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Biography: Kazunobu Abe was born as the first son of the rice growing family of many generations on February 23rd, 1950. After graduating from Kurihara Agriculture High School, he succeeded his family business as the head of the 6th generation. He got married in March 1973. He established Ricey Miyagi, L.L.C. in August 1998. In April 2007, Ricey Miyagi, L.L.C. was shifted to Ricey Miyagi, Inc. |
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He has lived and experienced every shift in the business law, economy, and consumers' needs for the past 40 years. Business and agricultural laws became more stringent each year. A large amount of low priced rice started being imported from overseas. Then quality and safety of products started becoming an important factor among consumers. It has been a continuation of challenges to adapt to these changes without jeopardizing his integrity.
Mr. Abe owns a wholesale rice business. We had an interview with him at his office located in the quiet countryside. What has it been like to face the agriculture here in this small town? First, he told us the paths he had taken before establishing his wholesale business. . |
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| "I've been in the agriculture since I graduated from high school. It's been almost 40 years. I am the 6th generation to succeed this family owned rice-growing business. My parents lived in the generation when they had to sell 365 hyous of rice per year (a hyou: a large sack of rice weighing approx. 60kg), and they kept expanding the rice field so that they could reach their goal to sell 365 hyous of rice. By the time I took over their rice fields, we had already reached that goal. But at the same time, selling 365 hyous of rice per year wasn't nearly enough for us to have a stable life any more." |
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As an increase in the surplus of rice, the government started implementing the policy of reduction of crop size in 1970. Farmers were given government subsidies to reduce the amount of land of their farming. That caused a dramatic drop in the rice price. Although Mr. Abe's rice field was one of the largest in town, he and his family had difficulties in making ends meet. To help themselves out of their predicament, he found a new stage with an additional source of income.
"We couldn't live only on our main business, rice farming. So we started hog raising. But as the number of hogs increased, the feces and urine disposal became a problem. It caused a bad smell to neighbors, and it wasn't easy to clean the entire pigsty every day well enough to prevent the smell. After all the hardships and efforts, we couldn't see a good result, and we had to finally give up hog raising." |
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"And we not only grew but also started selling rice in 1993. Back then, rice sales were regulated under Food Act, and farmers weren't allowed to sell rice to general merchandising stores. So we sold rice scraps as an ingredient for cakes and candies. Then in 1996, Food Act was revised, and the situation started to change. This revision allowed us to sell rice. And in August 1999, I established this wholesale company."
Mr. Abe has been tossed by the unpredictable waves of the times and government policies, yet, he never gave up searching for a new path. Overcoming successive difficulties, he achieved his family business in a very new form. He is the only business owner in Kannari to operate in both production and sales of rice. What is the job like? |
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"For I went to an agricultural high school, most of my friends and classmates were also successors of farming business. And when I started this wholesale business, they really were a great help. I never felt how I couldn't live alone more than that time. And even today, we work together as one large labor force. Although I started a wholesale company, I am still a member of a team of rice growers who work together and help each other to grow rice of good quality."
"And lately I have more and more business with Shosan Trading Company, Inc. We've been doing business since I was raising hogs. Shosan supplies rice from farmers, and then we commercialize the rice at my company, Ricey Miyagi, including packaging and promoting the rice. Then Shosan sells them to supermarkets and such. I am also a member of JA Kurikko (JA: Japanese Agricultural Cooperatives), and JA Kurikko is also a rice-farming group. I buy rice from them as well." |
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| "To reach a goal, there's a limit to what an individual can do. Even those who were born in the farming regions and lived there their entire lives, it is becoming rare that they can live only on farming. I believe that 'agriculture' will keep changing dramatically. To survive with everybody else in this industry, we all have to help each other. Farmers or wholesalers, our goal is to grow and sell good rice. The circle of farmers and wholesalers with this same goal seems to be expanding." |
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