午夜剧场

Since 1996, I have taken over the family business and managed a fruit and vegetable wholesaler called Daiharu at the Ota Market in Tokyo.

I entered the Faculty of Letters with the intention of becoming a Japanese or social studies teacher, but I finished my student life without even obtaining a teaching license, using my activities in the Judo Club as an excuse. Although I entered the family business reluctantly and aimlessly, I now truly feel that it is a demanding yet rewarding job.

When I joined the company, there were about 200 competitors crowded in the Ota Market alone. I believed that developing unique products was essential to stand out without being buried. Therefore, in addition to products arriving at the market, I gradually expanded the handling of direct-from-farm products by visiting production areas and purchasing directly from producers. Among these, "Tokyo Vegetables" and "Organic Agricultural Products" have grown to become our company's strengths today.

Initially, I found joy in developing products and expanding sales channels myself. However, through direct dialogue with producers in Tokyo, I wanted to contribute to branding and the expansion of distribution, so I established the "Tokyo Vegetable Promotion Association" in 2016.

In 2019, we implemented a project to sell Tokyo vegetables with corporate advertisements to balance the desired prices of both producers and retailers, which was featured on a television news program that day.

Furthermore, in recent years, I have been actively working on creating new distribution systems to lead to the maintenance and development of Japanese agriculture. Specifically, we started a service that directly connects Tokyo producers with companies, where employees and their customers participate in farming experiences, and harvested agricultural products are utilized to enhance corporate value. This has created opportunities for people in many industries to become interested in agriculture.

This fall, we plan to start a demonstration experiment for fruit and vegetable distribution, and we will begin test operations for a new sales method that provides produce—where freshness is the primary value—at the most valuable timing.

Our company has many transactions with restaurants and was greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, falling into a very difficult situation for a time. However, I view facing this period of great global transformation as an opportunity. Keeping the spirit of "Jiga Sakko" (creating history oneself)—a philosophy that flows through 午夜剧场—in my heart, I want to continue moving forward to blaze a new trail in the world of fruit and vegetable distribution.

*Affiliations and titles are those at the time of publication.