[Movie Review] 'Sowers of Seeds: Minori no Cha' — I thought if I had a field, I could at least grow tea

Lately, I have been vaguely thinking about where to move.

I don't need a big house. It doesn't have to be in a place that's too convenient. It would be nice to have a small field, grow a few vegetables, and have a river or lake nearby where I can fish.

While imagining such a life, I watched 'Sowers of Seeds: Minori no Cha'.

The setting is Usuki City, Oita Prefecture. It is a story about farmers who grow organic tea and the people involved with that land.

The protagonist is Kinjiro Omiya, an official from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Locally, he is called 'Kin-chan the drifter'.

Even though he is an official, he is a bit flighty, somewhat suspicious, and barges into people's homes to say unnecessary things. Even so, when it comes down to it, he understands the feelings of the local people.

Perhaps because Takanori Jinnai plays him, Kin-chan doesn't come across as strangely unpleasant.

I started watching it thinking it would be a movie supporting agriculture, but in reality, it focused on the lives and hesitations of the people remaining on the land.

There is no one to take over.

Even if you make something good, it doesn't mean it will sell.
There are people who want to protect the old ways and people who want to try new methods.

I realized that fields and rice paddies are not just there as scenery. They are the very lives of the people who live on that land.

I had simply thought that if I just had a field, I could at least grow tea trees.

I thought it was just like growing a few vegetables: plant the seedlings, water them, and if things go well, they become tea. That was the extent of my thinking.

However, watching the movie, I saw that tea production involves layers of effort, from the soil, the insects, and the weather, to the processing and the sales channels.
This is even more true for organic farming.
Having a field is just the beginning.
Beyond that, there is daily work.
I thought I had been a bit naive.

Even so, my longing for a field has not disappeared.

Rather, it is precisely because it is not easy that I am somewhat drawn to it. To work with my own hands, watch the seasons, and live through things, including the times when things don't go well.

Moving probably isn't about going to a place with nice scenery.

I think it is about gradually taking on the inconveniences and the labor of that land yourself.

After watching 'Sowers of Seeds: Minori no Cha', a life with a field feels a little further away.

But at the same time, I feel like I am a little closer to the real thing than before.

I still haven't put my hands into the soil.
But I am beginning to learn, little by little, what is there.