#04 Yuichiro Wakamatsu / Tangerine
Collaboration and close involvement with artists and creators is a special and important time to be creative and sincere. To empathize with their positive pride and mentality, and to listen to their voices. By bringing this to as many people as possible, WIND AND SEA is constantly evolving.
#04 is Yuichiro Wakamatsu is a Orange farmer in Uwajima, Ehime, and the owner of a brand〈Tangerine〉
Boost farming and tourism.
To pursue a career as a farmer
in a fulfilling way.
It was a lecture in college that inspired me to pursue agriculture. I have learned that while urban areas are constantly being replaced by hot food and new buildings, nature is valuable to the tourism industry. My parents' house is surrounded by tangerine fields, so the mountains where the fields are located turn bright orange during the harvest season, and in the spring, the area is blanketed in white with tangerine blossoms. Nature is sustainable and does not destroy the environment. I thought it would be great fun to bring agriculture and tourism together.
Whenever I returned home, I would help my grandfather and grandmother, but I felt that the farmers were aging and there were too few young people supporting the food supply. There are many things for young people to enjoy in the city. I enjoy the connections with people and the culture when I am in Tokyo, and I like that myself. However, since "food" is the most important thing in life, we would like to create an environment where young people can play an active role, rather than a situation where the elderly support the elderly. That's why I decided to do farming.
Just farming was not interesting enough, so to gain experience in Tokyo, he worked in clothing stores and coffee shops, and did catering work, engaging directly with the people who would eat his food. In any case, I did what I liked and what interested me.
We want to bring the goodness of "food"
to those who seem out of reach.
When I told my roommate in Tokyo that I wanted to work in agriculture in my hometown in the future, he said, "Well, it would be interesting to create a brand," and that was the beginning of 〈Tangerine〉. First, I produced underwear that had nothing to do with agriculture at all. It was simply a way to create an opportunity for me to express my intention to become a orange farmer in the future while selling something I wanted.
Four friends and I decided to rent a kitchen car to cater the “RAW TOKYO” vintage clothing event that was held on the first Saturday and Sunday of every month. My parents' house sent me oranges to sell as juice, and the response was so positive that even now I actively participate in events. And when I hear the word "delicious," I think, "Let's work hard at farming again” When I go back to Ehime, I can think, "Let's do our best because that person said it was delicious! This repetition is what makes it worthwhile for me, and it is the driving force that helps me keep my mindset.
When I was working as a dressmaker in Tokyo, there were times when I wondered how I should feel about selling the new clothes that designers were creating one after another. But now, through the activities of Tangerine, I can be involved in every step of the process, from growing the oranges to delivering them to customers.
This is my fourth year of full-fledged farming. We have orange trees that we inherited from our ancestors so we can experience harvesting, but it takes five years to grow them from scratch. I still get help from my grandma and grandpa, but we need to think about generational change. Tangerine is grateful for the opportunity to sell orange juice in its various restaurants. We want to make a quantity and number of items that we can handle and turn this into a sustainable activity that allows us to stay involved with 'food' for the long term. To achieve this, my immediate goal is to become a skilled tangerine farmer myself.
In addition, we want to engage in activities that reach people who have no connection to agriculture, who have little interest in food, and who do not yet know the joy of eating. Tangerine may be just another mandarin orange juice, but we can make the label graphical so that art lovers can pick it up and choose the juice as a gift. I want to bring the goodness of "food" to those who are hard to reach.
