admission is free. For details visit http://www.SulwhasooCulture.com

– The Beyond Folding Screen exhibition runs until December 23. Entrance is 12,000 won (Bt350). The museum is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 6pm. For details visit https://Apma.Amorepacific.com

– The museum offers a smartphone app called APMA Visual Guide, which can be downloaded from an app store for better understanding. By entering the verification code, which is on the admission ticket, visitors can hear an audio guide in Korean or English.

– Income from purchases of commodities will go supporting the preservation of cultural assets.

In the highly anticipated new biography “Anand Panyarachun and the Making of Modern Thailand”, journalist Dominic Faulder traces the key events in the elder statesman’s life.

These extend from his childhood in Bangkok during World War II through to the derailment of his diplomatic career, his two unexpected tenures as an appointed prime minister, his role in the drafting of the “People’s Constitution” of 1997 and more.

The outcome of six years of in-depth research and hundreds of interviews – with Anand and those who have met or worked alongside him – the book is a panoramic retelling of Thailand and the region’s political, social, and economic history. It is packed with insights into key moments, as told by the witnesses and other people who played pivotal roles.

Interviewees include Abhisit Vejjajiva, the late Singaporean president SR Nathan, social critic Sulak Sivaraksa and women and children’s rights defender Saisuree Chutikul. Economists Ammar Siamwalla and Amnuay Viravan are there, as are former Bank of Thailand governor Snoh Unakul and energy expert Piyasvasti Amranand.

Presented are previously unknown facts and new perspectives on topics such as the Vietnam War and the US military withdrawal, Thailand-China relations and Thailand’s turbulent political landscape. There are also timely lessons, since many of the political and social challenges encountered in the book parallel those that Thailand still faces today as it strives to establish constitutional democracy.

Faulder is a veteran journalist and editor. Originally from London, he has been based in Bangkok since the early 1980s and has worked for numerous news organisations and publications. He was previously a special correspondent with Hong Kong-based Asiaweek and had particular involvement in the coverage of Burma and Cambodia in the 1980s and 1990s. He has been an associate editor with the Tokyo-based Nikkei Asian Review since 2014.

Published by Editions Didier Millet (EDM Books), the book will be officially launched at 6.30pm tomorrow (November 21) at the Bangkok Marriott Hotel the Surawongse. The event will feature a keynote speech by Mechai Viravaidya, a member of the 1991 and 1992 Anand cabinets.

The 608-page hardback, including 32 pages of photographs, is available online and at Asia Books and Kinokuniya for Bt1,250.

EVERY SO often, 33-year-old Masaki Kitakoga slips into a tiny booth with a desk and a chair and belts out karaoke tunes for 90 minutes – completely on his own.

Kitakoga is part of a growing trend in Japan favouring solo activities that is now so widespread it has its own name: ohitorisama, meaning “on your own”.

Analysts say that Japan’s demographic makeup – more than one third of households contain just one person – makes it perfect for the solo market, with many also craving “me time” in a fast-paced, interconnected and workaholic society.

Karaoke, in many ways the archetypal social activity, is a case in point.

Kitakoga ends a pleasant everything spent in one of the tiny booths reserved for individual singers. 

Six years ago, the Koshidaka karaoke chain realised that some 30 per cent of its customers in certain locations came on their own, so it set up 1Kara – tiny booths for solo singers.

Now the firm runs a network of eight speciality karaoke parlours that each sees “tens of thousands” of crooners flock to its solo booths, according to Daiki Yamatani, a spokesman for the chain.

“It’s a truly liberating experience,” says Kitakoga. “I like to sing. But beyond that, this lets me shake off stress.”

As demand for such services grows, the stigma of doing activities alone has decreased, adds Kitakoga, who also sings karaoke occasionally with friends.

Many lone karaoke singers say they like singing just the songs they want to, without bowing to peer pressure for sing-along classics that everyone else knows.

Signs of the ohitorisama phenomenon are everywhere in Japan, from cinemas offering seats with partitions to theme parks that let singles jump the queue at certain rides.

Grocery stores sell condiments and vegetables for single diners while travel agents design itineraries aimed at the solo voyager.

The “super solo society” has become a buzzword among social scientists and marketing gurus.

“Businesses are offering various goods and services to meet the trend of people enjoying solo activities,” says Motoko Matsushita, senior consultant with Nomura Research Institute.

“The depth and range of such services reflect the expanding nature of the consumer trend.”

The growing phenomenon is also helping to liberate individuals from feeling like they have to conform to peer pressure, Matsushita adds.

 Masaki Kitakoga, 33, sings alone in a tiny booth at a karaoke parlour in Tokyo. Kitakoga is part of a growing trend in Japan favouring solo activities that is now so widespread it has its own name: “ohitorisama: or “on your own.” 

Surveys show Japanese consumers – especially younger ones – rate quality time alone above hours spent with family and friends.

Official data show the ratio of households with parents and children is gradually shrinking as fewer adults form relationships.

In 1980 in Japan, only one in 50 men had never been married by the age of 50 and one in 22 women. That ratio is now one in four and one in seven respectively.

The demographic shift comes as Japan also grapples with a rapidly ageing population, with nearly 28 per cent of Japanese people over the age of 65.

And the pace of modern life with ubiquitous social media is also pushing this trend, experts say, as fatigued people seek relief from round-the-clock contact.

“Our data show sociable individuals tend to seek solo activities,” says Matsushita, a married mother-of-two, who says she too is partial to a spot of solo karaoke.

Restaurants are also cashing in. At the Ichiran ramen noodle chain, it is possible to enjoy a meal with barely any human interaction whatsoever.

Customers order from vending machines and then sit in a partitioned booth to slurp down their noodles, unlike the experience at many ramen joints, where orders are shouted by teams of chefs behind greasy counters.

“We were doing this even before the solo activities trend started. This ‘personal space’ concept has been well received in foreign markets too” explains Satomi Nozaki, spokeswoman at the popular chain, which also has outlets overseas.

Karaoke fan Kitakoga also enjoys solo travel, taking himself off alone to a remote island in southern Japan last year.

“Sure, it would have been fun to travel with friends too. But I knew what I wanted to do there and it was fantastic because I was able to do everything I wanted to do at the pace I wanted to do it,” he says.