Because there are things that do not change, we can change. ──Trust and appeal value of regional companies seen in Saijo──
I visited two companies in Saijo, Higashihiroshima City, as part of HATAful's activities.
From the moment I got off the train, the summer heat clung to me. On the way to Sakagura-dori (Sake Brewery Street), I could see white walls and red brick chimneys, making me feel that what I was about to see was not just companies, but the land itself.
In the morning, Satake. At noon, France-ya. In the afternoon, Kamotsuru.
Rice and sake. Technology and tradition. Factories and breweries.
Things that seemed separate at first glance began to connect into one in my mind.
However, Sakagura-dori on this day was so hot that just walking around made me drenched in sweat. Summer in Saijo is quite formidable.
Grasping hints to enhance appeal value
I participated in a project by Hiroshima En-JOB, one of HATAful's initiatives. HATAful is a corporate network that transcends industry boundaries to join hands and make 'working' in Hiroshima more attractive.
Click here for details on HATAful
The purpose was simple.
To grasp 'hints to enhance appeal value' through company visits and gain insights for my own company and myself.
Honestly, when it comes to company visits, it's easy to end up just thinking, 'That was an amazing machine' or 'That was a company with a long history.' But this time, I didn't want it to end there.
After the tour, there was a group work session with member companies. People from different industries and positions looked at the same thing and expressed their impressions from completely different perspectives. I believe this experience of 'seeing with different eyes' is the real thrill of cross-border exchange.
Satake supported the Japanese culture of rice
If you visit Satake thinking it's just a company that makes rice milling machines, you'll find it's a bit different.
What left an impression during the tour was the challenge of rice milling that sake brewing in Saijo faced. Unlike Nada or Fushimi, there was a time when water-wheel-based rice milling was difficult in Saijo, and they had to rely on manual labor.
It was Wahei Kimura, who laid the foundation for Kamotsuru, who tried to solve that problem. He asked Riichi Satake, who was running a machine manufacturing business in the same Saijo, if he could build a power-driven rice milling machine. Thus, in 1896, Riichi Satake created Japan's first power-driven rice milling machine. Later, in 1898, it was introduced to Kamotsuru and became a technology that supported sake brewing in Saijo. This was the beginning of the company called Satake.
According to the person who guided us, Satake also worked on the development of rice milling machines powered by engines at one point, and they mentioned, 'Perhaps another engine manufacturer like Mazda could have been born in Hiroshima.' It's quite interesting to imagine the 'what ifs' of history.
In the history museum, a collection of technological advancements from each era was lined up, starting with that power-driven rice milling machine, moving through exhibits capturing global grain production, and ending with the latest optical sorters. Standing before the old machines, it was clear that these were not just exhibits, but someone's earnest answer to easing the burden of sake brewing in Saijo.
What Satake supports is the very daily act of eating rice. Before rice is a commodity, it is culture, it is life, and it is memory. I felt that this is a company that supports that taken-for-granted reality with technology.
And above all, the very beginning of Satake was born from the 'troubles' of a sake brewery called Kamotsuru. The history of companies growing while supporting each other within the land of Saijo was right there.
Tasting the town at France-ya
I had lunch at France-ya. Actually, this is a restaurant run by Kamotsuru. I thought it was just a meal between tours, but I had already entered the world of Kamotsuru.
The cool interior was a relief to my body, which was flushed from the heat. While sitting around the table with the member companies, we got excited talking about Satake, which we had seen in the morning. Even though we had seen the same exhibits, everyone was looking at them from different angles—some focusing on the technology, some relating it to recruitment, and others seeing it as a regional resource. Conversations that arise during such casual meal times are actually what stay in your memory the most.
At lunch, I experienced a water tasting. Evian versus water from Saijo. When you drink them side-by-side, the difference is clear.
Saijo's water is surprisingly soft and goes down smoothly. It was in stark contrast to the firm mineral feel of Evian.
Why was Saijo chosen as a famous production area for sake? That was the moment I understood one part of the reason with my tongue. It meant I had already tasted one of Kamotsuru's answers before the brewery tour.
Looking at companies and tasting the town cannot be separated. I think the water flowing through the land of Saijo itself was the best treat of the day.
Kamotsuru was delivering the memories of the land
In the afternoon, I went to Kamotsuru Sake Brewing. The white walls and namako walls lining the sake brewery street, and the red brick chimneys. Just walking there, I felt that sake brewing was not something completed only inside the buildings, but something soaked into the townscape itself.
From an inbound perspective, sake is not just a drink. Water, rice, climate, buildings, the hands of craftsmen, the town's landscape. I think it is Japanese culture itself, including all of that.
Inside the brewery, the story of the shift toward sake brewing centered on full-time employees was also impressive. Moving from a system centered on seasonal brewery workers to a system where people can work stably throughout the year. While protecting tradition, the way of working was certainly continuing to change.
Because there are things that do not change, we can change
This was the biggest realization of the day.
Satake has an unchanging axis of supporting rice. Kamotsuru has an unchanging axis of protecting sake brewing in Saijo. However, both were continuing to change in order to remain unchanged.
In the first place, the company Satake itself was born from Kamotsuru's wish to 'change.' There are things that must not be changed. I believe that is the company's vision, its WILL. And to deliver that WILL to the future, they change their technology, their way of working, and how they present themselves. That is where appeal value is born.
Toward the appeal value of our own companies and ourselves
This project was about thinking about the appeal value of our own companies, the appeal value of us who work rooted in the region, and the appeal value of ourselves, by considering the appeal value of the companies we visited.
I believe that cross-border exchange is not about going to see companies you don't know, but about re-examining your own appeal through the appeal of others. Being able to exchange impressions with the member companies who saw the same things on the same day was also a major takeaway from this day.
So, what is the appeal value of one's own company?
And what is the appeal value of oneself?
I haven't been able to put the answer into words clearly yet. But I feel that the relationship between "things that don't change and things that do change" that I saw in Saijo that day is a hint in itself.
Regional companies are entrusted with the trust of the region
Tourism is not just about seeing famous sights. It is also about knowing what is born, what is protected, and what has been changed in that land.
Seeing Satake, seeing Kamotsuru, tasting the water at France-ya, and walking along Sake Brewery Street. I think that was not only a company visit, but also a time to trace the history of trust in the land of Saijo. It is not about looking at products, but about looking at the background from which the products were born. It is not about looking at buildings, but about looking at the activities of the people who needed those buildings.
Regional companies do not just provide products and services. They are entrusted with the time, trust, culture, and memories that have been accumulated in that land. That is precisely why putting their appeal value into words is also putting the future of the region into words.
What I saw in Saijo was not two companies. It was the figure of a region trying to move toward the future while holding onto things that do not change.
The realization I had that day is also connected to the "Theory of Trust Tourism" that I have been writing about for some time.
I believe that tourism is not about consuming famous sights, but about touching the time and activities that have been accumulated in that land. Satake, Kamotsuru, France-ya, Sake Brewery Street. What I saw in Saijo was exactly an example of that.
Also, for me, as I write the novel "The Morning I Was Called to Hiroshima," which travels around various parts of Hiroshima, this day was a great opportunity for research. I think the "feeling of being called by the land" that I want to depict in the story is born from the tactile feel of such sites.
▶ Click here for Activity Edition vol.01 "The day when ideas became reality."
▶ Click here for the Trust Tourism Theory series
▶ Click here for the novel "The Morning I Was Called to Hiroshima"
Have you ever thought about the "appeal value" of your own company or yourself?
If you don't mind, I would be happy to hear even just a word from you.
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