Kagoshima

When I arrived at Kagoshima airport, my interpreter and I were met by Hiromi Nagano a Japanese Eisenhower Fellow who had offered to show us around that part of Japan. We drove to the Kanoya area, which is the #1 pork and beef production area in Japan. The drive was on very steep, winding road and reminded me of where I grew up in the mountains of western Virginia. Most native Oklahomans would have gotten car sick. First we visited Fukudome Pig Farm Ltd. Mr. Hiroaki Fukudome and his son Toshiaki showed us around their operation. This was exciting because this is the first operation I have visited where a second generation is involved with the farm. His other son is studying meat science in Germany. They are currently part of a marketing association but they want to start processing and marketing their own pork products. Toshiaki studied English in Great Briton and was able to tell us about the operation in English. They have 350 sows. Most of the hogs appeared to be Yorkshire and Yorkshire cross but they have recently started importing some Hampshires, including one they are very proud of from Ohio. Mr. Fukudome was proud of the beautiful landscaping at the front of the farm and the trees they had planted. He said they want to provide a good environment for the pigs. They have a urine processing system that removes all smell from the urine and makes it safe to release into the river. And they also recently put in a manure processor that makes high quality compost. There is a government subsidy to support the installation of this equipment. Fifty percent of the total cost comes from the national government and 25% comes from the local government. He was also very proud of the fact that they mix all of their own feed. All of the feed inputs are imported, including fish meal from the U.S. and seaweed from Holland. When I asked about free trade agreements he said he was opposed to them because they couldn’t compete with producers in other countries. Below is a picture of some of their pigs and by the way they still use farrowing crates.

Our next stop was a dairy farm. At this farm not only is the owner’s son involved but his grandson who is eleven is also involved with the dairy and wants to be a farmer after he gets out of school. They have recently built a new facility with a 120 cow capacity and an automatic robot milking machine on one side. This has given them more time to do other things and allowed them to milk more cows. The facility cost 200 million yen and again the government subsidized its construction with 50% from the national government and 25% from the local government. They also have 130 hectares where they produce the corn silage for the dairy. His son asked me about using DDGs and I shared my limited knowledge with him. The neighbors that moved in recently near their corn fields complain when they spread manure for fertilizer. This is just one more thing they have in common in with the U.S. All of the livestock in Japan is so calm and friendly. Below is a picture of my friend Hiromi making friends with a cow.

Next we went to Mr. Ino’s house. He is an architect and engineer who designed the new dairy facility and he had invited us to stay at his house for the night. It is a typical rural Japanese home with futon mattresses on the floor for beds and we sat on the floor at a low table for tea and breakfast. Japan has many onsen (hot springs) and there is a famous one nearby that they encouraged us to visit. At Japanese onsens you bath naked (men and women have separate areas). First you take a shower to clean yourself and then you get in the bath. When you are finished you rinse off with another shower. I was very uncomfortable but I had read about how important onsens are in Japan and I thought I had to try it once. It also helped that when I don’t have my glasses on everything is blurry, so I just acted like it was also blurry for everyone else. After we got back from the onsen there were several people already at the house and Mr. Ino and his wife were cooking dinner. We had a big feast on a patio above their garage. It was raining but they had covered the area with plastic. The local food was really good and they just kept bringing it to me. I probably ate more than I had in the last two weeks. There were several very important people from all of the surrounding communities invited. We ended up visiting two of the people the next day.

One was Ryuzo Sakata, Rear Admiral, Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF). He spoke good English and had been to the U.S. several times. I told him that my husband loves Naval History, especially the Pacific Theater of WWII and he invited us to the base. So, the next morning we were given a tour of the Kanoya Naval Aviation Museum. This is an impressive museum that focuses on the history of Imperial Naval Aviation and the development of the JMSDF. It also has a large section devoted to the Kamikaze pilots that sacrificed themselves during WWII. There is a display with pictures of all of the more than 2000 Kamikazes. The average age was 19 and one was only 16 years old. Below is a picture of a Zero that is in the Museum. They also had several other planes on display outside. Those of you who know my husband, Ryan, know how much he would have enjoyed this visit and I thought about him the entire time. Next we were escorted on to the Kanoya Air Station to Admiral Sakata’s office. He is a naval aviator and commander of the air wing which has 20 XP1 aircraft. The base also has several helicopters. It is considered an important, critical point of defense from China. Recently there was a dispute over an oil spill that happened right on the line where the two countries’ waters meet. Also, a couple of years ago the coast guard sunk a North Korean boat that was coming too close. The Admiral told us about the new law that has recently been passed allowing them to rescue any U.S. personnel that might need their assistance and provide logistical support for U.S. vessels. Below is a picture of us with the Admiral.

At the party, I also met a green tea grower and we visited his operation next. Drinking tea became mainstream about 90 years ago in Japan, prior to that it was only for special occasions. He and several other growers in the area recently upgraded the equipment in their processing facility. He said in order to get the subsidy from the government you have to spend so much and buy bigger equipment than you really need. He has 150 hectares but they are all on steep hillsides. There are two ways to get a better price for your tea. You can produce higher quality tea or you can be the first to harvest and sell that year, if your crop is delayed there is a big cut in price. The tea producers’ share of a bottle of tea is 3 yen (about 3 cents). Some of the tea plants were covered which produces higher quality tea but a smaller quantity. Tea can be stored refrigerated for up to 3 years without any damage to the quality. Another interesting thing that he told us is that this area has one of the worst problems with an aging population. For every birth there are 3 deaths. Below is a photo taken from one of his tea fields. It is a beautiful place. This picture doesn’t do it justice since it was raining.

On the way back to Kagoshima we stopped at a 100 yen vegetable store he had told us about. I had heard so much about how Japanese consumers are so picky about the appearance of their food, but this shop makes a big profit proving that some people are okay with a slightly crooked carrot if it is less expensive than the straight ones. We took the ferry across Kagoshima Bay, which we had heard earlier in the day was used as a practice sight for the attack on Pearl Harbor. There is an active volcano right on the bay but it was so cloudy I couldn’t really see it. Next we took another ferry to Tanegashima. This ferry is a hydrofoil and is much faster than the conventional ferry but it still takes 90 minutes to get to Tanegashima.