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Tohoku
22 Transforming Conventional Notions Surrounding Scallops A Global Brand Strategy from Iwate Prefecture in Sanriku
Located in the center of the Sanriku coastline in the southeastern part of Iwate Prefecture, Kamaishi City is blessed with an abundance of delicious seafood. The city is also known as the birthplace of the modern iron industry. Kamaishi is also famous across Japan for being a rugby city, with the local Nippon Steel Kamaishi rugby club winning the All-Japan Rugby Football Championship for seven consecutive years between 1979 and 1985. Located in this city of diverse charms is Yamakiichi Shoten, a shop established in 1989 that today produces the so-called Swimming Scallops, which are said to be the most valuable scallops on the market. Inheriting the ideas of Yamakiichi Shoten’s founder, current Managing Director Takeichi Kimigahora is aiming to grow these Swimming Scallops into a new Sanriku brand and “communicate the value of scallops from Sanriku worldwide.”
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Chugoku
19 Finding Value in What Is Available The Fascinating Nature, People, History, and Food Culture of the Oki Islands
The Oki Islands are located 40–80 km north of the Shimane Peninsula. The Oki Islands consists of 180 islands of various sizes, four of which are inhabited, and blessed with abundant nature. These nature-rich remote islands have long been a place for interaction between people and culture. Historically, there were well-known as the place where Retired Emperor Go-Toba and Emperor Go-Daigo were banished, while the islands also flourished as a stopover for ships sailing the Sea of Japan during the Edo period. The rich and diverse cultures that have developed throughout this long history has been carried on to the present day. Fascinated by the charming way of life, many people have also moved to the Oki Islands. Records of the Oki Islands appear as far back as in the Kojiki, or Chronicles of Japan. Looking back on this history, today these migrants are working to create a new future for the islands. As remote islands, there are some things that are “missing” from the islands. However, people here have realized what “exists” only on these remote islands.
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Kyushu
17 Building a Future for Kuma Shochu through the Passion and Strategies of Local Distilleries Hitoyoshi Kuma
Kuma Shochu is one of the shochu brands designated as a Geographical Indication by the World Trade Organization. It is produced in the Hitoyoshi Kuma region, which is in a long, thin basin that stretches 40 km east to west and 10 km north to south in the southern part of Kumamoto Prefecture. The basin is surrounded by the Kyushu Mountains and through its center runs the Kumagawa River, one of the three fastest flowing rivers in Japan. Hitoyoshi Kuma has been called “Japan’s most vibrant hidden village.” Unusually, there are 27 different shochu distilleries centered in this one region. Each of these distilleries has carried forward the area’s more than 500-year-old rice shochu tradition, and today they continue to create unique shochu products that maximize their individual features and charms. During the Meiji period (1868–1912), Kuma Shochu was an extravagant drink that cost four times as much as sake. One of Kuma Shochu’s appeals is the hard work that distillery owners put in to raising the product’s value.
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Tohoku
15 A Respect for Nature and Life Alongside the Sea – Kesennuma Pride
Kesennuma City in Miyagi Prefecture is surrounded by sea and mountain, and its port has landed the largest volume of katsuo, or bonito, in Japan for 25 consecutive years. During the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, however, the area in and around the city suffered huge damage. Now, Kesennuma is transforming into an attractive city with new ambition. With the worldwide support,the development is thanks to locals who rediscovered their city’s attractions and developed a strong desire to the reconstruction, and new individuals from outside who sympathized with the city’s passions. Today, both born and bred locals and supporters from outside the city are working together to create an integrated regional model. Welcoming outsiders with open arms and respecting diversity—speaking to those engaged in the creation of a new Kesennuma has helped to shine a light on the strategies and ideas involved.
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Kinki
14 Lifestyles in Close Proximity to the Sea.An Area that Brings Together Sustainable Development and Unique Attractions—Ine Town
Ine Town, located in the northern part of Kyoto Prefecture, is known for its funaya, or wooden boathouses. One of the most scenic spots in Japan, the town is frequently used as a filming location for movies and TV dramas. Visitors to Ine Town can experience what it is like to live closer to the sea than anywhere else in Japan. The sea and the fish within it could not be any closer. What is the best way to communicate the unique charms of Ine Town to the wider world? Today, the ideas of Ine locals are gradually taking shape. Be it initiatives to promote the area’s unique seasonal delights, including early summer oysters, autumn squid, and winter yellowtail; accommodation limited to one group per day where guests can fully enjoy being right next to the sea; or new tourism projects to further vitalize the town. Locals are steadily making progress toward the future while balancing the history and nature of Ine Town with entirely new elements.
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Chugoku
13 Creating New Value—the Setouchi Terroir
SETOUCHIJOZOJO, the closest winery to the sea in Japan, was established in 2021 on the remains of a shipyard in Sunami, an area in Mihara City in Hiroshima Prefecture. Right in front of the winery is Mihara-Seto, where is said to be one of the most popular sights of the Seto Inland Sea for the beautiful landscape of many islands. The winery’s buildings cut the landscape which is picturesque and spreads over wherever you see. The concept for SETOUCHIJOZOJO is “Wine and Winery that Travels around Setouchi.” Utilizing the unique features of each ingredients’ producing regions, they produce wine and cider without any additional sugar, placing the utmost value on the original flavor of the fruits and the producers’ thoughts and ideas. At the winery’s adjoining restaurant, Mio, visitors can enjoy pairing seasonal foods from the Setouchi area and various wines and ciders created from products from the mountains. The restaurant has recently garnering attention as a new tourist hotspot of the Seto Inland Sea. For Yuya Ota, owner of the winery and restaurant, this was not a family business, nor does he have any experience in winery and restaurant management. Ota says that the biggest power in setting up the business from the ground up was “co-creation with regional stakeholders.”
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Chugoku
12 Diverse Flavors Brewed by a Fourth Generation Female Master Brewer Carrying the Traditions and Techniques of the Hiroshima-toji into the Future
The town of Akitsu is home to the Hiroshima-toji, a guild of master brewers. Facing the Seto Inland Sea, the town flourished as a port for the shipment of sake rice from the Hiroshima domain during the Edo period. Here one can find Imada Shuzo Honten sake brewery run by master brewer Miho Imada. Imada was the only Japanese on the list of the BBC 100 Women 2020, which showcases women who influenced the world. She was awarded because of working in the world of sake brewing, which has traditionally been a male-dominated society, and continued promoting the appeals of sake to the world, exporting 30% of its production despite being a small brewery. Today, Imada continues to bring the fascination of sake to the world with stories of the Hiroshima-toji. She has created unique tastes such as Fukucho, which is made from Hattanso, an oldest sake rice revived by Imada and have not been produced for more than a century; Seafood, sake with lemon-like acidity designed to be paired with oysters; and Legacy, sake that is used ginjo sake made by previous generations of master brewers, instead of brewing water.
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Kita-Kanto
11 Toraya—Aiming for the Future as an Establishment Steeped in History and Tradition
Since its founding in the late Muromachi period about 500 years ago, confection manufacturer Toraya has continued to carry forward the history and culture of wagashi—or traditional Japanese confections—and today is an established name both in Japan and abroad. Toraya became a purveyor to the Imperial Court during the reign of Emperor Go-Yozei (1586–1611), and for centuries has catered to the needs of its patrons. The company has also continued to develop new wagashi for overseas markets and to further extend the reach of its delicious flavors and unique charms. With the aim of taking over Toraya, Mitsuharu Kurokawa, the 18th and current head of the company, crossed over to study in the US while still at high school, and followed this up by accumulating vast experience in a range of settings, including wagashi production sites, the company’s boutique in Paris, and external roles in foreign trade. Here we speak to Kurokawa, who assumed the role of president in 2020, about the company’s management philosophy— to share the pleasures of traditional Japanese sweets（wagashi ）—maintaining traditions as a long-established store, his forward-looking strategies for the future, and various other initiatives.
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Kita-Kanto
6 Year-long Grape Production in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres to Transform Japanese Agriculture and Create New Lifestyles
Japanese fruits are world-renowned for their high quality. Behind the scenes, however, the fruit industry in Japan is facing numerous challenges, such as the aging and ensuing decline in number of producers and the rise in competition with other countries. GREENCOLLAR, an in-house venture company from Mitsui Fudosan, was established in 2019 as part of Mitsui Fudosan group’s new business proposal system, MAG!C. GREENCOLLAR’s business is to cultivate Japanese table grapes in Japan and New Zealand, two countries with opposite seasons, and to sell them around the world. In addition to tackling social challenges through its business, GREENCOLLAR is proposing a completely new lifestyle that is neither white collar nor blue collar, but “green collar”.
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Kita-Kanto
5 Local Tochigi Culture and Ingredients at The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko
The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko opened in July 2020 on the shores of Lake Chuzenji in Okunikko. The luxury hotel sits in an area that is home to the shrines and temples of the Nikko area—where also have been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site—abundant natural surroundings, rich culture, and ancient history and tradition. Today, it has grown into one of Japan’s leading and often fully-booked hotels. Interestingly, Okunikko in Tochigi Prefecture is recognized to be Japan’s oldest holiday resort, and is now host to a cutting-edge facility in The Ritz-Carlton, Nikko. In addition to its globally acclaimed level of service, the hotel has garnered attention for the thorough harmony and coexistence it has sought to achieve with the area through the creation of business ecosystem, be it in the food, guest activities, or the interior design and finer details.
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