 Good afternoon. Welcome to an episode of Business in Hawaii. My name is Retsuchi Yama, and we delve into many topics, often about Hawaii, but sometimes about global issues and places all over the world. Today we have a special guest, Kanzo Nara, who is the past president of the Hokkaido Club Hawaii, and we're going to talk about our favorite place, aside from Hawaii, which is the island, the northern island of Hokkaido. I think many people in Hawaii have heard about Hokkaido. Some from Hawaii have visited Hokkaido as tourists, and others are looking at Hokkaido for possible business opportunities. Welcome to the show. Thank you, Retsuchi Yama-san, and I'm very happy to be here. I'm Kanzo Nara, as mentioned, from the Hokkaido Club Hawaii. So what is your relationship with Hokkaido? Oh, well, I was born and raised there in Hokkaido, and I moved here in 2000. So interestingly, I spent half my life in Hokkaido and half my life in Hawaii now. Well, you're a young man, so it's going to be more and more in Hawaii pretty soon. So let's geographically position Hokkaido where it is, and how it's unique compared to the rest of Japan, how most of the world or Americans look at Japan as a very crowded place with lots of big cities or urban areas. What is Hokkaido, and where is it, and seasonally, how does it differ from the rest of Japan? Well, Hokkaido is the most northern island of Japan. It's north of Honshu, so the long main island. It's at the very tip of that. And interestingly, it's only 26 miles south of Russia. So we're actually closer to Russia than we are to Tokyo. And we have very distinctive seasons. The winter gets cold enough to be minus 40 degrees Celsius, which right now, February, early March, is right around that time. So we're having a very cold winter this year with a lot of snow. And Hokkaido statistically has about 5.5 million people. And of course Tokyo itself has 10 million people. So half of Tokyo can fit into Hokkaido very easily. And with 22% of the lab mass in Japan. And let's see now. So how is Hokkaido different historically than the rest of Japan? Because from my family's history, my ancestors came from the northernmost tip of Honshu called Aomori. And that's where I was also born by coincidence. And they left Aomori to land in southern Hokkaido in the Hakodate area. In the 1720s, what we would call the Genroku period, they were part of the Matsumaya plan or Matsumaya Han. So we are very early settlers in Japan, I mean, from what is Japan currently, but actually it was Honshu and a very small clan at the tip of Honshu, the Matsumaya clan. And then they kind of went north and my family settled in an area called Esashi. And in fact, the village is Kaminokuni. And that's where they were to this day from the 1720s and 30s until today. And they're mostly farmers or fishermen with herring and sardines of the niching of that area. So we've been there for a long time, but until the Meiji period of the 1860s, there was a line that they could not cross over. And the rest of Hokkaido was called Ezo, which was populated by a distinctly different ethnic group called Ainu. Could you just comment on this? Yes. Well, the Ainu people are indigenous to Hokkaido, much like the native Hawaiians or the Inuits or the Mongolian tribes of northern China. They were there for centuries. And they had their own culture, but much like the other indigenous tribes is, they didn't have a written language. They passed down history orally. They had a lot of animism. They practiced animism. So a lot of animal sacrifices. That's right, the worship of the bear or salmon. The bear, salmon, mountains and rivers. So they were in large numbers around early 1500s, 1600s, and that's when the first Japanese settlers started moving into Hokkaido. And the Japanese weren't called Japanese. They were called Wajin in Hokkaido, which means like the Oriental people. Interestingly. But of course when you say Oriental people, even today, there are some Ainu people with blue eyes or with brown hair, and they're different physically than what we would call Japanese. Yes, that's correct. So yeah, ethnically speaking, yeah, they're not of traditional Japanese DNA. They probably have more of the like northern Mongolian side, just like southern Russia has Ainu too, like I was mentioning. So your family side, where are they from in Hokkaido? Interestingly, they're the same from where you are, Aomori. My great-great-grandfather moved to Hokkaido in the late 1800s. Wow, okay. Yeah, late 1800s. So that would be probably the mid-Meiji period from northern Aomori to just like you mentioned southern Hokkaido. And that was a period of great immigration in Hawaii too, from Kumamoto and Yamaguchi. At the same time, people are moving toward Hokkaido as a wave coming to Hawaii. Yes, just like I mentioned, I mean last year was the 150th anniversary of the Ganen Mono. Interestingly, Hokkaido was celebrating its 150th anniversary of becoming Hokkaido. Hokkaido became Hokkaido in 1868, and prior to that it was called Ezo, like you mentioned. So a lot of immigration happened during that period, and a lot of, I guess, people in the northern part of Honshu moved to Hokkaido. And also the clans that lost in the war of the Meiji Restoration ended up in Hokkaido. And a lot of the southern clans like, you know, Choshu, Satsuma ended up in government positions. So people who weren't able to join the federal government kind of ended up in Hokkaido. But you know, it's an interesting point. As you know, the French supported Bakufu, the Tokugawa shogunate. And there were several French mercenaries assisting the Bakufu army. And they had a Republic of Ezo for a few months. They kind of fled out the Hagodate, and then the Meiji Navy and army conquered that fort, and that was the end of the Bakufu forever, and the Meiji government took over. So interestingly, there was a confluence of all kinds of groups. But let's move on to the first photo, please. Oh, where is this? This is Bie, which is pretty much the very center of Hokkaido. Yeah, so it is close to Furano, where the lavender is very famous. It's about an hour north of there. And it's also close to where the blue pond is, the Aoi Ike. And this is right around November, so you can see the colors changing in the trees. And if you look at the mountain, it's already snowing there, but it's November. That's right. So as our viewers can see, it's as if they're watching, seeing something in Washington State or British Columbia, rather than in what they feel is Japan and crowded areas in the islands. But this gives, I think, viewers an indication of how different Hokkaido is. It's a very nature focused place. Yes, that's correct. Like you mentioned, the population is 5.5 million for the entire island, but 2 million of that lives in the center part of Sapporo. So basically, if you leave Sapporo, you're pretty much in the countryside and nothing's out there. Next photo, please. Oh, and this is still winter. Go ahead. No, this is actually November. It's the same season. This is very close to the first picture. This is the blue pond. This is actually a new place you could visit. I've never really heard of this place before. So this didn't exist, I would say maybe 20 years ago. It wasn't there. What happened was they made reservoirs of water nearby in case of mountain eruptions. So they had water reserves. So that changed the water flow and turned it into a natural water reserve. Very beautiful. Unbelievable. Almost looks like Northern Europe. That's right. Or like Finland or Sweden and so forth. Very much. Next photo, please. Oh, what is this? This is one of my favorite places. This is in Yoichi, Nika, which is about a half an hour east of Otaru. Many people know of Nika Whisky now because of the popular TV show. Very, very big. The Scottish woman who accompanied the spouse, Tokaido. Yes. So Mr. Taketsuru who went to Ireland to study, I'm sorry, Scotland to study whisky making, you know, returned back and he was looking for the best place to brew Scotch and he found Hokkaido Yoichi. That was right on the turn of the century and he started making Taketsuru Nika. Anyway, the barrels you see in the picture are actually over the 50 years and they haven't, they're not opening it yet. So I'm waiting for them to open at the drink of 60 year old Scotch. You have to go there immediately. But this is interesting because, you know, when you think of Japan, you don't think of whisky, which is very European. But there are many things about Hokkaido that are Western or not, you know, traditionally Japan because when you go to Kyoto, there are places there that are a thousand years old or a thousand more than that. In Hokkaido, there's nothing really new. I mean, I'm sorry, old. Yes. Everything began starting in the late, you know, 19th century. In fact, really, some parts didn't grow as suburbs of the city until after the war, Sapporo itself. And so, but in the 1870s, when the major government wanted to modernize Japan, they invited a very famous professor named Dr. William Pluck and he was from the University of Massachusetts, what became the University of Massachusetts, where I'm a graduate of. And he introduced modern agriculture, dairy farming and all kinds of other farming to Hokkaido. And that really launched agriculture in Hokkaido. And as we know, Hokkaido is famous for melons, strawberries, white asparagus, potatoes, really great potatoes. Dairy, I mean, cheese, milk. What else is there? Well, dairy is a very famous one, especially the milk and cheese was very new to the Japanese people at the time during the major restoration. But the most significant thing about Professor Clark is he was only there for six months. So his time teaching was very short. But the biggest contribution he made was the people that followed him. So he would introduce his former students to go to Hokkaido and teach things like Horace Kepler, who designed the first iron stove for Hokkaido. He had another apprentice of his who moved from Massachusetts to Hokkaido. And he stayed there for actually a good 10 years, I think. He's the one who brought the first cows. So it's a Clark who initiated a lot of these programs. But the people that followed him afterwards were the actual ones who implemented it last week. And I've heard that the city of Sapporo, which is the capital city of Hokkaido, was laid out a master plan by an American architect. Is that true or some design? Yes and no. There was a Japanese architect included too. But it is true that Sapporo is the only planned city in Japan. So it is very easy to find streets in Sapporo because the streets go north, one, two, three, four, five, east, one, two, three, four, five. And you can basically spit out an address and find it. Again, that's so different than Kyoto or Tokyo. You have to carry a map. You have to carry a map exactly where you're going or ask people or the coal bond, the policeman, where you're going. Because this is so, so difficult, the address system in Japan. But Hokkaido, very different. It had routes from Western modern design. So we're going to take a break right now and return with Nara-san to really delve even more into tourism and business in Hokkaido. Aloha. I'm Yukari Kunisue, the host of Konnichiwa, Hawaii, Japanese talk show on Think Tech, Hawaii. Konnichiwa, Hawaii is all Japanese broadcast show and is streamed live on Think Tech at 2 p.m. every other Monday. Thank you so much for watching our show. We look forward to seeing you then. I'm Yukari Kunisue. Mahalo. Hi, I'm Rusty Komori, host of Beyond the Lines on Think Tech, Hawaii. My show is based on my book, also titled Beyond the Lines, and it's about creating a superior culture of excellence, leadership, and finding greatness. I interview guests who are successful in business, sports, and life, which is sure to inspire you in finding your greatness. Join me every Monday as we go Beyond the Lines at 11 a.m. Aloha. We are back with Nara-san in another episode of Business in Hawaii. We are talking about Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan, a vacation wonderland, especially during winter, but especially in summer. Skiing is really, really big in Hokkaido, which we will talk about even more, but it has some world-class skiing destinations. Of course, it was the venue for the Winter Olympics going back to the 70s, which also launched many, many new tourist destinations throughout Hokkaido, including world-famous Niseko. Niseko is so popular that it has attracted in the early days, in the 90s and 2000s, Australians and New Zealanders, now people from Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan. So again, there's a lot of global interest in Hokkaido. Next photo, please. Oh, we're continuing with Nika Whiskey here. Yes, that's inside the Museum of Nika Whiskey, and that's their first design bottle. And I'm sure a lot of people have seen the picture of that, because that's the main picture when you go to Sosukino. That's right. I was just going to say that. It is an iconic, it's kind of like a king or Henry VIII. His nickname is actually the uncle with the red beard. Well, you know, he must be very happy sipping Nika Whiskey. But again, this is a whole area of products that I would not have realized would happen in Hokkaido when I was a child, which was a very different place. Next photo, please. Oh, wow. Yeah, this is the Sapporo factory, which was initially the beer factory for Sapporo beer, but was converted to a large shopping mall back in the late 80s. So right now it's called Sapporo factory, and it's a large shopping mall like Aomono shopping center. And of course, this is fall, right? Yes, this is fall time. And you can see the brilliant colors. You can see the star market at the top of the building, and that's the Sapporo beer icon. Yeah, yeah, that's right. And wasn't Sapporo the earliest beer introduced to Japan? I think it might have been the earliest domestic beer. I think the first one brought in was, I think it might have been Kirin. Okay, right, right. So again, Western things came through Hokkaido. Beer, whiskey, dairy farming, milk. I even remember, you know, trap-up, smunk candies, and sausages, and there's many, many things that you would think are Western, but really rooted in Hokkaido for the past 150 years. So Hokkaido is a very unique place. And tell me about what's been happening with Hawaii and Hokkaido, the history of what evolved to be a sister-state relationship. Okay, well, we became sister-states with Hawaii in 2017, May. But the process to that took quite a few years, actually, but it started with the Hawaiian Airlines first flying to Chitose. Then both lieutenant and vice governors meeting here in Hawaii to celebrate the first flight coming through and so on. And then we started getting exchange students. There's a few programs of local schools here. We had the Hokkaido Technological Institute do exchange program here with the local high schools, and so on. So following that, we've had new businesses move into Hawaii, like, you know, we have bakeries, restaurants from Hokkaido now. In fact, Brug is from Hokkaido. Yes, that's correct. And the Tonkatsu place called Tamafuchi is from Hokkaido too. And there's a ramen place called Santoku. Yes, Santoka, and also Baiko, Ken, and Waikiki. Oh, wow. And your friend has Jinbo Udon. Yes, Jinbo Udon. He's from Hokkaido too. And he's from Furano, I think. He's a near Furano living from Akabira. Okay. And, you know, I love that Furano Obihiro area because it's flat. It's like a plane living in Kansas City, and it's so unlike the rest of Japan. Again, but on the other hand, there are seaports like Otaru, or Hakodate, Kushiro, Oshamanbe, very good seafood. Yes. And I think that's why a lot of tourists go to Hokkaido because the quality of the seafood and the amount that you get in restaurants are quite different than compared to Tokyo or other places. Yes. Well, Hokkaido, just because of the shape of the island and also the seas nearby, the currents that bring it in, especially like the Aleutian Islands and so on, you get a really rich seafood life. And it's a very prosperous place for fishermen to be for generations. So there are some analogies or comparisons with Hawaii because Hokkaido's economy is quite dominated by tourism. Yes. Yes, Hokkaido is a very popular tourist location, especially during the February, during the winter festival. It's the largest snow festival in the world. And it goes on for quite a long time too, so it's very popular. I hear last year we had about 2 million visitors during that time. So we had the entire population of Sapporo being there twice during that period of time. That's great. Next photo please. Okay. So this is, as you can see, this is a ski resort in the summertime. This is a good example of optimized tourism. You can't go skiing in the summertime, so what they did was they noticed the scenery at the top of the mountain was so beautiful. It's called the Sea Mountain Terrace. So you buy a ticket, go all the way up the mountain, and you get to see the sea clouds. The catch is you can't see it every day. But it's still a beautiful location. What part of Hokkaido is this? This is in Tomamu, which is about two hours northeast of Sapporo. Interesting. You know, you talk about place names like Sapporo. They have Ainu roots to the words, much like in Hawaii. So Muroran, Sapporo, many, many words come from the Ainu language. Again, another analogy with Hawaii. Next photo please. Oh, yeah. This is also near Tomamu. This is actually a famous station that was used in a movie with Kenta Kakura. Yes, I remember that. It's about an old train station coal mining city. It has a lot of Hokkaido history in it too. And this is where they filmed the location of the film. Well, you can see how Hokkaido was like up till the 70s and 80s. Many of the houses were made of wood and had a, you know, a stove inside. It was very cold. It was very cold. And I was reminded during our previous conversation that there's a train stop or a between station between Sapporo and Chitose Airport called Kita Hiroshima. Yes. And of course that was named for migrants from Hiroshima that came to Hokkaido during the major period. So again, Kita meaning north, you know, North Hiroshima. It's as if there was, you know, Minami Hiroshima, a place named in Hawaii. But again, another analogy to Hawaii's history in Hokkaido. So the future of a Hokkaido-Hawaii relationship, what do you think? There's been more interest by tourists visiting Hokkaido from Hawaii, people from Hokkaido coming to here, business opportunities. Well, I would say the greatest thing we would like to focus on now is probably, you know, product import export, especially like in the field of agriculture. You know, both Hokkaido and Hawaii have agricultural that it kind of shares like we both make onions, tomatoes, things like that. And because, you know, the extreme and weather conditions, you know, we have, you know, different sides of the same kind of product. And I think exchange and product would be import, export would be something of the future we would like to, you know, focus on more. And I think businesses are starting to pay more attention to. Well, that's fantastic. You know, my family has been in agriculture in such a communicable area for many, many years. And about until about 20 years ago, the rice growing in Hokkaido was not that good. Recently, it's number one. And it's sake brewing, of course. It has implications for many, many things. But even white asparagus, many products that used to be ranked lower than in Honshu now have come up. And Hokkaido has really become an agricultural center for quality products. Yes. Right now, Hokkaido's population, about 5% of them are involved in agriculture. But interestingly, that 5% produces 22% of entire Japan's food agriculture. So the farmers are very rich right now. They all have Mercedes and Audi's. And again, you know, being in Hokkaido is being not of Japan because my cousins and so forth eat corn on the cob or grill. They eat strawberries. They eat a lot of yogurt, cheese and lamb, which is lamb in Jijisukan, which is a unique kind of grilling dish in Hokkaido. Lamb isn't eaten that much outside Hokkaido. That is correct. Lamb is not very popular outside of Hokkaido. And then Hokkaido, it's called Jinguiskan, just like the historical character Jinguiskan. It's a very popular dish. I would say most families probably eat it once or twice a month. Right. Right. So again, the natural that even today, to before, you know, 50 years ago, nobody from Tokyo would go and live in Sapporo. But Sapporo has gained a great reputation for being a livable place. And there isn't that much mass transit compared to other cities. So a lot of my cousins and so forth use cars. It's much more like the U.S. in some ways, in the suburbs. Yes, I would agree. It's a lot more like the mainland. You would have to have a car to get around. It's such a large area. I mean, when we talk Hokkaido Island, we say island, but really we're talking about Kyushu and Shikoku combined together. So it's almost like one-third of Japan actually. And when you look on it on a map, it doesn't seem that big. But if you look at the per square mile, it's pretty big. It's huge. And it's a livable place, Sapporo. And there are vast areas of the city that are on the ground. And people go to their workplace without coats sometimes. They just go inside and come back. Oh, yes. They put a lot of effort into developing the subway. They connect several subway stations around the central part of Sapporo. So wintertime, you can walk underneath the city. And if you have your coat on, you actually start sweating. It's so warm down there. It is a unique place, again, because it looks like a New England town, commons in the middle, a beautiful tower. It's not that overpopulated. I mean, there are some places in towns like Kushiro and Nemono where houses are like a third of a mile apart. And people have space, a lot of space, whereas in Tokyo and in the Kansai areas, it's very, very tight. So we're wrapping it up for another episode on Hokkaido. We hope this will promote Hokkaido to Hawaii and to the world. This is Ray Tuchiyama, another episode of Business in Hawaii.