Interview with the Apron Worker!
~The Otsubo family, rice farmers in Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture~
This time, we visited Mr. Otsubo, a rice farmer in Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture, who made the apron about three years ago.
Mr. Otsubo and his wife grow rice and vegetables, and mainly sell them directly to customers.
We spoke to him about his commitment to growing rice without pesticides, and he showed us the "direct seeding" method, in which a sheet called "cloth mulch" containing seed rice is laid directly on the rice paddy.
-Hello! I'm Nishimura, and I came all the way from Tokyo.
Thank you for always using the apron.
"Hello!
Thank you for coming all the way here! This is Otsubo.
-I'd like to ask you a few questions right away. The rice planting technique of laying this sheet, called "cloth mulch," directly on the rice field is quite unique.
"That's right. Direct seeding with cloth mulch and
Direct seeding, where the rice grains are simply removed,
We're trying a variety of different methods, including the traditional method of planting seedlings, but this one uses fabric mulch.
Nationwide, probably less than 1% of places are doing this."
-How is it different when it becomes rice?
"The size of the rice grains is different from when they are planted as seedlings.
When you plant seedlings, the roots are inevitably affected when you replant them, but when you sow directly into a seedbed, there's no impact, so the seeds grow directly into seedlings..."
-Where did you learn about fabric mulch?
"Sometimes information comes from the agricultural cooperative, but I studied it at university.
This farming method was devised by a lecturer I had when I was studying agriculture at university.
It's not that big of an area nationwide though...
It's my policy."
-Oh, I see.
"We don't use fertilizer and it's organic farming. But in reality, it's a lot of work. After we lay the sheets down, they get blown away by the wind. They're so flimsy (laughs)."
-So this is fabric mulch. What is the sheet made of?
"It's cotton. It will eventually dissolve and disappear."
(On the right side of the photo is my acquaintance, Mr. Tomita, who accompanied me.)
- So it goes back into nature! Speaking of cotton, it's the same as an apron.
“That’s right. This is Koshihikari rice, and it contains the seed rice.
It is evenly distributed in the sheet in streaks."
- Ah, that's true.
"This is how we make it. We also purchased a rice polishing machine so that we can polish even small amounts of rice quickly.
Nowadays, we mainly sell to individual customers and restaurants."
- That must be great news for customers, too! They get to receive fresh products!
"Next, I would like to install a color sorter. After harvesting, we would use a destoner to remove the stones from the brown rice, polish it, and then put it through the color sorter to leave only the clean rice."
-I see. It takes a lot of effort and costs a lot of money, doesn't it?
"Yes, the biggest expense is the machinery. For example, a new combine harvester can cost 5 to 6 million yen, and it can break down during use. You have to use it for 10 to 15 years."
Wife : "This is the type of rice we are growing now."
-Oh, so there are three types! There are also two types of Koshihikari, so what's the difference?
"It's the difference between transplanting, where seedlings are transplanted, and direct sowing. The price is the same. There isn't a big difference in labor either."
- The directly sown Koshihikari rice has an interesting product name, "My Sweat" ! Who comes up with the product name?
Wife : "Well, just the two of us (laughs). "My sweat" was originally a phrase he had in mind.
Shichiroma is the family name of the Otsubo family.
I find this strange sound interesting (laughs)."
-Did you decide to become a farmer from the moment you were born? Are you the eldest son?
"I was originally the eldest son of a farming family. When you're in the third year of junior high school, you decide on your future career path, right?
At that time, I had the option of working as a regular company employee while also doing farming, but I thought that if I was going to do farming, I wanted to do it properly. I couldn't run away (laughs).
I also had the option of becoming a hotelier.
So I went to Tokyo's Agricultural College, a school that brings together the sons of farmers from all over the country.
I was so influenced by it that I felt I had to do it too."
-It seems like a group of highly motivated people gathered there. Nowadays, interest in food is on the rise, but back then, it wasn't so popular. It must have been a difficult decision.
"That's right. In my father's generation, the idea was that 100% of the rice we produced should go to the agricultural cooperative, but I prefer to give it directly to the people who will eat it."
Wife : "In the end, even if we wholesale to the agricultural cooperative, it will just be lumped together as Takaoka rice."
-You never know who will be eating it in the future, and you never get to see it. Japanese manufacturing, including aprons, is at a turning point.
"Local people eat it, but besides Toyama, there are also many people from my girlfriend's hometown, Miyazaki."
-It's great that more people are buying your products now that they know that they are made directly by someone named Otsubo.
By the way, since it takes a lot of effort, I guess the price is...
"No, they're all sold for 400 yen per kilo.
Of course it tastes good when it's freshly cooked, but I think you'll appreciate how delicious it is once it has had time to sit and sit.
It especially stays tasty the next day.”
-That's nice to hear.
Thank you very much for today!
*We were able to enjoy Mr. Otsubo's rice, "Ore no Asane" and "Shichiro-ma" at a later date!
The rice had a strong flavour and was really delicious.
Everyone, please try ordering freshly milled rice at least once.
Please send your order by email!
Rice farming family Otsubo
Click here for the homepage → http://www6.ocn.ne.jp/~otsuboya/index2.html
otsuboya@herb.ocn.ne.jp
TEL: 090-9602-9174
*His wife Junko is also growing Western vegetables♪ They are very popular at local restaurants!
"Jun Blend Farm"
http://junblend.blog117.fc2.com/
(Interviewer: Nishimura)
~The Otsubo family, rice farmers in Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture~
This time, we visited Mr. Otsubo, a rice farmer in Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture, who made the apron about three years ago.
Mr. Otsubo and his wife grow rice and vegetables, and mainly sell them directly to customers.
We spoke to him about his commitment to growing rice without pesticides, and he showed us the "direct seeding" method, in which a sheet called "cloth mulch" containing seed rice is laid directly on the rice paddy.-Hello! I'm Nishimura, and I came all the way from Tokyo.
Thank you for always using the apron.
"Hello!
Thank you for coming all the way here! This is Otsubo.
-I'd like to ask you a few questions right away. The rice planting technique of laying this sheet, called "cloth mulch," directly on the rice field is quite unique.
"That's right. Direct seeding with cloth mulch andDirect seeding, where the rice grains are simply removed,
We're trying a variety of different methods, including the traditional method of planting seedlings, but this one uses fabric mulch.
Nationwide, probably less than 1% of places are doing this."
-How is it different when it becomes rice?
"The size of the rice grains is different from when they are planted as seedlings.
When you plant seedlings, the roots are inevitably affected when you replant them, but when you sow directly into a seedbed, there's no impact, so the seeds grow directly into seedlings..."
-Where did you learn about fabric mulch?"Sometimes information comes from the agricultural cooperative, but I studied it at university.
This farming method was devised by a lecturer I had when I was studying agriculture at university.
It's not that big of an area nationwide though...
It's my policy."
-Oh, I see.
"We don't use fertilizer and it's organic farming. But in reality, it's a lot of work. After we lay the sheets down, they get blown away by the wind. They're so flimsy (laughs)."
-So this is fabric mulch. What is the sheet made of?
"It's cotton. It will eventually dissolve and disappear."
(On the right side of the photo is my acquaintance, Mr. Tomita, who accompanied me.)- So it goes back into nature! Speaking of cotton, it's the same as an apron.
“That’s right. This is Koshihikari rice, and it contains the seed rice.
It is evenly distributed in the sheet in streaks."
- Ah, that's true.
"This is how we make it. We also purchased a rice polishing machine so that we can polish even small amounts of rice quickly.
Nowadays, we mainly sell to individual customers and restaurants."
- That must be great news for customers, too! They get to receive fresh products!"Next, I would like to install a color sorter. After harvesting, we would use a destoner to remove the stones from the brown rice, polish it, and then put it through the color sorter to leave only the clean rice."
-I see. It takes a lot of effort and costs a lot of money, doesn't it?
"Yes, the biggest expense is the machinery. For example, a new combine harvester can cost 5 to 6 million yen, and it can break down during use. You have to use it for 10 to 15 years."
Wife : "This is the type of rice we are growing now."
-Oh, so there are three types! There are also two types of Koshihikari, so what's the difference?
"It's the difference between transplanting, where seedlings are transplanted, and direct sowing. The price is the same. There isn't a big difference in labor either."
- The directly sown Koshihikari rice has an interesting product name, "My Sweat" ! Who comes up with the product name?
Wife : "Well, just the two of us (laughs). "My sweat" was originally a phrase he had in mind.
Shichiroma is the family name of the Otsubo family.
I find this strange sound interesting (laughs)."
-Did you decide to become a farmer from the moment you were born? Are you the eldest son?"I was originally the eldest son of a farming family. When you're in the third year of junior high school, you decide on your future career path, right?
At that time, I had the option of working as a regular company employee while also doing farming, but I thought that if I was going to do farming, I wanted to do it properly. I couldn't run away (laughs).
I also had the option of becoming a hotelier.
So I went to Tokyo's Agricultural College, a school that brings together the sons of farmers from all over the country.
I was so influenced by it that I felt I had to do it too."
-It seems like a group of highly motivated people gathered there. Nowadays, interest in food is on the rise, but back then, it wasn't so popular. It must have been a difficult decision.
"That's right. In my father's generation, the idea was that 100% of the rice we produced should go to the agricultural cooperative, but I prefer to give it directly to the people who will eat it."
Wife : "In the end, even if we wholesale to the agricultural cooperative, it will just be lumped together as Takaoka rice."
-You never know who will be eating it in the future, and you never get to see it. Japanese manufacturing, including aprons, is at a turning point.
"Local people eat it, but besides Toyama, there are also many people from my girlfriend's hometown, Miyazaki."
-It's great that more people are buying your products now that they know that they are made directly by someone named Otsubo.
By the way, since it takes a lot of effort, I guess the price is...
"No, they're all sold for 400 yen per kilo.
Of course it tastes good when it's freshly cooked, but I think you'll appreciate how delicious it is once it has had time to sit and sit.
It especially stays tasty the next day.”
-That's nice to hear.
Thank you very much for today!
*We were able to enjoy Mr. Otsubo's rice, "Ore no Asane" and "Shichiro-ma" at a later date!The rice had a strong flavour and was really delicious.
Everyone, please try ordering freshly milled rice at least once.
Please send your order by email!
Rice farming family Otsubo
Click here for the homepage → http://www6.ocn.ne.jp/~otsuboya/index2.html
otsuboya@herb.ocn.ne.jp
TEL: 090-9602-9174
*His wife Junko is also growing Western vegetables♪ They are very popular at local restaurants!
"Jun Blend Farm"
http://junblend.blog117.fc2.com/
(Interviewer: Nishimura)