A perspective of “no” rather than “zero” waste

HOTEL WHY, a zero-waste action hotel, opened in May 2020 in Kamikatsu-cho, Tokushima Prefecture, which has the smallest population of any town in Shikoku at 1,511 (as of January 1, 2021). Zero-waste” means “zero waste. In 2003, Kamikatsu Town became the first municipality in Japan to declare “Zero-Waste,” aiming for a society that produces no waste, rather than zero waste, which is defined by how waste is disposed of. The town does not collect garbage by the municipality, and each household composts food scraps, etc., and each resident brings bottles, cans, and other “resource garbage” to the “garbage station” to sort into more than 45 types for recycling.

HOTEL WHY is located in a corner of the Kamikatsu Zero-Waste Center, which has a garbage station and a research and educational function for consumers, sellers, and producers, and is a lodging facility where visitors can actually experience the 45 types of sorting. The unique architecture of the building is shaped like a “? The “HOTEL WHY” is located at the “.” part of the unique architecture, which is shaped like a “?

The “HOTEL WHY” is located at the “.” of the unique building, which is shaped like a “? But Kamikatsu Town, which is also the source of water, decided that this was not the way to go, so this waste treatment facility was built,” says Momona Otsuka, owner of HOTEL WHY.

The facility is made of scrap wood, window frames, and other materials brought in by the townspeople. Kamikatsu Town does not have a garbage collection system, but by having everyone bring their garbage and unused items here, it has become a place for communication and learning,” says Otsuka.

About 80% of the garbage brought here is recycled. Generally, about 20% is recycled, which is a fairly high figure, but the town of Kamikatsu is making further efforts to achieve the goal of zero-waste.

Why? from daily life

The design was led by the hot young architect Takushi Nakamura. Why are you buying it?” The interior has a calm atmosphere in contrast to the unique exterior, which is based on the theme of questioning consumers and producers about whether to make, sell, or dispose of products. The room windows overlook the rich nature of Kamikatsu-cho and are very cozy.

At the hotel check-in, guests are given an explanation of Kamikatsu Town’s zero-waste efforts, and drinks and soap are weighed out for their needs during their stay. At check-out, guests actually sort garbage into 45 categories, giving them a chance to experience life in Kamikatsu Town and review their daily garbage The hotel also provides an opportunity for guests to experience the lifestyle of Kamikatsu Town and review their daily garbage by actually sorting garbage into 45 categories when checking out.

We hope that by creating this hotel, we can provide an opportunity for people outside of Kamikatsu to learn more about zero-waste and the SDGs,” said Otsuka.

The hotel does not have a starred restaurant, nor does it have a large outdoor bath. The lack of disposable amenities is also not surprising considering the hotel’s concept. After dusk, there are almost no cars on the road, and even the nearest convenience store is a 30-minute drive away. However, this inconvenience is refreshing and pleasant. This is by no means a luxurious hotel. It is just a place with beautiful nature and starry sky in a small town in the mountains, but I felt as if I could see the shape of a hotel for a new era.

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Located in the eastern part of Tokushima Prefecture, Kamikatsu Town is the smallest town in Shikoku with a population of about 1,500, consisting of 55 villages of various sizes, but it is also known as the first progressive town in Japan to declare “Zero Waste” by setting a goal of “zero waste by 2020” in 2003.

What is Awa Bancha in Kamikatsu?

The road to the house of Ms. Ayame Tonokawa, a producer of Awa Bancha (late-night tea), is narrow and winding, making it difficult for cars to pass each other.In the misty valley, terraced rice paddies can be seen.It is a beautiful town that resembles the original landscape of a Japanese farming village. Awa Bancha is a specialty tea that has been consumed in Tokushima Prefecture since ancient times.It is a “post-fermented tea” made by fermenting tea leaves with lactic acid bacteria, just like Pu’er tea in China and Goishi tea in Kochi Prefecture.

Upon arrival, Mr. Tonozawa, a master of Awa Bancha tea making, was picking tea leaves with local women wearing tea-picking baskets around their waists. “This isn’t a tea field. We’re picking tea leaves that grow wild in the mountains,” said Ms. Tonozawa Ayame. They made their way through the thickets, finding tea bushes and continuing to pick the leaves. The harvesting method is more like “plucking” the leaves from the branches rather than picking them.

“How much do you make?“ (Nakata)

“About 70 kilograms at our house. Most of it is for drinking at home and giving to friends, and we sell the rest at the market. It’s not a business. We’ve been doing this for generations, and I’m carrying on the tradition,” said Ms. Tonekawa.

Awa Bancha is rarely seen in markets, but it’s quite popular in Kamikatsu Town. It’s warm in winter and served chilled in summer. It’s even used for bathing infants.

How to make Awa Bancha, a tea produced by local communities helping each other

When I visited Mr. Tonokawa at his home at 9:00 a.m. the day after the harvest, he was spreading out the wild tea leaves that had been harvested over a five-day period on a large blue sheet in his garden.From there, he first removes branches and debris, then boils them in a large pot, twists them in a machine, and soaks them in a vat.The important thing is how the tea leaves are boiled. We don’t have a fixed temperature and time for boiling,” he says.I just check the leaves and when I think it’s time, that’s it.It’s like a hunch.I didn’t learn it from anyone, but I’ve been watching them since I was a child.That’s how I somehow learned it,” says Tonokawa.

The family-wide Awa Bancha production is a summer tradition in this area.During this time of year, vendors who rent out the tea twisters, pots, and boilers visit several houses a day to help with the Awa late-night tea production.The work is divided among everyone, and the tea making proceeds handily.

Neighbors also help with tea picking and tea production, but they are all volunteers.In this area, it has long been called “teama-nyaku” or “teama-kai,” meaning to help each other out when both parties are busy.We have always done it that way,” says Tonokawa.

After the tea leaves are boiled and twisted, they are transferred into a large bucket-like tub.A small pile of tea leaves is then placed into the bucket.When the last tea leaves were placed in the vat, and when they had been stepped on enough, the brownish boiled water was poured into the vat.The tea leaves soaked around the end of the rainy season are taken out at the end of the Bon Festival.During this time, the tea leaves are fermented, giving it a unique flavor.

“Shall we bring some stones?” At Mr. Tonekawa’s call, several large stones were carried from behind the house. These stones have been passed down through the Tonekawa family for generations and are used for pickling. This method is one of the reasons why Awa Bancha is called ‘pickled tea.’ The Tonekawa family uses heavier stones than other families, weighing 150 to 180 kg. The number of stones used also varies from family to family. Mr. Tonekawa is particular about how the stones are stacked. The direction and placement of the stones affect the pressure applied to the tea leaves.

“That’s it! After waiting about four weeks and drying them in the sun, the Awa Bancha is ready” (Mr. Tonozawa)

After finishing the work, everyone enjoyed drinking the chilled Awa Late Tea. It was memorable how Mr. Tonozawa and the local residents seemed to enjoy the process from tea picking to pickling. Awa Late Tea plays a significant role as a communication tool in the community. It felt like something far more valuable than simply selling the tea for income.

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HOTEL RIDGE, a blissful experience for all five senses

Located in Naruto City, Tokushima Prefecture, on a hilltop in Setonaikai National Park overlooking the scenic Naruto Straits below, HOTEL RIDGE is an exquisite lodging with only 10 guest rooms on a spacious site of approximately 70,000 tsubo (approximately 1.2 acres), catering to a limited number of guests.
Surrounded by rich nature, HOTEL RIDGEis a private oasis where guests can enjoy a relaxing and blissful time, feeling the great outdoors while gazing at the tranquil waters of the Seto Inland Sea, based on the concept of “experiencing bliss with all five senses.
All of the 10 carefully selected guest rooms, all with ocean views, will be renovated in April 2019. The 10 rooms in the five buildings consist of four Japanese-style rooms and six Western-style rooms, each with a different design. Each room is furnished with artwork based on the concept of the room and furnishings unique to the Awa region, allowing guests to feel the comfortable local climate. The view of the Seto Inland Sea from the room’s deck, where you can feel the sea breeze on your skin and enjoy the view of the Seto Inland Sea spread out before you, will stimulate all five senses in a pleasant way.

The indoor baths in the guest rooms are comfortable, but for a more relaxing experience, the spa and esthetic treatments are not to be missed. The 100% free-flowing simple spring water, pumped up from 1,500 meters below the ground, has a smooth and mild spring quality that blends well with the skin, and is said to be effective in treating skin diseases, neuralgia, sensitivity to cold, and fatigue. There is also a deck overlooking the straits, where you can relax and soak in the seasonal sea breezes.

Relax with an ocean view of the Seto Inland Sea

Within the hotel’s spacious grounds, visitors can enjoy the charm of the tasteful architecture of Banri-so, with its dry landscape garden and tea ceremony room, and Mitsui Suishoen (former Mitsui Takatatsu Villa) Annex, a wooden house designated as a Tangible Cultural Property.
The “Banri-so,” with its white walls surrounding a dry landscape-style Japanese garden reminiscent of the Great Wall of China, can be used by guests as a luxurious dining room. One cannot help but be impressed by the many kaiseki dishes served in this atmospheric space, which are decorated with seasonal and unique Awa ingredients. Breakfast, too, is a gorgeous way to start a perfect day, filling the body and soul with sumptuous dishes that will energize you for the day ahead.

The “Mitsui Suishoen (former Mitsui Takatatsu Villa) Annex,” with its exquisite shimmering sunrise through the window glass, is open for tours for guests. Visitors are invited to tour the annex, where rare architectural techniques can be seen everywhere, and fully immerse themselves in this fantastic world.

If you want to enjoy Western food as well, go to ” California Table”. The restaurant’s superb location, stretching from the Naruto Straits to the Seto Inland Sea, will impress you as if you were visiting a resort on the West Coast, and will further enhance the appeal of its creative French cuisine, which makes abundant use of seasonal, local ingredients.
The hotel’s name is also derived from the California wine “RIDGE, ” which is to be enjoyed together with such a sophisticated space. This historic brand won first prize at the 30th anniversary tasting of the Paris Showdown, and a wide variety of wines are available, all of which are deeply flavored gems. It is a good idea to find your favorite wine from the unique lineup.

The restaurant is an exquisite space that creates a calm and relaxing flow of time, as if you have entered a time warp from the hustle and bustle of everyday life into a different world. It will promise you an extraordinary trip with a pleasant sense of openness.

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Brewing sake with a small group

Miyoshi City Ikeda Town Salad…? Is there such a place name?　It is the address of Miyoshikiku, the company we visited this time. The small family name “Sarada” is the katakana form of “Sarada”. Although there are many areas where katakana is used for small letters, the use of katakana for addresses is becoming less common, so it is interesting to see the names of places in this Ikeda-cho neighborhood on a map. But, digression aside, Miyoshikiku is a small sake brewery with a staff of about four.
The fifth generation brewer, Ryoichiro Umamiya, abolished the traditional toji system in 2001 and has been making sake by himself. Sake breweries have traditionally been considered closed to the public, but he is now striving to make sake and the brewery more accessible to the public by allowing them to see how he makes his own sake.

A Sake Brewery that Retains the Samurai Spirit

The Umamiya family’s ancestors were originally samurai from Ako. It is said that they entered Awa together with Koroku Hachisuka, Hideyoshi’s one hand man. Even today, the samurai residence and the samurai gate remain as a reminder of those days, and the samurai gate is a whopping 300 years old. The sake brewery was founded in 1903, and in the early days, there were many hardships because of the “samurai family business method.

In 2007, the brewery won the top prize in the “Junmai Sake Battle,” a competition in which sake lovers’ groups from all over Japan compare 100 brands of sake from different regions.

Sake brewed from local spring water

From the moment the lid is lifted, Miyoshikiku’s sake has a rich fruit aroma and a very rounded flavor that is never sweet. It is a sake that tastes like white wine. The secret lies in the nature of the brewing water. Miyoshikiku uses spring water from the Matsuo River, which flows from the rocks of the Iya Valley, a famously unexplored region. This spring water is known locally as “famous water. Hard water is generally considered suitable for sake brewing, but this water is super soft.
Miyoshikiku has successfully used this property to brew a sake with the umami of water and rice, which sets it apart from conventional sake that is neat and dry. It is surprisingly fruity and must be tasted at least once.

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