Disappearing Jobs

One day in November, while strolling through Midorigaoka, I spotted a "For Sale" sign. It was the place where I lived until I was seven. It was also the house designed by my late father, but a demolition notice was already posted.

The Matsuzaki Senbei building in Ginza, completed the year of the Tokyo Olympics, was another structure my father worked on. When I was little, during our Ginza strolls, he would proudly show me the cornerstone (you know, that stone at the base of the building inscribed with the completion year and the construction company's name). This building, too, will finish its service next January.

Then, quite by chance, while out drinking in Arakicho at the end of August this year, I learned that the Nishimatsuume Building in Yotsuya, also built by my father, would be demolished. Three buildings in quick succession. Honestly, I was stunned.

I vaguely assumed an architect's work would endure for ages. But thinking calmly, amidst the city's relentless renewal, I must be grateful it served people for decades until my father passed. I used to think, "Advertising is a fleeting art. It's forgotten in the blink of an eye," but now I must cherish the present. I'm grateful to engage with people's feelings. I must dedicate myself to each and every project.

Whoops, I got carried away with my musings. Today's topic is pickles.

Kino-hana, located in Nagano Prefecture, is a long-established shop founded in 1909. Until about five years ago, they made kimchi and other products for major restaurant chains. However, securing sufficient profit through such contract manufacturing became difficult, so they recently shifted their focus to challenging themselves with their own brand.

Particularly energetic is Managing Director Emiko Miyagi. As mentioned before, she authored the book 'Umaka Tappuri! Easy Pickled Side Dishes' (published by Ie no Hikari). It introduces the concept of "pickles as natural umami seasoning." The spotlight here is that pickles, being fermented foods, are "instant seasonings" – simply mix them in to create side dishes or mixed rice. Recently, following this approach, she's even developed healthy lunches and original pizzas.

This is certainly a fresh perspective. The specific measures are innovative too. Even when you try it, the pairing of cheese and pickles is surprisingly good. But should Konohana-ya really stake its future heavily on this concept? For example, we could freeze-dry the pickles and grind them into a true "seasoning," but is that the business plan we should prioritize investing in?

The discussions among Kinohana-ya, the "Yon-nana Club" online store curated by a local newspaper, and our team started from this point.

How would you steer the direction of a "long-established pickle business in Nagano"? Can you envision a spotlight beyond "pickles as a natural umami seasoning"? As you might realize after a moment's thought, this is quite a challenging question. Aside from the vibrant and refined "Kyoto pickles," similar traditional pickles exist all over the country. How do we differentiate ourselves? How can we make it appealing to customers...?

The clue lay dormant within Konohana-ya. For instance, in 2004, when the late Momofuku Ando, inventor of Cup Noodles, visited Konohana-ya for research for his book, he reportedly showed strong interest in the wisdom of salt preservation – "entrusting freshly harvested vegetables to salt." I heard he passionately spoke to the Miyagis, who were uncertain whether to continue the old-fashioned method in this modern age of advanced preservation techniques like freezing, about the value of local cuisine as a minimal yet rich culture.

I found a clue in the "mountain physalis syrup preserves" I spotted at the store. This "mountain physalis" grows wild deep in the depopulating village of Kinasa, deep within Nagano City. They commercialized it with the strong conviction that "by using local ingredients that don't get much attention, we can support mountain life in our own small way." I learned that even the nozawana used as the raw material for nozawana pickles is cultivated on their own farm, gradually expanded since 1996. I truly felt their deep attachment to the blessings of the Shinshu mountains.

And so, after all this, we finally launched our new pickle brand this month... but the rest of the story will have to wait until next time. We'll share it along with ordering information for our premium Nozawa-na pickles that make rice disappear.

Please enjoy!