In this episode, we spoke with Moriwaki Natsumi, founder of the local greengrocer Rojimaru, based in Kashiwa, Chiba, a small city just outside Tokyo. Moriwaki has a keen interest in both where and how the food she eats every day originates, so before founding her store, she spent time working on farms to improve her knowledge of agricultural products. By shrinking the distance between producer and consumer, she hopes for more people to have easier access to a reliable local crop. Moriwaki founded Rojimaru with this in mind, to not simply create a greengrocer, but also a place for interaction, where consumers and farmers can meet face to face.
A Chance Encounter with Kashiwa
Her history with the small city began when she stumbled upon a photo blog about a nearby lake known as Teganuma, located in Kashiwa. Since the area was so close to Tokyo, she immediately went out to explore. Although Kashiwa itself is fairly developed, the areas around the lake were mostly farm fields and wetlands, and at produce stands nearby, all the vegetables on sale were from the immediate area. She realized that here, the balance between city and countryside was exquisite, and she immediately felt the potential for a local sales market. She described this sensation as, "this ideal situation, where people, goods, and money could all properly circulate within the city through its agricultural products. Maybe I could make it happen. But maybe my head was in the clouds."
A Merchant instead of a Farmer
At first, she wanted to become a full-time farmer, and worked in the fields with a number of regional farmers, only to discover that fieldwork is completely different from a family vegetable garden. Farmwork can’t be done on a whim, at your own pace - the sun, the weather, and the seasons dictate your schedule. As she came to understand this, she saw her role in the food system as different from the farmers, even if from the same perspective.
Coincidentally, not long after she had moved to Kashiwa in March 2011, came the nuclear disaster, and radiation spread from northern Japan throughout the area. Suddenly, many people had fears and uncertainty over the safety of their food. Moriwaki had already established relationships with various farmers and saw an opportunity to reshape consumers’ perspectives on how to select the safest ingredients. Having witnessed the farmer's resolve, she decided to build a connection with the land not as an anonymous consumer, but as a fully engaged, informed member of the farming community.
"Becoming a Part of Everyday Life"
She started Rojimaru as just a simple farmers’ market, in a small back alley, for one hour once each week. While other markets in Japan might operate as events, she sought to establish Rojimaru as a regular part of the weekly schedule, even for a short period each week. She started by targeting local restaurateurs, and this built a natural regular connection between local producers and consumers. It was an unexpected but joyful result to build connections not simply between consumers and producers, but also new connections between different farmers, and different chefs. This small farmers’ market received an unexpected amount of positive word of mouth, and eventually became what is now the shop Rojimaru.
"Since I’m Halfway there, I’ll Play the Middle"
When she shifted Rojimaru into a permanent store, she had to start purchasing from the producer and selling to the consumer as a middleman, which required more active forms of communication. A store cannot be established without listening to the opinions of both producers and consumers. She found this "halfway" point was useful as a sense of balance. "I want to support and respect the farmers, but I'm not a farmer. I've been interested in food and have been working that way for a long time, but I'm not a chef. In a sense, I’m not much of anything. While that might seem strange, I may still be able to play a role in between the two."
“I’d like to create a chain of empathy through food”
Food is one of the few actions everyone partakes in. Based on her own experiences, Moriwaki believes that food is the most suitable tool for empathizing with emotions and knowledge. She wishes for the consumer to experience the taste and efforts embedded in the crop by the farmer she visited and built a long-standing relationship with. To create this chain of empathy from the farmer, through the food, to the eater, she created Rojimaru.