[Oga City, Akita Prefecture, Rice and Agave] Introducing President Okazumi! What is craft salmon? What is the Sake Special District?

 President Okazumi, thank you for your time today.

First of all, could you please introduce yourself a little bit about rice and agave?

 By the way, why is the competition focused on craft salmon instead of sake?

 I see, but before we dig deeper into that, could you tell us about how President Okazumi got involved in sake brewing?

 What are the characteristics of Oga City, Akita Prefecture?

Oga City, Akita Prefecture, occupies most of the Oga Peninsula, which juts out slightly into the Sea of Japan.

There is no major industry in the Oga Peninsula, the population is decreasing rapidly, and the future of gradual extinction is approaching.

However, it is a wonderful place rich in nature, with both the ocean and mountains, as well as beautiful spring water.

I think the peninsula is culturally very interesting.

When shipping was the main focus, the Sea of Japan sideKitamaebune(During the Edo period, ships traveling between Edo and Osaka and Hokkaido) came and went, and the Oga Peninsula was a landmark and destination for sailors, so it developed as a central town.

As a result, the Namahage culture arose and continues to this day.

However, with the development of land routes, the age of maritime transportation ended, and the peninsula was left behind and fell into disrepair.

However, this is precisely why the culture that developed independently at that time has retained its uniqueness and continues to this day.

This is what is called Galapagosization.

Because of its unique culture, tourists continue to visit, reaching over 2.5 million people a year (2019).

However, the number of overnight guests is only around 110,000, and although people come for tourism, there are few overnight guests, and there is a problem that money does not flow into the area.

Therefore, by starting a business here in Oga, we would like to become a reason for people to come to Oga and spend money.

That's why we want to develop not only a brewery but also a restaurant and auberge, and create an outstanding inn that will make people say, ``I want to go to Akita because of the rice and agave.''

Creating such examples one by one will help raise the level of Akita tourism as a whole.

With a low interest rate of 0.3% on May 10, 2021,
We have received over 200 million yen in loans from Japan Finance Corporation and Akita Bank.

200 million yen is an incredible loan amount.

How on earth were you able to receive that loan?

 

Since I originally studied finance during my university days, I understood the theory behind the thinking process used by bankers to decide on loans.

Simply put, they are very realistic.

Therefore, even if we say things that seem like dreams, they won't give us a loan.

Of course, dreams are important, but even more important is whether the business will really be successful.
The important point is whether or not you can explain it properly.

Therefore, even before our founding, we have been creating reasons for our success.

For example, before we founded the company, we test-brewed a prototype at Tsuchida Sake Brewery in Gunma Prefecture, and received a promise from a liquor store that they would buy it if we built a brewery.

By collecting memorandums from a number of liquor stores and submitting them, we solidified our logic that we could realistically expect sales after our establishment.

On top of that, it is important to have the person in charge be on your side.

He passionately talked about his vision and dream that Akita as a whole would be energized by having people support him.

I also talked about the auberge mentioned above.

Hence, "Reality and Dreams".
Both of these axes are extremely important, and I think it is precisely because the banks recognized them that they were able to provide us with a loan of 200 million yen.

This is a very educational story.

By the way, I think one of the characteristics of Rice and Agave is that they make sake using naturally grown rice.

What kind of naturally cultivated rice is it?

 

There are various methodologies for naturally grown rice, but simply put, it is a method of growing crops without using pesticides or fertilizers.

Professor Shuichi Sugiyama of Hirosaki University in Aomori Prefecture is the only researcher on natural cultivation, and I was very interested when I heard his lecture.

 According to Professor Sugiyama, ``Unlike plants that grow naturally, plants grown by humans have too much nitrogen from fertilizers, so they attract diseases and insects.''

He said, ``Pesticides were created to deal with unnatural situations created by humans.''

The reason why rice is shaved for sake such as ginjo sake is to shave off the protein on the outside of the rice.

When this protein dissolves, it becomes amino acids, which give alcohol an unpleasant flavor.

The protein comes from the fertilizer in the rice fields.

In other words, if you grow it without fertilizer or pesticides, no extra protein will be produced.

After learning about this fact, I began to think that using naturally grown rice could add value to the brand and return profits to farmers and brewers, so I wanted to take on the challenge. 

 

To begin with, I'm not a naturalist or anything.

Therefore, I do not believe that all rice fields must be pesticide-free. 

However, I've always had a part of me that doesn't really sympathize with the world of sake, where value is determined by the level of polishing of the rice.

When it comes to sake brewing, I think there are various ways of thinking depending on the sake brewer, but when I make sake, I want to add value in ways other than polishing the rice.

I wanted to make delicious sake by refining the technique without polishing the rice.

 

If you think about it, during and before the war, liquor tax accounted for 30-40% of the total national tax, and Japanese people drank so much sake that it was said that they were at war over liquor tax.

Of course, one of the reasons is that foreign alcoholic beverages such as beer and wine were not available, but the fact that it was drunk that much means that the alcoholic beverages of that era must have been the most delicious.

At that time, there were no techniques for milling or preserving rice like there are today.

 

That's why I'm aiming to create high-value-added sake that suits modern tastes using the traditional method of ``natural cultivation, low-refining, and kimoto production.''

On a different note, Mr. Okazumi has been involved in various activities to challenge the current law that does not allow new sake manufacturing licenses.

What is the biggest barrier to breaking the current law?

 

First of all, the industry as a whole is against new entry.

There are some individual breweries that support it, but as long as the Sake Brewers Association opposes it, I don't think the law will change.

 

In order to change this, the first step is a generational change.

It's a time issue, but I think this is one thing.

 

Next, whether there are people who want to change or not.
The question is whether there are people who want to make a change and raise a flag.

In fact, very few people know that new brewing licenses cannot be issued.

There are some sake brewers who don't know about it.

So even before I started my business, I started telling everyone I met that I wanted to change this law, and it gradually became a topic of conversation.

I think it is important to convey this fact little by little. 

 

Also, since it is difficult to change the original law of the original family, we have set a major goal of turning Oga into a Sake Special Zone and a National Strategic Special Zone.

In other words, we want to create a state where sake can be made in Oga City.

If that happens, promising manufacturers may come to Oga. 

 

The other thing is the sixth industrialization.

By cultivating abandoned farmland and making rice from it, it is safe to make sake.

I think there is a possibility that it will be recognized in the context of ``protecting agriculture.''

 

Other options include setting up a restaurant in conjunction with tourism and obtaining permission for the amount served there, or combining it with a brewing experience.

Currently, Japan as a whole is aiming to become a tourism-oriented nation, so if we can get other ministries involved and come to a consensus that it would be more interesting for Japan as a whole to do something like this, then there is a possibility that things will gradually change.

 

Lastly, as part of the Ultra C Plan, I am currently having a documentary film starring myself produced.

A certain person has been working closely with me for about a year, and I'm planning to release it in two years, and I'd like to show it at film festivals around the world.

Once this became a hot topic, people around the world began to ask, ``What are Japan's entry regulations for?''

If that happens, I think Japan will gradually change.

Lastly, could you please tell us about the source of your motivation, and what you would like to say to young creators?

To talk about the source of my motivation, when I was young I worried a lot about how I would live and how I would die.

As a result, I realized that I couldn't work so hard for myself.

For example, if your motivation is just for yourself, like wanting to be famous or rich, you won't have overwhelming power.

But I can do my best for the sake of others.

People are very motivated.

I want to make my family, employees, and local people happy, and I picture their happy faces.

When you do that, motivation will come naturally.

Human beings, whether we fail or succeed, we die anyway.

If you're going to die anyway, it's more interesting to try your best.

So, every day, I want to do my best even if I die tomorrow.

 

Also, in order for young people to want to become brewers, we need to create a profitable structure for the industry.

In fact, the wages of brewers are low considering the hard work involved.

And it is not possible to become independent after doing hard labor.

In other words, it has become an industry where young people have no dreams of working.

 

So, first of all, I want to pay everyone properly as part of my wage system.

I would like to pay at least 4-5 million yen a year, and eventually be able to pay 8 million yen.

The reason we set a goal of 8 million yen is because research shows that once you exceed that amount, your level of happiness doesn't change much.

I calculate it backwards, price it, and value it.

The same goes for farmers.

If a farmer's sales increase, he can ask his son to take over the farm.

When I first requested and purchased naturally grown rice from a farmer, he told me, ``One bale costs 25,000 yen.''

But I said, ``That's too cheap, so I'll buy it for 50,000 yen,'' so I bought it for double the price.

You should pay a fair price for something of value.

 

 

In order to create the creators of the future, we must make it a profitable industry.

To achieve this, the first thing you can do is make the employees of your company happy.

By joining our company, you can do fun things like events, get good pay, and have a good private life.

In fact, I teach sake brewing know-how and management know-how to young people who come to me.

I also want to support those who have trained under me to become independent!

In fact, the area around my brewery is full of vacant buildings, so I could ask someone to build a small microbrewery there.

It would be interesting to see a lot of them lined up as a city.

In order to make this a reality, I would like to create a special sake district so that Oga is the only area that is allowed to produce sake.

 

If you are interested in sake brewing, please come visit us.

Let's start a revolution together.