Versatile. If you search for "Okhotsk Taro" on YouTube, you will find him as an enka singer, and the name of "Minamikawa Yasunori" will be credited. In addition to being a businessman, Mr. Minamikawa is also a rakugo storyteller, storyteller, and singer-songwriter. What's more, there is one core to that variety
I feel like I'm passing Many people who live in Hokkaido will agree with me if I mention the president of Tsurara Co., Ltd., which makes "Okhotsk Salt". Or, even if they don't think they are the same person, there are many people who agree that he was the one who revived the 'Yurakuza', which was popular in Yubetsu after the war and during the period of rapid economic growth.

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The starting point of my way of life was in Yurakuza

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―――You are really involved in a variety of initiatives. I asked today because I wanted to know the background that gave birth to Mr. Minamikawa's individuality.

Minamikawa: Let's start by talking about "Yurakuza". Yurakuza is a theater that was built by my grandfather Tamotsu in 1946, shortly after the end of the war. Traveling theater, rokyoku, and tsugaru shamisen troupes would come every March during the fishing season and during the New Year holidays, and movies would be shown every day. The theater closed in 1971, when I was born
I spent every day at this theater until I graduated from junior high school. It was a time of drastic transition from black-and-white to full-color cinemascope. I thought, "This is a creative type!" Another thing I felt was "the splendor of a supporting role". It is the greatness of each actor that Alain Delon and Yuzo Kayama do not have. I wanted to be that kind of actor. That's why I became a trainee of the late Akira Ozawa's "Geinoza", a master of supporting roles. However, becoming a successful actor from there was a narrower gate than entering the University of Tokyo. If you think about it, it was an era of post-war reconstruction and rapid economic growth, a time when new things and old things were mixed together, glamor and sorrow. The people who came to Yurakuza at that time were full of energy and hustle and bustle, and sometimes got into drunken fights.

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It is not a contradiction, but the “atmosphere of the times,” the colors and smells of the town of Yubetsu, which must have been deeply ingrained in Minamikawa’s mind and body.

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Yubetsu terroir, the source of "chaos and vitality"

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―――Didn't Yubetsu have a unique prosperity and culture that other towns didn't have?

Mr. Minamikawa: Mr. Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, who is famous as the author of that Gundam and has a deep connection with this area, drew a comic called "Oudou no Inu". Yubetsu is the stage, and Tokuhiro Masateru, who pioneered Yubetsu wilderness, and Morihei Ueshiba, who settled in Shirataki and gave birth to Aikido, appear. Yubetsu reclamation goes back up the Yubetsu River and develops deep to the foot of Kita Daisetsu, which is also an opportunity for the discovery of native mint and subsequent development. Yubetsu is the birthplace of Kitami mint, which later became the best in the world. The "Hamamachi" at the mouth of the river has been a fishing ground since the Edo period, and was already bustling as a town. It developed as a key point for transportation to Kerochi. In Kamibaro, where mint cultivation is most popular, a market for mint was established. The mint was purchased from all over the country, and inns and restaurants were lined up here and there. Furthermore, there was also a conflict over where to place the railway station, which would serve as the gateway for subsequent development. The first light railroad line came to Hama, but the Nayoro line of the Japanese National Railways ended up turning north from Nakayubetsu. People's thoughts were mixed. The theater was initially built next to the fishermen's association, but later it was built in the city of Route 4, Kamiyubetsu, Basro, and Kamibaro. At its peak, Kamiyubetsu had three buildings. Pioneering starts from this estuary and goes up the Yubetsu River. It was the mint that greatly supported the progress of the villages of Kamiyubetsu, Engaru, Maruseppu, and Shirataki, one after another. "Hamamachi" that sent people to the inland. ``Kamibaro'', ``Route 4 city'' and ``Kamiyubetsu city'' have strong economic power as mint boom and transportation hubs. Differences in the origins, thoughts, and cultures of the people living in each have sometimes created antagonism and rivalry.

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In such an era of chaos and vitality, Yurakuza. This is the place where Mr. Minamikawa cultivated his undying vitality when he was a boy. Mr. Minamikawa declares, "Yurakuza is the starting point of my way of life. It is my life and my treasure."

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A creative grit that goes back to my grandfather

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―――What made you want to make “Salt of Okhotsk”?

Mr. Minamikawa: The trigger was making miso. Miso making, which has been preserved for generations since 1914, is the pillar of the Minamikawa family. I still use natural kiln barrels. I wanted to prepare 100% Hokkaido-produced miso in this wooden barrel, but there was no Hokkaido-produced salt. I thought, "If it doesn't exist, I should make it myself." What pushed me was the words my grandfather always said. "Don't settle for the status quo, always think new things." Be creative, do what no one else does, be unique. and ancestor
My father himself made salt in a kiln on the beach during and after the war when there was a shortage of salt, so I thought I could make it myself. And I came up with a unique manufacturing method for the important process of boiling down seawater to a certain concentration. For that purpose, we needed a manufacturing machine that had never existed before. The first prototype failed spectacularly. Although a large amount of development costs disappeared, the manufacturer also put their heart into development, and it was completed splendidly. The resulting salt is highly evaluated and has become a souvenir of Hokkaido.
Kuru" is also using it, and now we have a production capacity of about 50 tons per year.

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Neither "Salt of Okhotsk" nor "Revival of Yurakuza" are direct successors to the business started by my grandfather. However, what Mr. Minamikawa learned through his grandfather's business and his days at Yurakuza is the importance of "always being creative and being original and not giving in to anyone." I feel that I was able to understand that this spirit is deeply rooted in the history, culture and daily life of Yubetsu. The power of the land or region, the topography, climate, soil, and the history, culture, and lifestyle that are born from it. If we call it terroir, it may be that terroir gives birth to people, and terroir appears in front of us in various ways through those people. I feel that this is the reason why Mr. Minamikawa's "variety" is hard to pull off.

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\Who wrote this article/

Shinichi Chonan｜Born in Kitami City, spent 27 years in Tokyo after college, and made a U-turn in 2000. Moved once again by the splendor of Okhotsk, he worked hard to revitalize the Okhotsk region. Tomorrow's Okhotsk Laboratory Representative.