About Us

History

1989

Oct.
Established the Kotsu Ad Company in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and started transport advertising business.

1996

June
Established Gurunavi, an online restaurant search site for the Kanto area, as part of the NKB Inc. business.

1997

Sep.
Launched nationwide version

1998

Feb.
Opened Osaka office

1999

Dec.
Changed trade name to Internet Navi Tokyo Co., Ltd

2000

Feb.
Gurunavi, Inc. established
Oct.
Restaurant membership exceeds 10,000

2001

Jan.
Opened Fukuoka office
Apr.
Opened Hokkaido office Opened Sendai office
Nov.
Introduced member restaurants management system

2002

Apr.
Opened Nagoya office
July
Launched NIKKEI NET Gurunavi Otona no Restaurant Guide, a guide to gourmet and haute cuisine restaurants Started operation of Ekikara-Timetable on Gurunavi website
Sep.
Gurunavi Academy established
Oct.
Launched Kochira Hishoshitsu

2003

Oct.
Gurunavi membership exceeds 1 million users

2004

Apr.
Launched SURF & SNOW
Sep.
Launched Gurunavi foreign language versions
Nov.
Opened Hiroshima office Opened Okinawa office
Dec.
Opened Yokohama office

2005

Jan.
Relocated Osaka office
Apr.
Listed on Osaka Securities Exchange Hercules Opened Saitama office Opened Kobe office
June
Opened Chiba office
July
Opened Kyoto office
Oct.
Made JOY JOY, Inc. a subsidiary
Nov.
Established Gurunavi (Shanghai), Inc. Established Gurunavi Promotion Community, Inc.

2006

Mar.
Launched Gurunavi Wedding
July
Relocated Okinawa office
Oct.
Gurunavi posts information on over 500,000 restaurants

2007

Oct.
Combined Internet Navi Tokyo Co., Ltd and Gurunavi to start operation of Let's ENJOY TOKYO, a collaboration between Gurunavi and Tokyo Metro Co., Ltd.

2008

Aug.
Relocated Osaka office
Dec.
Listed on 1st section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange

2010

June
Relocated Nagoya office
Aug.
Relocated head office
Sep.
Launched Gurutabi
Oct.
Established Gurunavi Research Institute, Inc. Merged with consolidated subsidiary Joy Joy, Inc.
Nov.
Received Porter Prize 2010
Dec.
Established Gurunavi Support Associe, Inc.

2011

Aug.
Relocated Osaka office

2012

Sep.
Launched Chef Gohan
Oct.
Relocated Yokohama office
Dec.
Gurunavi membership exceeds 10 million users

2013

Feb.
Launched food information service Minna No Gohan
Apr.
Opened “SHUN*SHOKU LOUNGE” to showcase seasonal ingredients, and restaurant information lounge, “Gurunavi” in GRAND FRONT OSAKA Opened Shizuoka office
Sep.
Gurunavi Support Associe, Inc. received the Minister Award in Good Practices of the Employment of Persons with Disabilities and the Improvement of Workplace Environment for Fiscal Year 2013 2013 Award for Excellence for Best Practices in Employment of Persons with Disabilities
Nov.
Launched Japan's largest competition for chefs, RED U-35(RYORININ'S EMERGING DREAM)
Dec.
Restaurant Information Center by GURUNAVI certified by Japan National Tourism Organization as Official Information Center for International Visitors

2014

Apr.
Opened Kanazawa office Opened Niigata office Opened Kagoshima office
July
Launched the Gurunavi Online Reservation System Won "Best Buzz Award" at 2014 MM Research Institute Awards for Gurunavi PRO verification system 3.0
Aug.
Launched official Kochira Hishoshitsu: The Perfect Business Gift website
Oct.
Launched gastronomy curation site, Ippin
Dec.
Launched Kotoshi no hitosara (Dish of the Year) [as a part of Japanese food culture to be kept for posterity]

2015

Apr.
Launched Official search site Club MICHELIN
June
Opened Okayama office
Aug.
Opened Ibaraki office
Sep.
Launched dressing
Dec.
Opened Restaurant Information Center by GURUNAVI(Ueno)

2016

Apr.
Launched LIVE JAPAN PERFECT GUIDE TOKYO
May
Relocated Fukuoka office
June
Relocated Nagoya office Opened Restaurant Information Center by GURUNAVI(Fukuoka)
July
Opened Ehime office
Sep.
Opened Tochigi office
Dec.
Opened Restaurant Information Center by GURUNAVI(Kyoto)

2017

Feb.
Received highest "Eruboshi" certification from Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (in recognition of efforts to promote women's participation and advancement in the workplace)
Apr.
Launched Gurunavi POS+
June
Launched Gurunavi Pay

2018

Jan.
Relocated Kobe office
Apr.
Launched KYOTO365
July
Launched LIVE JAPAN PERFECT GUIDE HOKKAIDO Began capital and business alliance with Rakuten, Inc.
Sep.
Launched the Gurunavi reservation and customer management system
Oct.
Received 10th Japan Tourism Agency Commissioner Award

2019

July
Launched LIVE JAPAN PERFECT GUIDE KANSAI Launched LIVE JAPAN PERFECT GUIDE TOHOKU
Sep.
Transferred the Let's ENJOY TOKYO business through company split
Oct.
Awarded bronze at PRIDE Index 2019
Nov.
Received "IT Award for Excellence (Social Issues Solutions category) at the 2019 Information Technology Awards hosted by the Japan Institute of Information Technology

2020

Jan.
Transferred the business regarding food delivery service for corporations through company split
June
Transferred the SURF&SNOW business through company split
Sep.
Gurunavi wins "Risk Management Award" at 6th Japan Tourism Awards
Nov.
Start of operations at new headquarters designed to promote the new work style
Dec.
Awarded silver at PRIDE Index 2020

2021

Mar.
Received the grand prize in the business and industry category of the 2021 Japan Resilience Awards
Apr.
Took over the businesses of “Rakuten Delivery” and “Rakuten Real-time Take-out” (basic absorption-type split) Started the “Gurunavi FineOrder” mobile order system
May
Established the new Gurunavi philosophy system
Aug.
Began capital and business alliance agreement with SHIFT Inc. Launched the “Connect Vaccines Project” Relocated Nagoya office
Sep.
Relocated Hiroshima office
Nov.
Number of members connecting Gurunavi member IDs and Rakuten IDs breaks 5 million mark Advance opening of “Gurunavi Supply Mall,” a dedicated e-commerce site for purchasing commercial ingredients and materials for restaurants Awarded gold at PRIDE Index 2021 Commencement of provision of “Sudden Cancellation Insurance”

2022

Jan.
Launched ”Gurunavi Premium Meal Kit” Officially launched "Gurunavi online reservation coupons"
Feb.
Relocated Fukuoka office
Apr.
Opened first restaurant developed under restaurant development business in Japan
May
Began business alliance agreement with TENPOS HOLDINGS Co., Ltd.
June
Launched Gurunavi's first "restaurant coupons for furusato tax" service
July
Relocated Headquarters
Sep.
Launched "PREMIUM GOURMET CLUB™" service
Nov.
Expanded restaurant development business across Japan under "GURUNAVI FOODHALL WYE" brand
Dec.
Began capital and business alliance with OPTiM Corporation in restaurant DX service Establishing scheme to manufacture/apply high-performance biochar using agricultural byproducts selected for NEDO Green Innovation Fund project

2023

Aug.
Held 10th RED U-35 (RYORININ'S EMERGING DREAM), Japan's largest competition for chefs
Oct.
Restaurant information portal Gurunavi renamed Rakuten Gurunavi
Dec.
“Gurunavi FineOrder” breaks 10 million cumulative users Celebrated 10th anniversary of Kotoshi no hitosara (Dish of the Year) [as a part of Japanese food culture to be kept for posterity]