”Akita komachi” is the leading Akita rice. As the name implies, it is evident that it is developed in Akita. It was elected as the recommended rice of Akita in 1984, more than 30 years ago. Akita is within the top 3 rice producers in Japan, in area used for production as well as production volume.
We visited Ogata-City Akita, a place close to the Sea of Japan. Ogata-City was established as a local authority in 1964. If you eliminate merged towns, this is a relatively new town.
What is so special about this town is that it had once been a lake. The land was reclaimed after draining the second largest marsh in Japan, Hachirogata.
Documents regarding the history of this town are available at the Ogata-City Reclamation Museum. We had the opportunity to interview Hiroto Takahashi, mayor of Ogata-City and Makoto Sato of the Ogatamura Organic Agriculture Promotion Council.
The right conditions to support organic farming
”It was originally a marsh with lots of shells which have high mineral content. Its a great environment for plants that bear fruit, making them more tast.” Sato explains. As mentioned earlier, this is a relatively new town. Being new also enabled them to challenge something new. One of their challenges was organic farming.
Their attempts began in the 1980’s when organic farming was not as popular as it is today. They instantly stopped using helicopters to spray the fields with pesticides, the common method used around the country at the time.
”Back then, there wasn’t that much knowledge and information about pesticide reduction and organic farming, and since having weeds and insects would affect neighboring fields as well, new methods weren’t easily accepted. But here, we had more flexibility in trying something new.”Furthermore, Ogata-City mayor, Hiroto Takahashi claims that Ogata-City was the pioneer of ”sanchi chokuso”, delivery direct from the farm, a system that is used widely today. By sending products directly to the consumers, farmers were better able to convey safety and taste, developing trust in the process.
Creating the Environment
The Ogatamura Organic Agriculture Promotion Council aims for ”agriculture that creates the environment.” It refers to not only being considerate to the environment of the lake and biodiversity, creating a better environment for rice-making, but it also refers to creating a good environment for humans as well.
For example, delivering direct to the consumers. We’re not only delivering rice, its rice bought ”from a particular person”, ”by a particular person” It brings to light that there are actual people involved in the process.
For example, it can start up an interaction. Our interview fell on the harvest festival called ”the Ogata New Rice Festival ”. We saw many people enjoying ”kiritanpo” and rice balls. Ogata city also has a relationship with Urayasu-City of Chiba, and many children from Chiba come visit Ogata every year to learn about rice. The style ”agriculture that creates the environment” also stimulates a style of living.
