I was drawn to the special products of Irokawa.
-First of all, please tell us where you are from and how you came to be in SIrokawa.
I was born in Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture, about 4 years ago, but I was in Tokyo at the time, and since it was before Corona, I often went to events and such. I had always been interested in food, and was gradually becoming interested in agriculture as well, when I attended an event with a sustainable theme.
There was a booth there displaying a variety of products, and there was a person exhibiting products from Irokawa. There were so many products that were made with a special emphasis on the taste of the ingredients. Rice, salt, tea, yuzu syrup, plum syrup, and so on. I was really looking at it because I thought it’s rare to see a place that makes such a particular product in one area.
Then, just a month before the rice harvest in Irokawa, this man said, “I’m going to harvest rice next month, so let’s go together.“ But I was a little scared to go alone because I had never met the man before (laugh), so I invited a colleague from my office and the three of us went to harvest rice together.
We were from Tokyo, so it took about 10 hours by car. We had to make a lot of side trips, so it was more than that. But I was so excited that I didn’t mind the long drive.
-So, the encounter at the event was the trigger for your visit to Irokawa. How did you decide to move to Irokawa after coming to harvest rice?
Before I came to Irokawa, I had never thought of moving there. But when I came here, I found it to be a very beautiful and nice place, and I suddenly thought that I would like to live there someday.
On the last night of the second night, there was a social gathering of local people, and that is where I met my now husband, Yutaka. We barely spoke at the time, but when he came to Tokyo on a business trip for an exhibition or something, I had a drink with the members of the group that went to the rice harvesting event together. Eventually, we started dating, got married, and decided to move to here.
-Did you have any worries or confusion when you moved to Irokawa?
No. At first, I didn’t know anything about it and just wanted to live there. But because of the Corona disaster, there was a period of time when I couldn’t go there that often. During that time, I did a lot of research. I knew that each region has its own unique challenges, and natural disasters are very close to home. So I was afraid that there were many risks.
But the attraction outweighed the risks, and I decided I wanted to live there.
It was in October 2021, so it has been less than a year since I moved here. I’m an immigrant chick.
Living day by day in a place where you can see many stars in the sky.
-What is your impression of Irokawa? What are your favorite and least favorite parts, or how does it differ from city life?
My grandparents lived in a residential area, and I had never really been to the countryside, so when I first came here, I was like, “I didn’t know there was such a place in Japan!“ When I first came here, I was like, “I didn’t know there was such a place in Japan! It was so mountainous and the nature was so beautiful. The terraced rice paddies in particular were shocking. I was shocked to see such a beautiful place left behind. The rivers are so beautiful, and there are so many dragonflies, whose numbers have been decreasing, that my first impression was how precious they are. I am not good with insects (laughs).
When I was in Tokyo, I couldn’t stand the concrete jungle. Nishinomiya was also a rather residential area, but it was a bit closer to the mountains, so I could see a lot of stars. In Tokyo, I couldn’t really see them, and it seemed as if the stars had disappeared. When I came here, I thought it would be better to be able to see the Milky Way on a daily basis. If you live in a city, you usually take a trip to a place with nature on your days off to refresh yourself. But I thought it would be better to have nature every day and be in the city once in a while.
In the city, you don’t get to talk with the local grandparents as much as you do in the city. It is refreshing and fun to be able to interact with people outside of the family. The farmer’s homestay JUGEMU is also interesting. I recently stayed there with a friend of mine who was visiting, and the food was delicious and the stay was great.
-What is your impression of the local people?
I think there are many unique people, and people around me often say so (laughs). It seems diverse and versatile. There are many people who are self-sufficient, not completely, but this whole village is completed by the people who live here. There are carpenters, lumberjacks, people making salt. There are many farmers, plum and yuzu factories, hunters, and so on. I think the balance is great. I have the image of people who can solve their problems with other people in the neighborhood. My store (Aima) was also made by my husband and other local people. It’s amazing how much everyone can do on their own.
“Aima,” an experiential restaurant that connects ”in-between”.
-I understand that you raised funds through crowdfunding last year to start an experiential restaurant called Aima. Can you tell us about the origin of the restaurant name and the concept behind the restaurant?
The concept of Aima is to connect producers and eaters, and to create a place where people from the city and the countryside can connect (in between). We visit farmers in the neighborhood of the restaurant to harvest vegetables and hunters to learn about the background of the food, and then cook and eat it.
When I was visiting from Tokyo, I thought that there are many delicious products in this area, such as tea, salt, plums, yuzu, and fresh tuna from the sea, but there is no restaurant that brings them all together in one place. I thought, “If there were such a restaurant, I would love to go there.“ Just as I was thinking about this, Yutaka was building a facility for dismantling and processing gibier, so I thought, “Why not build one myself (next to the dismantling and processing facility)?“
Also, before coming here, I was working on vegetables in Kyoto. I had been thinking for a long time that food prices in Japan were too low and that agriculture was not sustainable. I have actually sold vegetables in supermarkets and department stores, but I felt that consumers thought that vegetables were cheap. When I was in Kyoto, I thought it would be good to approach supermarket buyers and distributors from the distribution side to get a more reasonable price, but I felt there were limits to what I could do considering the current system and various other factors. I wanted to let consumers see what is happening in the field and learn about the current state of agriculture, little by little.
Then, my past experience in distribution combined with a spur-of-the-moment idea, “Why don’t I just make it myself?“ I thought that it would be great if I could make it into a restaurant where people could learn about the value of food as well.
If you try it, you’ll be able to enjoy your everyday meals with a different taste.
-I think it’s wonderful that you actually started your own restaurant. I think it’s wonderful that you actually started a restaurant.
I think it is a little easier to do in rural areas than in the city. Land is cheaper, there are vacant houses, and so on. I am the type of person who would have ended up with just an idea even if I had the same idea in the city. I think there are other aspects of the environment that support me. There are many entrepreneurs in Nachikatsuura, and new stores are popping up one after another. I am influenced by these older people.
One thing that blindsided me was the fact that I thought it would be a good idea to guide guests to nearby accommodations once this place was built so that the community could work together, but during the Golden Week holidays, the surrounding area was fully booked and there was no place to stay. I am thinking of at least building a tent site.
I’m not saying that anyone is to blame, but if you live a normal life, you don’t have many opportunities to learn about agriculture. You have to have a chance to learn about agriculture. Therefore, I would like people who are usually far away from this kind of life in the countryside, and who are a little interested in the reality of agriculture in a world where the background of food is becoming less and less visible, to get to know about it. However, when I go to the fields with my customers, they still say, “Oh, it’s so beautiful! Vegetables are so cute!“ I’m the one who gets even more excited than the customers (laughs).
-It sounds like it would be a fun experience unique to Irokawa. I could feel the connection between the various people who live here. Thank you, Kumiko, for a wonderful time.