Kyotanba Radish, Nomura Family

The future of agriculture

Thinking of their precious families. Thinking of the region where they were born and raised. Thinking of "the future of agriculture." We spoke to farmers who had left their hometowns for work or further education, but returned to farming in their 20s with various thoughts and feelings in their hearts. As farmers following in their grandfather's footsteps. As female farmers protecting the family business that has been passed down for generations.

We will introduce young farmers in the northern area of ​​Kyoto Prefecture who are living in the present with a modern farming style, while facing traditional issues in agriculture such as sales channels, farmers, and farmland.

Kyotanba radish

The Nomura family of Kyotanba (Kyotanba Town, Funai District)

Representative Koji Nomura (28 years old) worked in food wholesale trading in Tokyo and vegetable distribution in Kyoto before going independent in 2020 to take over the farming business started by his grandfather Tamotsu (87 years old). Kyotanba Town is a major producer of Kyoto vegetables and black edamame, but there is a shortage of agricultural workers in the area, and he is making great strides as a leader among young farmers.

Return to Kyotanba, the food town

In the world of agriculture, where 65-year-olds are considered young, farmers in their 20s are very young indeed. "Kyotanba is a food town," says 28-year-old Nomura Koji, who speaks of his love for his hometown with a bright smile like the sun in a greenhouse in the morning, where freshly woken radishes are sprouting their leaves with vigor.

The reason why Koji moved from Tokyo to Kyoto and returned to farming in Kyotanba Town, where he was born and raised.

This is due to a sad memory from when he was a high school student, when his elementary school was closed. "I was sad to see the school building being demolished. Kyotanba, famous for black edamame and Tanba chestnuts, is a food town, but there was no one to take over the farming business. It was around this time that I had the desire to liven up the area through agriculture."

Developing sales channels from Kyoto to the Kanto region

He took a job in sales for a major food wholesale trading company in Tokyo, hoping to develop sales channels for farmers who had previously only had access to agricultural cooperatives. "Even if you produce good products, if you don't have stable production capacity and a distribution system in place, farmers can't make a living. Furthermore, you can't survive as a production area. If like-minded farmers work together to increase production capacity and improve distribution, you can expand your sales channels."

Today, the company has a wide range of B2B clients, including high-end department stores and supermarkets in Tokyo and Osaka, as well as the central market and greengrocers in Kyoto, roadside stations, and organic delivery companies.

Agriculture using SNS

Koji also uses social media to exchange information with other farmers and recruit part-time workers, and is envisioning a new form of agriculture that only local farmers can achieve.

"There are people who want to farm, but it's hard to find suitable farmland. At the same time, it takes a lot of courage for the local community to entrust their precious farmland to strangers. So we thought, why not create a system where we, as local farmers, could take over farmland from local people, train the potential farmers, and then enable them to become independent.

It has been just over a year since he took over the business from his grandfather, Tamotsu, who had been a spinach farmer for nearly 20 years. With a sense of speed that suggests he has awakened, this farmer has grown rapidly into the top radish farm in Kyoto Prefecture, producing 4-6 tons of radishes per year in seven greenhouses.

Koji, the second generation owner, is tackling the fundamental issues and problems of developing sales channels and nurturing successors, while also making use of modern tools such as social media in order to revitalize agriculture, which is the backbone of Kyotanba, a town of food.

"I don't aim to do farming that will be enough if I can just make a living. Together with my grandfather, who is still active, and the other staff members who are mothers raising children, I want to show that it is possible to make a living from farming, and contribute to the local community and society through farming."

Bright red radishes

I was also given a tour of the greenhouse where the radishes are grown. The radishes, plump and red with half of their faces showing, looked as if they were about to rise from their beds of soil. The size of the radishes was twice as large as the ones you usually see in supermarkets.

When I touched the soil where the radishes had been sleeping, it was soft and moist. However, "it was originally very hard," Koji said. "The soil had become hard from years of using chemical fertilizers to grow spinach.

Creating soil that goes from hard to soft

The ideal soil for growing radishes is one that allows the fruit to grow round without splitting, and allows the roots to grow downwards easily. This is why they improved the soil.
"Because there is a mushroom factory in town, we use compost made from waste mushroom beds made from sawdust, which has recently become mainstream in organic farming." In addition to solar disinfection, local materials are spread and mixed into the radish beds once a year.

In addition, while radishes prefer a temperature of 15 to 20 degrees Celsius, Kyotanba Town, a major production area of ​​black edamame, has extreme temperature differences between day and night, which are essential for black edamame to retain their sweetness, so temperature control is also important.

As for the reputation of the radishes he has grown with such care, not only are they perfectly round and satisfying in size, but "when cooked, they become even sweeter, yet the inside is still moist! People love them," Koji replied with a smile full of satisfaction that illuminates "the future of agriculture."

Photo by: Takashi Kuroyanagi

Writer: socko

Farmer: Nomura family

Produced by OYAOYA