REGIONAL STRENGTHFARM AND FISHERY PRODUCERS IN TOHOKUWINNING BACKCONSUMERS’ TRUSTThe agricultural and fishing industry of the Tohoku region was devastated by the giant earthquake of March 2011,
but joining forces post-disaster, a robust network of producers is successfully promoting the appeal and safety of theregion’s food to consumers in Japan and abroad.
Tohoku—the northeastern part of Honshu,
Japan’s largest island—is a region abundantly blessedby nature and has long been a stronghold of theagricultural and fishing industries. Farmlands andfisheries were devastated by the Great East Japan
Earthquake and subsequent tsunami of 2011, andthe hardship was prolonged by reputational damage
caused by nuclear incidents at the Fukushima
Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (NPS). But theregion has gradually recovered, with agricultural
production already surpassing pre-disaster levels in
the prefectures of Miyagi and Iwate.
TAKAHASHI Daiju has devoted himself to therevitalization of the Tohoku food industry throughout
the intervening years since the earthquake. “Science cantell us if something is safe or not, but only humans canrelay a sense of safety,” he says. “Scientific guarantees ofsafety are essential, but guarantees won’t get consumers
to actually eat the food. It was only after producers
tirelessly spread the word about how delicious Tohoku
products are, and how much care goes into theircreation, that we were able to win back consumers’
trust. These producers are no longer victims of disaster.
They are true heroes in the way they faced down thesituation with such great determination.”
In June 2011, three months after the earthquake,
Takahashi took part in the founding of “Eat, andEnergize the East”—a group of like-minded individuals
determined to save the food industry of eastern Japan,and became bureau chief. He resigned from his job ata major consulting firm later the same year. The group
established a platform to link food producers of theregion with retailers all over Japan, and in the first five
years, succeeded in generating sales amounting to JPY

Left: Fishermen
unloading mackerel at afishing port in Ofunato,
Iwate Prefecture
Right: Takahashi
carefully considered thenaming and productdesign for “Ça va?”—canned mackerelfrom Iwate that became
a hit item.

15 billion (USD 136 million). Takahashi also focusedon the creation of regional brands. “Ça va?”—a punon the word saba (Japanese for mackerel)—is one
such example: canned mackerel with a stylish package
design. “Ça va?” became a hit product and more than
10 million cans have been produced to date.
But Takahashi thinks the greatest success of thepast decade lies in the emergence of numerous“heroes” of farm and fishery production. This is theculmination of the group’s strategy to put more focus
on the development of expertise. “Eat, and Energizethe East” has been organizing training sessions
on a regular basis since 2013, in order to improvethe business skills of food producers. Enthusiastic
participants of the sessions began to link up witheach other across the different segments of the foodproduction value chain, such as fishing, seafood
processing, and wholesale marketing. Producers
also started to connect directly with consumers,
and to convey their enthusiasm and personal stories
effectively enough to generate a nationwide surge indevotees of Tohoku food products.
Unfortunately, there is still some hesitancy aboutbuying products from Fukushima, which suffered thebrunt of the nuclear plant accident, and it may take time
for this wariness to dissipate. Moreover, a basic policy
was announced in April 2021 to discharge ALPStreated water—purified of all radioactive content tobelow the regulatory standard, except for tritium—fromthe Fukushima Daiichi NPS into the sea, following
a preparation period of two years. The water will be
diluted to keep the concentration of tritium under onefortieth of the national regulatory standard applied to“Eat, and Energize the East” is making efforts to open up markets overseas.
Here, prospective business partners are offered a taste of Tohoku at an eventin Paris. (Photo from 2019)

Fisherman’s League, which was formed
in 2016, is a group of fishing-industry
leaders who came up with the inspired
idea to create fishery brands that would
be popular around the world. Heroes likethese are helping to win back of trust ofconsumers.

As hesitancy still remains over consuming Fukushima’s
agricultural and fishery products, the recovery of the region issome distance away.

the country’s nuclear power plants. Although all due
precautions for safety will be taken, the discharge may
again damage the region’s image. “But we think this canbe overcome,” says Takahashi. He reiterates, “After all,while passing on information about safety is necessary,
I believe that people play a critical role in imparting asense of safety.” In March, Takahashi and colleagues
invited French chefs based in Tokyo to Fukushima for
a tour of production venues. They responded favorably
to the tour and showed particular interest in sagohachi, apickling sauce made with fermented rice. Some of themeven devised new recipes for dishes and sweets making
use of fermented marinade made with koji, rice and salt.
In April, Takahashi moved to Namie-town,
Fukushima Prefecture situated in close proximity to
the Fukushima Daiichi NPS; the town office is about
8 km from the power station. The entire town had
to evacuate after the nuclear accident, and althoughpeople are now allowed to live in part of the town,
only one-tenth of the former residents have actuallyreturned. This may sound like grounds for pessimism,
but Takahashi says he has some interesting ideas
for the town as it renews itself from point zero.
“Fukushima still has many culinary treasures thatcan be proudly shared with the rest of the world. I
hope to bring them into the spotlight and build up
a new food industry,” he says. “The future opens its
doors only to those who approach it positively,” headds. Today, and in the years to come, Fukushima’s
food producers and their supporters will direct theirpositive energy toward bringing the culinary delightsof the prefecture to the rest of the world.