Aso Group

What Aso Group does

Aso Kaigo Service Co., Ltd. (麻生介護サービス株式会社) is a Fukuoka-headquartered, for-profit operator of comprehensive elderly and disability care services, operating as a subsidiary of the diversified Aso Group (麻生グループ, founded 1872, 117 companies, 17,028 employees, 757.7 billion yen in FY2023 group sales). The company runs 94 facilities and service sites across Fukuoka, Saga, and Kumamoto prefectures, employing 1,182 staff to serve 8,640 clients under the Apple Heart (アップルハート) brand. Its service portfolio spans visiting care, visiting nursing, visiting bathing and dental, day services, small-scale multi-functional home care, dementia group homes, care plan centers, welfare equipment rental/sales, home modifications, disability welfare and consultation support, household chore services, and the Apple Heart Care College caregiver training school. The primary revenue driver is Japanese long-term care insurance (介護保険) reimbursement for certified care needs levels, with supplementary private-pay streams (home help, special cleaning, Kupika gift tickets) priced on hourly and per-visit bases.

The underlying operating technology is an ICT/tablet-based care management platform that equips staff with real-time client information, service recording, video/photo condition reporting, and cross-functional timeline-based status tracking, supporting information sharing across multi-disciplinary teams. GTM is sales-led in a specialized sense: insurance-based services require no active sales acquisition because eligibility triggers automatic demand, while private-pay household and care services are sold direct-to-consumer via phone inquiry, website forms, and free estimates. The Apple Heart Care College simultaneously trains and recruits certified caregivers (initial training, practical welfare officer, guide helper, escort care worker), functioning as a self-replenishing talent pipeline and an external enrollment-fee revenue stream. Management is led by President and Representative Director Yanagi Michiaki (柳 倫明). The company holds the highest 3-star Eruboshi certification under Japan's Women in Leadership Act, multiple Fukuoka Prefecture work-life balance declarations, SAFE Consortium membership, and a Zero Physical Restraint declaration, and in 2023 it signed a group labor agreement covering technology introduction and utilization in care settings.

Name

Aso Group

Legal name

麻生介護サービス株式会社

Website

https://aso-kaigo.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

1872

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Aso Kaigo Service, an Aso Group subsidiary, operates 94 Apple Heart-branded eldercare and disability care facilities across Fukuoka, Saga, and Kumamoto prefectures in Japan, serving 8,640 clients with 1,182 staff via insurance-reimbursed and private-pay care, plus an in-house caregiver training school.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Elder Care Services

NAICS

Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities (624120), Continuing Care Retirement Communities and Assisted Living Facilities for the Elderly (62331), Nursing Care Facilities (Skilled Nursing Facilities) (62311)

SIC

Services-Nursing & Personal Care Facilities (8050), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Licensed CNA/HHA Staffing & Credentialed Placement (HSABAMAH)

Keywords

• Nursing care services
• Home health care
• Elder care facilities
• Welfare equipment rental
• Caregiver training

Headquarters

HQ city

Fukuoka-shi

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices24 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Nursing Care Insurance Services (介護保険サービス): Long-term care insurance reimbursement for visiting care, day services, small-scale multifunctional care, group homes, and welfare equipment rental. This is the core revenue driver across 94 facilities, funded primarily by public insurance with minor co-pays from clients.
2. Private-pay Home Help Services (自費介護サービス): Hourly home help and household tasks sold directly to consumers. Covers care needs not met by insurance or additional supplementary hours beyond insurance caps. Offered at regular rates (3,520 yen/60 min) and spot rates (5,280 yen/60 min).
3. Household Chore Services (家事代行サービス): Non-care household task outsourcing (cleaning, cooking, laundry, shopping) for families, singles, elderly, and disabled individuals. Fee-for-service with regular and spot pricing.
4. Special Cleaning / Deep Cleaning (特別清掃サービス): Major cleaning, decluttering, end-of-life preparation, and hoarding cleanup services beyond regular household chores. Billed per 60-minute unit (6,600 yen/60 min).
5. Welfare Equipment Rental & Sales (福祉用具レンタル販売): Rental and sale of welfare equipment (beds, wheelchairs, etc.) partially subsidized under long-term care insurance.
6. Caregiver Training School (介護スクール アップルハートケアカレッジ): Training programs for caregiver certification (初任者研修, 実務者研修, ガイドヘルパー, 同行援護). Generates enrollment fee revenue; also serves as an employee pipeline.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Aso Kaigo Service provides long-term elderly care, nursing, and welfare services across 94 Apple Heart-branded facilities in Fukuoka, Saga, and Kumamoto prefectures in Japan, including visiting care, visiting nursing, day services, dementia group homes, care plan management, welfare equipment rental, and disability welfare services. The company also sells private-pay household chore and personal care services directly to consumers, and runs the Apple Heart Care College training programs for caregiver certification. Revenue is driven primarily by Japan's public nursing care insurance (介護保険) reimbursement, supplemented by private-pay services and training fees.

Product overview

Aso Group is a diversified healthcare and welfare services provider headquartered in Fukuoka, Japan, operating under the 'Apple Heart' (アップルハート) brand across approximately 94 locations in Fukuoka, Saga, and Kumamoto prefectures. The portfolio is organized into three main pillars: (1) Core Care Services — including home-visit care (訪問介護), home-visit nursing (訪問看護), home-visit bathing, day services/デ イサービス (通所介護), small-scale multi-functional home care (小規模多機能型居宅介護), dementia group homes (グループホーム), care planning (居宅介護支援), welfare equipment rental/sales (福祉用具), and disability welfare and consultation services; (2) Housework & Life Support Services (家事代行サービス) providing household assistance, self-funded care (自費介護), special cleaning, and the 'Kupika' (クピカ) gift ticket product; and (3) the Apple Heart Care College (アップルハートケアカレッジ) care school offering qualification training programs for care workers, guide helpers, and escort care workers, with free training for employees and a cache-back scheme for new hires. The company's ICT infrastructure provides staff with tablets for real-time information sharing and record management across service types.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• アップルハート (Apple Heart): Primary brand name for Aso Kaigo Service's care and nursing services, including Apple Heart Day Service, Apple Heart Care Centers, and Apple Heart Visiting Nursing Stations.
• アップルハートケアカレッジ (Apple Heart Care College)
• クピカ (Kupika)

Products and services

• Apple Heart Visiting Care Services (アップルハート 訪問介護) Home-visit care (訪問介護) providing personal care, meal preparation, bathing assistance, excretion support, and daily living assistance to elderly and disabled clients in their homes, primarily reimbursed under Japan's long-term care insurance (介護保険).
• Apple Heart Visiting Nursing Services (アップルハート 訪問看護) Home-visit nursing (訪問看護) providing physician-directed medical care, vital sign monitoring, wound treatment, medication management, and rehabilitation at patients' homes.
• Apple Heart Visiting Dental Support (アップルハート 訪問歯科サポート) Home-visit dental support where dentists and dental hygienists provide dental treatment, denture adjustments, oral care, and brushing instruction at patients' homes.
• Apple Heart Visiting Bathing Services (アップルハート 訪問入浴) Mobile bathing service bringing a bathtub to clients' homes to assist bed-bound or mobility-limited elderly who cannot use standard bathing facilities.
• Apple Heart Day Care / Day Service (アップルハート 通所介護 / デイサービス) Day service providing transportation, meals, bathing, rehabilitation exercises, and recreational activities at dedicated facilities, reimbursed under long-term care insurance with co-pays varying by care level and weekly attendance.
• Apple Heart Small-Scale Multi-Functional Home Care (アップルハート 小規模多機能型居宅介護) Small-scale multi-functional home care bundling visiting, day ('通い'), and overnight stays ('泊まり') under a fixed monthly rate with 24-hour support from familiar staff.
• Apple Heart Dementia Group Homes (アップルハート 認知症高齢者グループホーム) Group home (グループホーム) for residents with dementia providing daily living assistance, rehabilitation, recreation, and community interaction in small, home-like settings.
• Apple Heart Care Plan Center (アップルハート 居宅介護支援) Care management (居宅介護支援) in which care managers create individualized care plans (ケアプラン) based on clients' physical and living conditions, coordinating across service providers.
• Apple Heart Welfare Equipment Rental, Sales & Home Modifications (アップルハート 福祉用具レンタル・販売・住宅改修) Rental, sale, and home-modification support for welfare equipment including hospital beds, wheelchairs, and handrails to enable independent daily living, partially subsidized under long-term care insurance.
• Apple Heart Disability Welfare Services (アップルハート 障害福祉サービス) Disability welfare services (障害福祉サービス) including外出同行 (outing accompaniment), household assistance, and personal care for individuals with physical, intellectual, or psychiatric disabilities.
• Apple Heart Consultation Support Services (アップルハート 相談支援) Consultation support services (相談支援) for individuals with disabilities, including planning consultation and specialized coordinators for medical-care children and severe behavioral disorders.
• Apple Heart Housework / Life Support Services (アップルハート 家事代行サービス) Private-pay household chore and life support services (家事代行サービス) including cleaning, cooking, shopping, laundry, ironing, hospital accompaniment, gardening, pet care, self-funded personal care (自費介護サービス), special cleaning (特別清掃), and Kupika (クピカ) gift tickets, available at regular (3,520 yen/60 min) and spot (5,280 yen/60 min) rates.
• Apple Heart Care College (アップルハートケアカレッジ) — Caregiver Certification Training Training programs for care qualifications covering 介護職員初任者研修 (Initial Care Worker Training), 介護福祉士実務者研修 (Practical Welfare Officer Training), 移動介護従業者養成研修 (Guide Helper), and 同行援護従業者養成研修 (Escort Care Worker), with employee discounts, free initial training for hires, and a tuition-refund scheme.

Quantifiable outcome

• Free initial caregiver certification (初任者研修) with tuition refund upon employment
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• 麻生グループ (Aso Group)coreOthersAso Kaigo Service is a subsidiary of Aso Group (117 companies, 17,028 employees, 757.7 billion yen in group sales). The group operates in Medical/Health, Education/Human Resources, Lifestyle Services, and Environment/Construction Materials. Aso Kaigo leverages group resources, cross-referrals, and shared brand identity. Founded 1872.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Care Service Co., Ltd. TSE-listed (2371) provider of in-home nursing care and welfare equipment rental in Japan. Directly comparable to Aso's home-visit care and welfare equipment rental streams, with similar revenue mix across insurance-reimbursable services.
• Benesse Style Care Co., Ltd. Major Japanese senior care provider with assisted living facilities, group homes, and home care services under the Benesse umbrella. Comparable to Aso in offering multi-modality care with strong brand and parent-group support (Benesse Corporation).
• SMS Co., Ltd. TSE-listed (2175) Japanese medical and caregiving staffing, dispatch, and information services provider. Comparable to Aso's caregiver training school and in-home care delivery, with overlap on the talent pipeline side of the care services value chain.
• SOMPO Care Inc. Japan's largest nursing care operator (formerly Nichii Gakan), offering home care, day services, group homes, and care facilities nationwide. Directly comparable to Aso's full-stack care portfolio but with national scale and listed-parent (SOMPO Holdings) backing.
• Cedar Co., Ltd. Japanese nursing care operator providing visiting care, day services, and care facilities across multiple prefectures. Comparable to Aso's multi-modality care model and regional facility roll-up strategy in Japan.
• Tsukioka Co., Ltd. Japanese nursing care and welfare equipment provider with both home care and facility operations, headquartered in Kyoto. Comparable to Aso's diversified care services and welfare equipment offering, with overlapping revenue model on insurance reimbursement.
• Trust Garden Co., Ltd. Japanese care services operator (formerly Koyo Shoji) with welfare equipment, group home, and home care operations. Comparable to Aso's welfare equipment rental, dementia group homes, and home-visit care offerings.
• Amvis Holdings Inc. TSE-listed (7071) Japanese hospice and nursing care provider with rapid facility expansion. Comparable to Aso's group home and elderly care facility operations, with similar caregiver-intensive model and exposure to public LTC insurance.

Broad incumbents

• Daiwa House Industry Co., Ltd. Major Japanese homebuilder and conglomerate with significant senior living (Silver Villa) and care facility operations. Comparable as a large incumbent entering care services from an adjacent real estate development base, though not a direct specialist competitor.
• Aeon Co., Ltd. Major Japanese retail conglomerate with welfare and senior care subsidiaries (e.g., Aeon Care Service). Comparable as a diversified conglomerate with a care services vertical, paralleling Aso Group's diversification pattern, though care is not its core focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/asokaigo
• Facebookfacebook.com/asokaigo

Compliance7 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Aso Group