Discovering local resources and creating businesses with the power of students

An entrepreneurship circle at the Nihon University College of Engineering in Koriyama City. Because they are near the university, they float islands on the nearby Furukawa Pond to grow and sell water spinach, and they also develop menus using the water spinach. The circle is led by Yuki Sugawara, a third-year student in the College of Engineering (a graduate of Kitakata Tōō High School). Based on the entrepreneurship circle's initiatives, Sugawara entered the "Innovator's Egg" business idea contest sponsored by Fukushima Prefecture and the Fukushima Innovation Coast Framework Promotion Organization, where he received the Innovation Organization Incubation Award.

Selling water spinach grown for water purification

The catalyst for Sugawara's involvement in growing and selling water spinach was when he was a third-year university student and participated in the water purification project for Furukawa Pond led by faculty from the Department of Civil Engineering. Furukawa Pond is located very close to the Nihon University College of Engineering where Sugawara attends. It was once part of the Abukuma River, but it became a pond after construction work was done to straighten the river's course. On the other hand, the water flow became poor, and the accumulation of nitrogen and phosphorus caused water quality to deteriorate.

At Furukawa Pond, a project was underway to grow water spinach on floating islands in the pond to absorb nitrogen and phosphorus and aim for water purification, and high school students in the city were also involved in this project.

The water spinach absorbed the nutrients from the pond and grew large at a surprising speed. It grew larger than what is usually sold in supermarkets and greengrocers, but since the main purpose was to purify the pond's water, it was not being sold.

Knowing that the water spinach that had grown so well was not being sold, Sugawara decided to sell it and develop menus, thinking, "I want to be involved in a project that thinks about business by utilizing university research."

"Water Spinach Bowl" completed with the cooperation of many people

As the name suggests, water spinach has hollow stems and is used in Chinese cuisine and other dishes. When stir-fried, you can enjoy its crunchy texture. It is also highly nutritious, containing about four times the potassium of spinach.

Sugawara and his team put on jumpsuits, entered the pond themselves to harvest the water spinach, and then sold it through online reservations. They also visited Chinese restaurants and other establishments to provide samples and conduct sales activities, asking them to purchase it if they liked it. When they actually sold it, Chinese restaurants with high environmental awareness and people who support student activities bought it.

Sugawara and his team also developed a menu to spread the deliciousness and appeal of water spinach.

They named it, "Water Spinach Bowl".

The preparation method is as follows. First, stir-fry the water spinach with sesame oil and garlic, and season it simply with salt.

Next, place the stir-fried water spinach on top of rice, and add pork on top to add volume and umami. Finally, topping it with a soft-boiled egg completes the Water Spinach Bowl, which looks delicious. Sugawara opened a stall at the university festival, and many people bought the Water Spinach Bowl and enjoyed it with a smile.

In developing the menu, Sugawara asked a food coordinator for cooperation. Sugawara himself also tasted water spinach when he traveled to Thailand, the home of water spinach, and developed the menu with the cooperation of various people, including listening to a local vegetable sommelier.

The Nihon University College of Engineering has six departments, including Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, and Architecture. Students from all of these departments belong to Sugawara's entrepreneurship circle, and activities are carried out that utilize the specialized knowledge of students from each department.

Since they use Furukawa Pond as their field, he says he learns a lot from the students studying civil engineering. Also, students studying information engineering are thinking about SNS strategies to let people know about their activities. Sugawara himself is majoring in electrical and electronic engineering, but he says he wants to explore how the knowledge he has learned can be put to use.

Acquiring qualifications in high school made me feel that "if you try, you can do it"

Sugawara attended Kitakata Tōō High School in Kitakata City. During high school, he belonged to the Electrical and Electronic Department and studied hard every day to acquire qualifications such as the "First-Class Electrician" and "Second-Class Electrician." In the process of accumulating efforts toward acquiring qualifications, he says he realized that "even difficult qualifications can be acquired if you take the time to work on them."

Through this experience, he gained the confidence that "if you try, you can do anything," and this way of thinking became the driving force behind launching the entrepreneurship circle as soon as he entered university, in his first year. He also reflects that participating in a program to learn about "entrepreneurship" during high school led to the establishment of the entrepreneurship circle.

Spreading the value of water spinach throughout Fukushima

Reflecting on the activities, Sugawara says, "The biggest surprise was that the water spinach actually sold." By building confidence from the small successes they achieved, they have been thinking about their next steps.

Sugawara hopes to continue expanding sales channels for water spinach and developing new products using it. For example, she wants to focus on offering it frozen and developing new menu items. To do this, she believes it is important for people to first know about their efforts. By spreading awareness of water spinach from Koriyama, where the university is located, they intend to expand their activities throughout Fukushima and eventually nationwide.

Furthermore, she points out that in the Hamadori region, there are places where it is difficult to grow crops in the soil due to the impact of the nuclear accident, but water spinach, which can be hydroponically grown in reservoirs, is easy to cultivate and has the added benefit of helping to purify the ponds. Through agricultural innovation, Sugawara applied for "Inobe no Tamago" with the goal of revitalizing the Hamadori region and becoming a source of hope for the area.

Finding local resources

Sugawara carried out an initiative that utilized water spinach, an underutilized resource found in the local community. As a first-year student, as part of an entrepreneurship circle, she worked on initiatives that shed light on underutilized local resources, such as reclaiming abandoned fields in Konan-machi to develop a tourist farm, commercializing vegetables and fruits, and developing fertilizers.

"I believe there are many things in Fukushima that are not being utilized and many charms that are not yet known. By finding them and connecting them to business, we can create a sustainable society," she said.