In Yamamo, each of the seven storehouses had its own Shinto shrine. At the discretion of the head of the family in each period, the altar and its utensils were moved to the present form. The water deity is enshrined in the garden, and the Inari deity is enshrined in the storeroom and Buddhist room. The name of Aki, the wife of the fourth generation, is written on the bell cord of the household shrine altar in the storeroom, giving us an idea of the time period and the handiwork of the owner. Since the beginning of the renovation, we have been conducting research based on these clues, seeking opinions from Shinto priests and scholars, and installing gods and Buddha in their proper places and with their proper content.
The number of multiple household shrine shelves and shrines has led to the belief that many gods reside in the brewery. Because of this, we believe that the gods dwell in all of our buildings, and we have decided to provide a shimenawa, which means a boundary, from the entrance of the building. During this year’s rice harvest, we placed a drum-shaped shimenawa at the bottom of the gassho. We also moved the shimenawa and bell cord to the shrine shelf in the storehouse where Viamver® yeast, discovered through years of research, was found, and renewed some of them to preserve their meaning and intent for future generations.
In both the West and the East, since ancient times, people have made invisible brews from harvests, including sake and wine, and used them in rituals and beliefs. The relationship between breweries and animism, which is a way of expressing gratitude for the land’s climate and harvests, is very interesting, and breweries are a rare industry that has made a living out of it and have done so as a ritual. How can we express this in the modern age, and convey it with a sense of beauty and emotion? We will continue to work on this with a sense of joy.
We at Yamamo have accepted many interns and feel that there are many people who are not sure what they should be doing. You can only find out what you want to do from what you have experienced. Therefore, it is necessary for you to spend more time experiencing things that you have never done before, and to reevaluate yourself. Finding one’s own path can be found by honestly doing what is right in front of you, which is the most direct way.
Nagasaki-san joined the project from the revitalization project of the community garden field that started last summer and stayed with us until the end of last year. As a university student from her hometown, she has a good understanding of regional characteristics such as dialect and climate, and she told us that she had been thinking in terms of her own local environment, especially in her work where she comes into contact with local people. If the work of the seasons and human connections rooted in the land sometimes manifests itself as something rare in future experiences, and becomes an opportunity to think things through, I think it would be meaningful to have engaged in local traditional industries. I hope that Nagasaki-san will jump into the future environment with her heart on her sleeve. _internreport
Last summer, I had to cancel my study abroad program in Germany due to the spread of the coronavirus, so I started looking for an alternative internship. I was fascinated by Yamamo’s activities to open up the future of the region from the industrial world, and that’s when I contacted them.
Ever since I was in junior high school, I have had a vague desire to contribute to the local community. I think it was because I experienced the closing of my alma mater, and I was afraid that my hometown would eventually become obsolete and disappear. However, having grown up in my hometown and knowing the current situation, I also felt that it would be very difficult to achieve this goal. Perhaps contributing to the local community was not something I wanted to do, but more of a sense of mission. However, Yamamo’s local activities were connected to my pursuit of my own identity. The idea is to create an environment where you want to live and where you can be yourself, from your workplace to the city. For me, the idea of pursuing an ideal was something that eased my mind, as I had been so focused on solving problems. Of course, it is important to do things for someone else, but now I think it is okay to let my own crush be the driving force first.
When people think of internships, they tend to imagine a period of time to experience the workplace before entering society, but an internship at Yamamo is not something superficial like that. As a member of Yamamo, I needed to express my individuality while clarifying my personal direction and ideal image. In order to do this, we need to constantly confront ourselves and our weaknesses. Through daily conversations with my Yamamo colleagues, I was able to constantly ask myself what I want to do, who I want to be, and what I need to do to make it happen. It is painful to face one’s own challenges, but I believe that by doing so repeatedly, one can find a strong self that cannot be shaken.
From spring, I plan to study abroad in Germany for six months. In order to open up your own future, I think it is important to take action first. It is easy to hesitate when taking the first step, but before worrying, I will take action and embody my ideals.
Mei Nagasaki Yamamo Miso and Soy Sauce Brewing Company, intern at the Social Change Division. Currently enrolled in the GB course at Akita International University, aiming to become a bridge between Akita and the world. He is currently enrolled in the GB program and plans to study abroad in Germany this spring. She is interested in sustainable urban development in rural areas.
In Yamamo, each of the seven storehouses had its own Shinto shrine. At the discretion of the head of the family in each period, the altar and its utensils were moved to the present form. The water deity is enshrined in the garden, and the Inari deity is enshrined in the storeroom and Buddhist room. The name of Aki, the wife of the fourth generation, is written on the bell cord of the household shrine altar in the storeroom, giving us an idea of the time period and the handiwork of the owner. Since the beginning of the renovation, we have been conducting research based on these clues, seeking opinions from Shinto priests and scholars, and installing gods and Buddha in their proper places and with their proper content.
The number of multiple household shrine shelves and shrines has led to the belief that many gods reside in the brewery. Because of this, we believe that the gods dwell in all of our buildings, and we have decided to provide a shimenawa, which means a boundary, from the entrance of the building. During this year’s rice harvest, we placed a drum-shaped shimenawa at the bottom of the gassho. We also moved the shimenawa and bell cord to the shrine shelf in the storehouse where Viamver® yeast, discovered through years of research, was found, and renewed some of them to preserve their meaning and intent for future generations.
In both the West and the East, since ancient times, people have made invisible brews from harvests, including sake and wine, and used them in rituals and beliefs. The relationship between breweries and animism, which is a way of expressing gratitude for the land’s climate and harvests, is very interesting, and breweries are a rare industry that has made a living out of it and have done so as a ritual. How can we express this in the modern age, and convey it with a sense of beauty and emotion? We will continue to work on this with a sense of joy.
Many of the interns who visit Yamamo share our current efforts and are willing to share their journey with us. However, many of them have yet to develop a clear vision or direction for their future. On the other hand, there are many people in our company who have found their own direction, and spending time together in such an environment can be difficult for interns. In such an environment, I think Gorai-san faced the direction of the future that everyone goes through.
In addition to her regular duties as an office and café staff member, Gorai-san has taken responsibility for the revitalization of the community garden and other local projects. She is from an urban area, but the fact that she was able to solve local problems such as abandoned land, sowing seeds, harvesting them, cooking them in the café, and guiding tours all in one go may have helped her to find something that she is confident about. I am happy to have been able to provide the site and environment that created such an opportunity in the months she spent with us. I will continue to watch over her as she moves forward into the next phase of her career. _internreport
I found out about Yamamo Miso and Soy Sauce Brewery in the spring of my senior year of college, after I had decided to postpone my study abroad due to Corona and had not decided what I wanted to do in the future. It was a miso and soy sauce brewery with a café, and when I visited the website, there were tabs for ART and ASTRONOMICA. I was interested in both art and science, so I intuitively thought it sounded interesting, and that’s when I contacted them. Looking back after working there for about four months, I don’t think I have ever experienced such a dense period of time in my life where I changed so much. Before I came to Yamamo, I had a wide variety of interests, but I didn’t try to get into them, and I lived my life half-heartedly, with no sense of self in any of them. However, being involved with the people who work here has made me realize that I didn’t know how to do anything hard and was afraid to follow my dreams.
While the team members have changed a lot since the spring, I have been the main person working on Yamamo’s field and the main house project. There are many emotions that I have learned through growing vegetables and the hard work of converting abandoned land into fields and cleaning up a large house that had not been inhabited for a while, but they have given me not only a sense of accomplishment, but also an opportunity to express myself that had been sleeping deep inside. I am grateful to have been in an environment where I could receive some form of feedback on my daily output, which encouraged me to grow. From the fall, I will be living in Tokyo and starting to pursue my dream, which is becoming clearer. I have just taken the first step towards my dream, and I believe that after learning how to deal with the things I love in the past four months, I will be able to jump into a new world with a little more confidence than before, even if I leave Yamamo.
Karin Gorai Yamamo Miso and Soy Sauce Brewing Company, intern at the Social Change Division. Enrolled in Akita International University to experience multiculturalism through daily life. She spent a year of her Corona disaster in her hometown of Osaka, and lived in Akita again while waiting for an opportunity to study abroad in Estonia, but it was decided to cancel her study abroad. Currently, she is interested in hospitality, and is exploring the relationship between art and food culture.
