"Cross-Railway Social Implementation Consortium JTOS" Seventh Initiative: Realizing a Society Where No One Gives Up on Travel, Co-creation by Four Railway Companies and "Crowd Care"

●The "Cross-Railway Social Implementation Consortium JTOS (hereinafter, JTOS)," composed of four railway companies—JR East Startup Co., Ltd., Tokyu Corporation, Odakyu Electric Railway Co., Ltd., and Seibu Holdings Inc.—will launch a demonstration experiment in the Hakone area starting in April 2026, as its seventh co-creation project. This initiative is in collaboration with Crowd Care Inc. (hereinafter, Crowd Care), which operates a sharing economy-based self-funded home care service. ●By integrating the public transportation and accommodation infrastructure owned by the four railway companies with Crowd Care's specialized self-funded care skills, the project aims to provide seamless travel experiences with end-to-end support from home to destination, going beyond conventional facility-centric (point-based) arrangements. ●Towards realizing a society where "no one gives up on travel," allowing everyone to enjoy trips freely regardless of age or disability, this project challenges the demonstration of outing support that comprehensively assists travelers from railway journeys to stays at their destinations. By having care professionals accompany the entire trip, including travel, sightseeing, and accommodation, the project aims to eliminate the psychological and physical hurdles that have previously deterred people from traveling, thereby building a new tourism model where everyone can safely enjoy going out and traveling.

1. Background and Process: Eliminating "Psychological and Physical Hurdles" to Travel In Japan, which has entered a super-aging society, the number of people requiring assistance in daily life and travel is increasing year by year. However, when it comes to travel, many cases exist where people hesitate due to "lack of barrier-free information" and "anxiety about assistance during travel." Crowd Care's user surveys have also received numerous earnest requests such as "I want to go to a hot spring with my family even if I need care" and "I want to travel again," making it a significant goal for the company to fulfill these wishes. Eliminating "psychological and physical hurdles" is also a crucial issue in railway use. To pursue "door-to-door" support that caters to the entire itinerary of individual passengers, in addition to hardware improvements such as stations, trains, and accommodation facilities, JTOS is collaborating with Crowd Care, which has over 1,800 self-funded care helpers. Hakone was selected as a specific field for social implementation, utilizing JTOS's assets for both "means of transportation (railways, buses, etc.)" and "places of stay (hotels, tourist facilities, etc.)." Hakone offers good access from the city center, has transportation services and accommodation facilities operated by each company, and possesses a regional environment conducive to universal tourism. The goal is to socially implement a system that seamlessly supports travel from movement to sightseeing and accommodation. For Crowd Care, this is also the first attempt to collaborate with transportation agencies and accommodation facilities to support an entire trip.

2. Overview of the Demonstration Experiment: Verifying "Travel with Peace of Mind" in Hakone In this demonstration experiment, individuals requiring assistance and their families will actually experience a trip to Hakone. The experiment will verify the elimination of users' psychological and physical hurdles, optimization of operations on the receiving end, improvement of convenience, and the validity of the model as a sustainable business. Implementation Period: Around April to May 2026 (planned) Area: Hakone area (utilizing The Prince Hakone Ashinoko, etc.) Regarding Participant Recruitment (Public Call) Those wishing to participate in this demonstration experiment can apply by following the steps below. 1. Membership Registration: Please register as a member (free) for helper services on Crowd Care's official website. https://www.crowdcare.jp/register/ (Official Website) 2. Contact Crowd Care Secretariat for Application: After completing registration, please contact the Crowd Care Secretariat by phone or message function to express your desire to participate in this demonstration experiment. The Crowd Care Secretariat will confirm your desired dates, care needs, travel purpose, etc. *If there are many applicants, selection will be made after considering the verification content (care level, etc.). Image of End-to-End Support (Travel Flow) A specialized helper will accompany the traveler from home, connecting the infrastructure of each company to facilitate the journey. [Home] ⇌ [Odoriko train, etc.] ⇌ [Odawara Station] ⇌ [Shuttle bus / Chartered taxi] ⇌ [The Prince Hakone Ashinoko] ⇌ [Motohakone / Lake Ashi area]

Specific Verification Items 1. Reduction of Users' Psychological Burden: Analyze to what extent "psychological and physical hurdles" regarding assistance during travel and accommodation are resolved, and how much users can enjoy their trip with peace of mind, by having a specialized helper support the entire itinerary. 2. Co-creation of Hospitality with Receiving Facilities and Organizations: Verify an environment where on-site staff can maximize their hospitality, tailored to each customer, within their respective areas of expertise, by having specialized helpers collaborate with staff from transportation agencies and accommodation facilities. Through co-creation among professionals, a system will be built where facilities can welcome customers warmly with greater confidence and peace of mind. 3. Verification of a Sustainable Business Model: Investigate an appropriate price range that users feel value in and are willing to pay continuously, given that helper accompaniment fees are incurred in addition to travel expenses, and verify a sustainable model for future commercialization.

3. Returning Railway Employee Skills: Aiming for Diverse Work Styles and Improved Hospitality As a new initiative in this demonstration experiment, a system will be verified where JR East Group railway employees, who possess high hospitality cultivated through railway operations, register as Crowd Care helpers and partially participate in the care duties of this project. Objective: Employees who acquire care site skills will apply that experience to their primary railway duties, aiming to raise the overall level of hospitality across the railway lines. Scope of Implementation: In the demonstration phase, this is envisioned for travel support from home to the nearest station and assistance on specific tourist routes. Looking ahead to future labor shortages, this initiative explores a new career model of "multi-skilling" for personnel supporting infrastructure. [Reference]: https://jrestartup.co.jp/news/2025/06/133984/

4. About Crowd Care Inc. Crowd Care's mission is "To make many people happy through care." Since its establishment in 2016, the company has developed and operated "Crowd Care," a matching platform for care needs not covered by the long-term care insurance system and helpers, providing self-funded home care, housework, and daily life support services outside of the insurance system. It is a pioneer in skill-sharing-based non-insurance care services. Company Name: Crowd Care Inc. Head Office: COERU Shibuya Dogenzaka 9F, 1-19-14 Dogenzaka, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Osaka Office: Breeze Tower 1F, 2-4-9 Umeda, Kita-ku, Osaka 530-0001 Representative: Junichi Kojima, Representative Director CEO Established: August 2016 Business Activities: Development and operation of the self-funded home care, self-funded home rehabilitation, housework, and daily life support matching platform "Crowd Care," and planning and operation of the care specialized media "Care Musubi." URL: https://www.crowdcare.jp/

5. About Cross-Railway Social Implementation Consortium "JTOS" "JTOS" is a cross-railway social implementation consortium established in September 2023 by the four companies listed in "<Participating Companies Overview>" below. To overcome various barriers to social implementation surrounding startup companies, each company provides a vast field for demonstration experiments by combining management resources such as stations, railways, and real estate, and information resources from group businesses, to create the future's norm together with startups. This initiative is part of co-creation in the "WELL-BEING" domain, one of the four themes advocated by JTOS. URL: https://jtos.jp/

<Participating Companies Overview> Company Name: JR East Startup Co., Ltd. Location: TokyoYard Building 7F, 2-21-42 Takanawa, Minato-ku, Tokyo Representative: Yu Shibata, President and Representative Director Established: February 2018 Business Activities: Research and discovery of business seeds and advanced technologies, investment in venture companies, and promotion of collaboration with the JR East Group. URL: https://jrestartup.co.jp/

Company Name: Tokyu Corporation Location: 5-6 Nanpeidai-cho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Representative: Masahiro Horie, President and Director Established: September 2, 1922 Business Activities: Real estate business, real estate sales, and other businesses. URL: https://www.tokyu.co.jp/index.html

Company Name: Odakyu Electric Railway Co., Ltd. Location: 2-7-1 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo; ViNA GARDENS OFFICE 2-2 Megumi-cho, Ebina City, Kanagawa Prefecture Representative: Shigeru Suzuki, President and Director Established: June 1, 1948 (Predecessor Odawara Express Railway established May 1, 1923) Business Activities: Railway business, real estate business, and other businesses. URL: https://www.odakyu.jp/

Company Name: Seibu Holdings Inc. Location: 1-16-15 Minami-Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo Representative: Ryuichiro Nishiyama, Representative Director, President & COO Established: February 3, 2006 Business Activities: Primarily focused on three businesses: "Real Estate Business," "Hotel and Leisure Business," and "Urban Transportation and Railway Line Business," as well as a wide range of other businesses including sports. URL: https://www.seibuholdings.co.jp/

<Past Announcements> September 21, 2023 Four railway companies with railway businesses challenge social issues that cannot be solved alone with startups: Establishment of the Cross-Railway Social Implementation Consortium "JTOS" (Details) https://jtos.jp/uncategorized/2023/09/11/

As the first initiative of the Cross-Railway Social Implementation Consortium JTOS, co-creation with Biohm Inc., a nature conservation startup, aiming to realize a nature-positive society. (Details) https://jtos.jp/uncategorized/2023/09/36/

October 12, 2023 As the second initiative of the Cross-Railway Social Implementation Consortium JTOS, co-creation with Luup Inc., aiming for a society where everyone can move safely and conveniently. (Details) https://jtos.jp/uncategorized/2023/10/39/

February 26, 2024 As the third initiative of the Cross-Railway Social Implementation Consortium JTOS, co-creation with grow&partners Inc., aiming for well-being in childcare. (Details) https://j