Q&A with TOMODACHI Program Participants and TOMODACHI Alumni: Chiaki Nakawatari
In this interview, we interviewed Hiromu Nagatomo, a current town council member for Inawashiro, Fukushima. He is also the founder of Inabishi Corporation, whose mission is to create new local industries by harmonizing environmental conservation and economic development by utilizing tourism resources in the region. Nagatomo is an alumni of the TOMODACHI Family Mart SDGs Leadership Program in Tohoku. In this interview, he told us about his experiences as a former competitive skier, working at a toxic company, and being a town council member for Inawashiro.
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Which TOMODACHI program did you participate in? How was your experience in the program? What did you learn from participating in the program?
I participated in the Tohoku Academy to Support Each Other (TOMODACHI FamilyMart SDGs Leadership Program in Tohoku).Through the program, I received various ideas from the program members and was able to brush up on my own activities through exchanges with people who are active in other regions.
Are there any memories from the program that stand out in your mind?
I remember that people I met through the program actually came to visit my community, and vice versa. When there was a disaster, I was contacted by members who lived in the affected areas and I was able to volunteer there. I also have fond memories of receiving the TOMODACHI GO ABROAD award and being featured in the media.
What does TOMODACHI mean to you?
I feel that being a part of TOMODACHI was a wonderful opportunity for me because I was just starting out, I did not know what was right and what was left. I was especially grateful when I received an award at the end of the project, which was introduced in the media and led to recognition from the local community. Also, the article led to media coverage in Fukushima Prefecture, which I think was a very good tailwind for my emerging business.
Please tell us about how you got started in competitive skiing. You continued to devote yourself to skiing in high school and college. Please tell us about the learning and growth you gained through the sport.
I started competitive skiing because of my success in winning a children’s ski competition, which led me to devote myself to the sport.
Through competitive skiing, I had many opportunities to go on overseas expeditions and to various ski resorts in Japan, so it was a good experience for me to learn about tourist destinations around the world and in Japan. I also feel that I acquired the most courage to overcome the continuous difficulties that come with starting a new business. Because I have always moved around to various places in my life since I was a small child due to skiing and higher education, I have a higher resistance to change, and I believe that I have gained more than a little adaptability to the fast-changing times.
Please tell us about your background and motivation for becoming a member of the Inawashiro Regional Revitalization Revitalization Corporation . Also, please tell us about the skills and insights you gained as a member of the cooperative.
After graduating from university, I retired from competitive skiing and went to work for a general company. It was a somewhat toxic company, and there were times when I was almost called in by the police because I stayed up until around 10:00 at night going door-to-door to make sales calls to ordinary homes. Also, for the company’s profit, I had to sell products to customers that they don’t need just to follow the direction of my boss. Through these experiences, I came to think that I would like to work in a job where I can have a positive impact on society as a whole by creating and providing products, services, and new values that are beneficial to the world, rather than selling products and services just for a company’s profit. I also felt that my motivation was not based on money, but on something else. I found a job on the Internet as a member of the Regional Revitalization Development Cooperation Team in Inawashiro Town, which I have had a strong attachment to since I was a small child. While working as a member of the cooperative, I began to gain a deeper understanding of the structure of the government, the way staff think, and the direction and issues facing the region as a whole, which are different from those of the private sector. I used to be bad at writing, but I feel that my writing skills have improved through the preparation of administrative documents and public relations activities such as social networking. Through my activities as a cooperative worker, I was able to make connections with local people, local businesses, and surrounding municipalities.
Please tell us about the impetus behind the establishment of Inabishi Corporation. Also, what goals do you hope to achieve through the company?
It all started when I participated in volunteer activities to preserve the water quality of Lake Inawashiro through the activities of the cooperative corps. Water weeds called ‘Hishi’ had proliferated in large numbers, and if left unchecked, they would die and lead to water pollution. Every year boats were introduced to collect them, and elderly people volunteered to collect them in the shallows, which took a lot of time and money. Because I had been playing in Lake Inawashiro since I was a child, the beach where I used to be able to swim had become so covered with water weeds that I could not swim. The ranking of water quality had also dropped compared to those days. While thinking that I wanted to do something about it, I began to think that the waterweeds could be utilized for something and that it would be a waste to throw them away, so I started to utilize them for business. My goal is to achieve both environmental conservation and local economic development. The financial situation in local communities is likely to become even more difficult in the future, and we feel that it is necessary to make our environmental conservation activities self-sustaining. First of all, we aim to achieve harmony between environmental conservation and local economic development by building sustainable water environment conservation efforts and creating new local industries and employment by utilizing even those that are considered waste, such as water weeds. In addition, I myself immigrated to the area in my 20s, and by creating a successful case study with no experience, skills, money, or achievements, I hope to show the next generation the possibilities of the region. I would like to help create the foundation for young people to take on new challenges.
As a town council member of Inawashiro, what are some of the issues you are working on and focusing on for the region?
Currently, the efforts that I am particularly focusing on are securing local leaders, improving the town’s image, and public relations activities. Recently, we have been receiving many inquiries from young people about relocation and projects, and one of the issues we are facing is that although the number of vacant houses is increasing, information about the countryside is not publicized, so young people in the city cannot find a house to live in, and even if they like Inawashiro, they often end up in other areas of the city. For this reason, we are collecting information on vacant houses and promoting matching. The most difficult issue is the lack of job options in rural areas. In recent years, we see more and more varieties of work styles, especially among young people, so we are trying to propose and provide information that suits each individual. In addition, since young people are at an age when it is easy to start a business, we would like to create an environment where people can easily choose to start a business or take over a business.
As a social entrepreneur, have there been any challenges or experiences that have left a lasting impression on you?
I started out with no experience, knowledge, achievements, or money, so it was a constant process of trial and error, and failure was the norm. Product development was also a new experience for us. For example, we did not know the drying conditions for water weeds at first, and we ended up ruining about 80% of the raw materials we used. We started small and worked our way up, little by little, and although it was a lot of work, we enjoyed it and became more enthusiastic about it.
You are currently working as a social entrepreneur and town council member. How do you balance these two roles?
I always try to reflect the perspectives of young people and newcomers, as well as the knowledge I have gained as a social entrepreneur, in the town government. I can adjust my schedule for my own company to some extent, and I balance my activities while delegating to my staff what I can entrust to them.
What is your vision for the future of the community and how do you want to continue your activities?
We will continue our activities based on whether or not they are beneficial to the community. I would also like to expand the scale of our business and grow it into a company that can create many jobs. We would like to aim for sales of at least 100 million yen. As for our business, we will expand from Fukushima and Inawashiro to the world. By exporting our products, we would like people to know about Lake Inawashiro and we would like to link this to inbound tourism. I would like to make the region a place where we can earn foreign currency. We would also like to create new innovations so that people will say, “Inawashiro is the best place to start a business!” I would like to create a place where new innovations can take place.
What do you like most about Inawashiro Town?
It is a place where you can enjoy various contents in all seasons and enjoy the scenery of each season.
Do you have any advice or message for the younger generation?
I feel that the best way to learn is to actually try out a business yourself and experience the pain and success, even if it is small, rather than just working absent-mindedly or studying in a classroom. I feel that how much you are interested in things, how much you actually experience things, and how much you input and output during your teens and twenties will make a big difference in your later achievements. In this day and age, everyone has equal access to a lot of information for free, so if you look up examples and research results from various areas and multiply them together, you may be able to do something interesting. I am by no means a brilliant person compared to others, in fact, the performance I can demonstrate may be less than that of others when I do general work. Therefore, my message to you is to look for things that you can do because of who you are and things that are meaningful to do, and to challenge yourself in many different ways. I believe that your success in your 20s will lead to your own contributions to society, so let’s have fun and work hard together.
This interview was conducted by Aika Talavera and Karina Quinn on November 14, 2024. They are currently interns for the TOMODACHI Alumni Leadership Program.
