Thank you. After the war, there was a lack of food, so the primary industry was expected to provide a stable supply in large quantities at low cost. Now that our consumer society has been perfected and we have a sufficient supply, it is important to improve our quality of life. When you know who is producing what and how, consumption takes on meaning and your quality of life improves. For producers, in the past, it was just a matter of making and shipping the product, but now they receive feedback from customers, so their motivation is higher.

Pocket Marche allows two-way communication with customers and direct marketing. Furthermore, producers often gain enthusiastic fans who spread the word by word of mouth. "Knowing your customers" is the basis of marketing, but it was difficult for producers because they had no opportunity to get to know their customers. At Pocket Marche, we basically try not to get involved in order to stimulate two-way communication and give producers the "power to sell."

We are now starting to focus on the issue of a lack of people to take over the business. For example, a company manager from Tokyo moved to Kitaakita City and is learning parsley production techniques while continuing to run his company remotely. He is a fan of parsley farming and made it his side job because he wanted to keep eating parsley. Another example is a person from Yokohama who moved to Higashimatsushima City with his family and took over a wakame seaweed farming business.
Agriculture and fishing are often tied to local ties and blood ties, so the reality is that new entrants are closed off to these industries. However, I think it is important that those who want to continue in agriculture and fishing can take over. That's why we have begun partnering with a company that provides a service that connects people in cities with those who are struggling with a shortage of people to take over the industry.

Well, there are two problems with that.
One problem is the overconcentration of agriculture in Tokyo. After the war, young people from rural areas came to the three major metropolitan areas of Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya in large numbers to find employment, mainly in the secondary industry. As a result of raising a new generation in the cities, many people who were born and raised in the capital region do not have a "hometown" in the countryside and have no opportunity to encounter farmers. Agriculture and fishing are worlds that they have only seen on television, so they do not even consider them as options.
Another reason is that there is no job that you want to do. In Japanese society, we are always taught to "do things properly." This means that you should live without going beyond the norm so that you can be highly evaluated by those around you, but it also means that you end up suppressing what you like. When you enter society, you need to find what you want to do, but if you have suppressed your "likes" and "will" for a long time, you will not be able to find "what you really want to do."

In a survey* conducted in Japan by Gallup, a major American research company, only 5% of people answered "yes" when asked if they were enthusiastic about their work. The remaining 95% go to work and just wait for the end of the shift to come. They work reluctantly because they have no choice but to earn a living, and they repeat this every day, every year. I don't think there's anything unnatural about that, but it seems to have become the norm in this society.
I think the trend of taking a job at a company that is highly regarded in society, rather than doing what you love, is the reason why primary industries are not an option. I hope that by letting many city residents know the stories of producers, it will indirectly help solve this problem.

*2023 Gallup Workplace Employee Engagement Survey: Current State of the Japanese Workplace

I understand. There are many people who are not familiar with rural areas. Now, Amekaze Taiyo is working as a "Relational Population*Company" to create opportunities for urban and rural areas, which are currently divided, to connect with each other. The "Pocket Marche" service is not just about buying and selling food, but also provides a place where people can form connections through information about production methods and the daily lives of producers, feedback from buyers to producers, and photos of family and dining tables.
They are also running a service called "Pokemaru Parent and Child Regional Study Abroad." This is a program where parents and children can stay with Pocket Marche producers and experience nature. Through this experience, participants build an ongoing relationship with the producer, buying food from them afterwards and even visiting them again the following year as if they were visiting a hometown. This will bring relief to city dwellers tired of crowded trains, and will revitalize rural areas with declining populations by bringing in new people in their place.

*Related population
This term refers to people who have diverse connections with the region, not the "settlement population" who have immigrated, nor the "exchange population" who have come to visit as tourists.

That's right. People who experienced rural areas at a young age seem to have an affinity to those areas and primary industries. Remote work is becoming more common, and we are entering an era where we will design our lifestyles according to our life stages and desires.
I say "mixing up urban and rural areas," but I would like to make the world a more fluid place so that in the future it becomes normal for people to live in two places, moving back and forth between city and rural areas.

Since January of this year, we have been based in the Noto Peninsula, which was devastated by the earthquake, and have been helping with the reconstruction efforts. Some people worry, "Are you sure you're OK since you just went public?", but we made an "impact IPO" that advocated for a balance between "economic efficiency" and "sociality." The Noto Peninsula is the place in Japan that needs the most impact right now, so there's no reason not to go there. We want to become friends with people who agree with this idea, and we hope to increase the number of fans and shareholders from now on.

I believe that even in the reconstruction efforts following the earthquake, we must strike a balance between social and economic viability.
People sometimes say about our current activities, "It's a good thing, but it doesn't make money." However, if it is a "good thing" that society needs, surely it has to be economically viable as well? Of course, NPOs and volunteers are very important, but not many of them can do it. If it were economically viable, more people would get involved. We want to create a sustainable business in Noto, and change society while also establishing economic viability.

You're a great father. I agree. You don't need to rush until you're about 30. I think you're overthinking it a bit if you're hesitating at that point. As you said earlier, "There's nothing you like or want to do," but everyone is overthinking it.
When you fall in love, you don't think about finding the person you like. You happen to be in the same class and on the same team for the school festival, and as you have more opportunities to talk, you start to take an interest in them, and before you know it, you fall in love. It's the same with work and your own path. Rather than thinking about it, there must be some feelings that well up from within you like an impulse and can't be stopped. Purpose and purpose are also not things you find by thinking about them, but something that just comes to you.

People are influenced by the people they meet, and life is an accumulation of those encounters, but no matter how much you think about it, you can't predict who you'll meet. It's the same with books and movies. You can't control what you'll encounter. Head-on accidents are important. "Do what you like until you're about 30" means that if you get off the rails and take a detour, the chances of meeting someone will increase. Those detours will surely become a treasure in your life. Ishikawa's father is amazing. There aren't many parents who can say something like that.
I heard that your father was a strawberry farmer. Did you take over the family business?

Your father is truly amazing. He is the kind of person who cannot help but express what is "welling up inside of him."

You're in the 5% who find their work rewarding. I think that if there are more adults like that, society will gradually change. Ishikawa-san also says that he is confused because there are so many options, but I'm sure that he will find his motivation through various encounters from now on.
In fact, when I was looking for a job but had been unable to find a job, I happened to meet a senior politician at an alumni meeting of my seminar class, and I ended up supporting him in his work, which led to my exposure to the world of politics. Eventually, I got involved in politics myself, serving as a prefectural assemblyman in my hometown of Iwate, and then chose to work in revitalizing the primary industry and rural areas. During that time, I made many encounters.
In that sense, Aogaku is a university that brings together people from all over the country, so I think it was a good experience to be able to meet so many diverse people.

Please take the time to wander around places where you can encounter various new things and find something that wells up within you. To make new encounters, go out and try things that seem interesting and that you like. If it's not what you want, you can just look for the next thing.