Meet the Farmers: Yoshi

Chris: Hello everyone, it’s Chris from blue belt life. On today’s “Meet the Farmers” we have the always powerful, always exciting, Yoshi-san of the Ginza Farmers Market.

Yoshi: Ossu! I’m Yoshi.

Chris: Yoshi-san, thanks for everything you do.

Yoshi: Thank you!

Chris: Yoshi-san, you sell Kamakura vegetables, but what exactly are Kamakura vegetables?

Yoshi: Kamakura – made in Kamakura.

Chris: Wow, Kamakura? It’s so close isn’t it?

Yoshi: Yes very close.

Chris: There is a farm that close to Tokyo?

Yoshi: Yes, my farm.

Chris: What’s the name of the farm?

Yoshi: Kantamura.

Chris: How many people are working there?

Yoshi: 5 men and 10 women.

Chris: So do you work at the farm or do you mostly sell your products?

Yoshi: Almost always farm, 5 days a week.

Chris: Wow, so you only work here on the weekends?

Yoshi: Yes, that’s correct.

Chris: Why did you originally start in this business?

Yoshi: Well, originally I was a chef. Through that I used vegetables a lot and I started to really like vegetables. Then I started to want to grow my own.

Chris: What are the best and worst parts of your work?

Yoshi: We make everything ourselves, and then sell it. We aren’t just buying it to resell – we make it and sell it, so we can sell the freshest produce possible. We harvest and sell right away. This is the best point. Worst part: if it rains or snows a lot and the vegetables go bad we are the ones making them, so it’s the end for us if we lose them. That’s the difficult point.

Chris: How does your day typically begin?

Yoshi: we wake up at 5, then hit the fields by 5:30. After that we are in the fields, harvesting, washing, then laying produce out at our shop. Then at night we clean the vegetables and tie them up for the next day. As long as the sun is out we are in the fields working.

Chris: Around what time until do you work?

Yoshi: In the Summer around 8pm, in the winter, 6pm.

Chris: So easy!

Yoshi: Yes, easy.

Chris: (laughing) NOT, It’s long!

Yoshi: (laughing) Yes.

Chris: You are also a chef, correct?

Yoshi: Yes, originally I was a chef.

Chris: Do you have a restaurant?

Yoshi: Right now in Kamakura we have a curry shop that uses lots of our vegetables.

Chris: if we want go there, how can we find it?

Yoshi: The store is on Komachi Dori, Kamakura’s most famous street. We are called Kantakare, or Kare-ya Kanta-kun. So we have this curry house, and if you go there, I am usually there 2 days a week, but I’m mostly in the fields.

Chris: Finally, do you have anything you would like to say to your customers, or any message?

Yoshi: As Chris said, Kamakura is very close to here. Because of that we bring the freshest produce possible. Definitely come down and give it a try! Thank you!

Chris: How about a present for viewers of this video?

Yoshi: Okaay, if you tell me you watched this video I’ll give you give you a vegetable present.

Chris: Everyone, Kamakura vegetables are really tasty. Yoshi-san is also tasty, so come on down to the market! Yoshi-san, thanks for taking the time to meet with us today.

Yoshi: Thanks to you too!