ENSCI - Les Ateliers

France

X

Chiba University

& Iwaizumi Town

Japan

Iwaizumi Project

5th-20th September 2015

Hannah Green

Glasgow School of Art

Marie Legallet

ENSCI Les Ateliers

photo by Joowon KimENSCI and Giovanni at the Senkin Shuzo Sake Brewery, Iwaizumi

ENSCI - Les AteliersParis

Designers:Sarngsan Na SoontornMarie Coiré

Students:5 French, 1 MEDES from Glasgow School of Art

Chiba University40km east of Tokyo

Professor:Takayuki Higuchi

Designer:Giovanni Inella

Students:10 Japanese, 1 Chinese, 1 Korean

photo by Sarngsan Na Soontorn French dinner with local produce and wine from Iwaizumi

AboutEcomuseum, Design for Social Change

This project arose after the rural area of Iwaizumi, Japan was heavily affected by the 2011 tsunami. In conjunction with a predominantly elderly population and young people migrating to the cities, Iwaizumi was looking for a way to rebuild their town and land for both themselves, to attract visitors and establish new communities.

The French concept of ‘écomusée’ and its links to social design is how Chiba University and ENSCI Les Ateliers joined together to approach the project. This means a community based museum with strong roots in participatory research, creating a holistic story of the place and a more open approach to the transmission of heritage. Before travelling to Japan, the ENSCI students prepared research and presentations on the definition of ecomuseum, examples of innovative heritage projects and our home regions’ landscape, craft and local produce.

How can we enable people to feel a strong connection to Iwaizumi as if it was their hometown?

兎追いし　彼の山小鮒釣りし　彼の川夢は今も　巡りて忘れ難き　故郷

如何にいます　父母恙無しや　友がき雨に風に　つけても思ひ出づる　故郷

志を　果たしていつの日にか　帰らん山は靑き　故郷水は淸き　故郷

Furusato

How can we enable people to feel a strong connection to Iwaizumi as if it was their hometown?

I chased after rabbits on that mountain.I fished for minnow in that river.I still dream of those days even nowOh, how I miss my old country home.

Father and mother, are they doing well?Is everything well with my old friends?When the rain falls, when the wind blows,I stop and recall of my old country home.

Some day when I have done what I set out to do,I’ll return home one of these daysWhere the mountains are green, my old country home,Where the waters are clear, my old country home.

the feeling of your hometown

Iwaizumi

Landscape and

geography of the region

Villages

Iwaizumi, Akka, Omoto,

Kogawa, Uhkawa, Ugei

& Fureai Land

Iwate Prefecture540km north of Tokyo to the city of Morioka

Design Consultant for Iwaizumi:Kenichi Kida

Chiba University

Iwazumi

semi transparent paper

IwaizumiSize: 992.91km2

(As big as Tokyo) 90% ForestPopulation: 9,00044% over 648.3% under 15

Iwazumi - Villages and MountainsA rural area made up of smallholdings and mountain pastures

At the time of visiting Iwaizumi, we were just north of the Typhoon Etau which meant heavy rains and low clouds followed by sun, blue skies and rich green foliage.

Iwaizumi has a small coastal strip but we spent most of our time in land amongst the forests and mountains. We camped in wooden huts without electricity amongst the trees alongside the rushing Akkagawa River, and then to a holiday park in Fureai Land overlooking the school’s athletic track closer to the main roads and town.

Unusually for Japan, Iwaizumi has no rules on the colour of sheet metal for barns and houses meaning that the green environment was dotted with bright blue, burgundy and white roofs. What seemed beautiful to us was considered an eye-sore to the locals. The houses we saw were atypical of Japan but they brought together a mixture of new and old. Many houses in the villages were derelict and brought to ruin by lack of use and upkeep.

The locals predominantly ‘worked to live’ with many residents living off the land with almost complete self-sufficiency. The streets and roads were quiet and there were only 2 ‘gaijin’ out of 10,000 in the area - the school’s English teachers! We were welcomed with great hospitality and spent our days driving across the region visiting stakeholders and getting to know the land.

Locations

Iwazumi’s Town Mascot

Iwazumi High Street

Akka Village

Akka VillageAkka’s Main Street

Flood Defence of Omoto

Kuma-no-Hana (Bear’s Nose)

Agriculture

Radish, Short Horn Cow,

Wasabi, Soy Beans

Local Produce

Mushrooms, Wild

Potatos, Blue Corn

Our Group & Projectおいしい山村 // Food and Agriculture - small scale, rare breeds and unusual vegetables“delicious mountain village”

Chiba Students:

Makiko IgarashiRina IshidaNana Kakuta

Our group was given the theme of the food and agriculture of Iwaizumi to explore during the project. What was unusual to us from ENSCI is that only one of the Japanese girls knew how to cook. In some areas, we realised that we knew more about farming than they did which showed the disconnect between a rural upbringing and modern city life.

Nana acted as our translator throughout the trip, often having to improvise as the technicality of the language and uniqueness of subject was difficult. As she was from a neighbouring prefecture, she built up a rapport with everyone we visited. Without her, our ethnographic research would have been limited to only what we saw and not included the rich interviews we conducted with the Iwaizumi locals.

ENSCI Students:

Hannah GreenMarie Legallet

Iwaizumi Red RadishA local speciality and unique colour

Iwaizumi’s red radish contrasts the larger and white radish that is prevalent throughout Japan. It takes slightly longer to grow but has a sweeter flavour. The colour ranges from deep red to bright pink to pale (almost white) pink and the gradient of colour changes depends on the family of seeds. However, the taste stays the same throughout the varieties. These special radishes take a month longer to grow than the generic white radish (2 months) and don’t freeze very well but don’t need as much water.

Due to their shorter lifespan, the co-operative that sells 3,000 fresh radishes a year, would like to branch out into jams and preserves as it is more profitable. It’s most popular use is to be served with soba noodles because of its slightly peppery and onion-like taste. Despite declining numbers of farmers, the red radish is growing in popularity outside of Iwaizumi.

Another traditional use for the red radishes is to give them to cows after they give birth to restore the nutrients in their bodies. The leaves of the radishes are used for fresh salads or dried and used in soups.

Red Radish Plot

Full Sized Radish

Shorthorn Cow Summer Pasture

Japanese Shorthorn Cow

Presentation & visit by Aisha-San

The Japanese Shorthorn Cow Nihon Tankaku-shu is a rare breed that makes up less than 1% of Japan’s cattle. It was certified as a new independent species in 1956 after breeders combined the native Nambu and the American Shorthorn. They are in danger as breeders/farmers age, there is no one to take over the family farms as the low wages and hard life do not appeal to new generations.

They are farmed using the natsuyama fuyusato method; this literally means ‘summer mountain, winter village’. Each summer these gentle cattle are herded to the top of the mountains to graze. The bull stays alongside the cows and calves (1:40) and is left alone to mate. The naturally bred calves stay alongside their mothers for 8 months and are not slaughtered until 28 months, far longer than the common Black cow.

Wagyu meat is often known for being very fatty. Whilst the Shorthorn comes under this description, it has less fat than black cows such as Kobe and is considered to be healthier. It is a good meat for ageing and curing as they are grass fed. The liver and organs are treasured, as highly as popular cuts such as the back and fillet.

Top tip from Aisha-san: Stew of freeze-dried radish and shin of beef with local wasabi for a perfect winter meal.

View from the Pasture

Traditional Beef Dinner

2 Year Old Wasabi Plants

‘Wild’ Grown WasabiFresh mountain streams run through the soil

Most wasabi is grown in water on commercial farms, whereas Iwaizumi is one of the only places in Japan where the quality of soil, water and shelter provide perfect conditions to grow Wasabi outdoors.

It is not a root, but the base of the stem covered by soil, that is ground into making the paste. We visited a processing plant where they wash, cut and trim the wasabi ready to be freeze dried and sold. The aromas in the freezer from the Wasabi burned our eyes. However, it can only hold its taste and aromas for 15 minutes when outside of a sealed container.

The long stems as pictured on the next page are boiled and can be eaten like a fresh spring green with delicate but peppery flavour.Freeze Dried Wasabi Stems

Wasabi Grower’s Barn

View over a Wasabi grower’s barn

Processing Plant

Fresh Stems (leaves removed) Cooked and Prepared Wasabi Stems

View over Small Holding Soy Beans on Plant

Soy BeansA staple part of the Iwaizumi diet

Soy beans are an essential food all over Japan. They are used to make Tofu and Miso and can also be eaten straight from the boiled pods (also known as edamame beans). Home grown soy beans and home made miso and tofu although common in Iwaizumi, is rare across the rest of Japan. Soybeans can also be used for sweet things such

as the toppings of mochi.

Azuki beans and black beans are also an essential part of the diet and are home grown by many people.

Soy Beans Drying in the Sun

Matsutake Preparation

MushroomsThe pride of Iwaizumi - Matsutake

Matsutake are a highly prized mushroom in Japan. They are expensive because they cannot be cultivated and need to grow wild in the forests hidden under the trees. Picking Matsutake can be a full time job as they can grow too large and need to be a certain shape and size to be sold.

Pictured left, the man is brushing the dirt off the Matsutake that he’s picked and is sorting them to be weighed and sold.

It is said that Matsutake makes a certain type of dashi and there are restaurants which are specialised in only this kind of mushroom.

Iwaizumi grows other mushrooms too, such as Maitake.

White Onions Drying

Other ProduceWide variety of mountain vegetables and fish

Not featured so far is the other produce that make up the wider diet of Iwaizumi. There are vegetables that are common across the world such as the white onions pictured, carrots, baking potatoes, tomatoes and cucumbers.

Commercially, Iwaizumi is famous for its sweet yoghurt and Sake which are exported all over Japan.

Wild potatoes (pictured on the page overleaf) are essential to life in Iwaizumi life as they are dug from the soil and then freeze dried under the snow in order to eat through the winter boiled and in stews.

A small white fish called Iwana which is similar to trout thrives in Iwaizumi’s cold mountain fresh water and we caught the last of the season whilst we were there in September.

Finally, blue corn is also grown in the region, surprising to us as it is most commonly associated with Mexico or Arizona, US.

Freshly Dug Wild Potatoes

Prepared & Washed Potatoes Traditional Dried Potatoes

Visits & ResearchInfluential members of the

community

Local WomenMamagauchi-san,

Matsubara-san, Henmi-san,

Kamura-san

Local WomenVisiting homes and smallholdings across the region

One of the most interesting elements of our research was the dominance of women between the age of 60 and 84 in the role of cook but also farmer. Their knowledge, experience and health was incredibly inspiring for us. They were fit, healthy and active, and incredibly young looking given their exposure to the elements including harsh cold winters. The likelihood of this culture and heritage being lost is very high but there is a small movement of young people seeing the value in the traditional way of life and moving back to Iwaizumi to populate the region.

For us, meeting these women was the most valuable part of our trip as their kindness and enthusiasm transcended both language and cultural barriers.

Mamaguchi Fumie-sanGenerous and active, despite her age; she lives on the mountainside with her family.

Mamaguchi-San’s smallholding was spread up the side of a mountain with more variety of vegetables, fruits and beans than is possibly imaginable in such a small space. As tough as old boots with a great smile, she showed us around her house explaining how she dries her beans or when the best time is to pick plums and apples.

Her speciality is growing soy beans which she uses to make homemade miso and tofu. Unlike commercial miso she doesn’t use any wheat to bulk it out, making her miso one of the most authentic in Japan. Unfortunately, she only has a son who won’t (for cultural reasons) learn how to cook because he is a man. Therefore, all her unwritten recipes will be lost when she dies.

woman with miso

View over Mamaguchi-san’s Smallholding

Matsubara Sakiko-sanA feisty little woman with a talent for cracking walnuts and stock of fizzy drinks for her guests

Matsubara-san, mid 80s, lives alone and has a little help tending to her crops. She showed us around her smallholding which contained a was a jungle of crops; most of which were taller than her. Beans, vegetables and sesame make up her plot as well as large Walnut trees at the back.

Her speciality is grey sesame, which is slightly rounder than common white and black varieties. She grinds this into a powder to use for making mochi - a glutinous sweet rice paste based cakes.

With the walnuts she makes a paste with sugar, miso and soy sauce that is eaten on a rice cake. She often sells this paste, but her favourite thing is to make dumplings and share them with her neighbours and friends

Henmi Mutsuko-sanCook & Owner of an Inn, traditionally on the ‘Salt Road’ from the Omoto coast to larger towns.

Henmi-san provided us with tea and little cakes made of chestnut and acorns upon our arrival and eager questions. She described the cooking competitions between her and other hotels in the area. The symbolism of the dishes and their placement is very important in Japanese culture. She provided us with a large mushroom soup with homemade dumplings from her wild potatoes and taught us how to make onigiri on our last day in Iwaizumi.

For special occasions she makes beef tataki a dish of slightly grilled fillet leaving the inside raw, served alongside a soy sauce and ginger dip. Traditionally it was eaten like this because of the locality but she says it has now “accidentally become a rule”!

photo by Sarngsan Na Soontorn French dinner

Kamura Akemi-sanOur host for lunch onigiri, bento box working dinners and evening meals in her guest house. Pictured left, in her vegetable plot and right, forsaking chopsticks for one night.

Kamura-san is the leader of a group who farm and are passionate about sustaining the rare red radish. She is passionate about saving the seeds of decreasing plant species and remembers a time when red radish would bulk out a rice based meal, rather than being a delicacy. She grows almost 4,000 every year and sells 700 through the local co-operative.

Her speciality is growing azuki beans which she sells directly to a famous sweet shop in Tokyo for the fillings of their cakes. The taste is supposedly similar to black sugar.

Kamura-san cooked and prepared all our meals whilst we were in Iwaizumi - with the exception of the night we prepared a typically French dinner. Being allowed into her kitchen we marvelled at the hundreds of small bowls and crockery that would make up a meal (approximately 5-7 dishes per person) - and she did all this without a dishwasher! The stove and rice cooker were the main ways of cooking, only a tiny portable oven was spotted in the corner. She told us of the times she left Japan for holidays in Italy - but that she was happy to come home and eat rice again!

Display of Cereals, Legumes and Beans at the Iwaizumi Museum of History and Folk Heritage, Ogawa

Health and LifestyleLocal Veganism

At the Iwaizumi Museum of History and Folk Heritage we met with one of the region’s few vegans. She lives off 80% grain and believes it to be a healthier alternative to meat. For 10 years she has been studying how replicate meat and is pioneering her homemade ‘hamburger’. She is part of a wider group called Tsubu Tsubu.

Hie - Japanese Barnyard Millet is used to make a patty which is deep fried and can taste like white fish. It can also be ground to a flour to make sweet treats.

Taka Kimi - a type of small corn is boiled to replicate the texture of meat. It can also be used to make a ‘sausage’ with rice paste and no salt, giving a ‘chocolatey’ taste.

She grows her own Amaranth, Awa and Kibi (variations of millet) and credits this for a powerful, warm, strong body due to the high fibre, minerals and nutrients from her diet.

Traditional Yakusen Meal

Health and LifestyleYakusen Cooking

In contrast to veganism, the cooking of Yakusen, presented to us by local women who cook at the Furaei land is about embracing the whole diet. They make up a committee of 15 women (while the husbands farm) who are dedicated to providing healthy meals to the young people and children who come to the camp site.

They believe the body and the soil have a strong connection and that it is essential to follow the natural seasons. Shindo fuji which literally translates as ‘the earth and the body are not two’ is the main concept behind Yakusen. This means nothing artificial or imported goods are used in their meals. They believe food can act both as a medicine or a poisin depending on quantity, and that automated large scale farming is bad for health. Some of the women even post vegetables to their children in Tokyo because they do not trust the agriculture there.

As the produce of Iwaizumi is ordinary to them, they don’t believe that people could consider it to be special, but they are keen to spread the recipes and concepts behind Yakusen in order to promote long and healthy lifestyles.

Donburi (Acorn) Sweet Cake with Edible Wild Flowers

Summary of Research12 days of non-stop discovery and travel around the region

In a very short space of time we covered a huge amount of terrain (literally) and topics that represent the food and agriculture of Iwaizumi. Whilst we did not conduct strictly ethnographic research, our visits - average of 2 hours per topic - were intense and we gathered a lot of information.

Some of the difficulties we had to overcome was understanding the cultural differences and to not overlook something very special because it is ‘normal’ to us and vice versa. We struggled not to impose our interests on the groups just because we were more confident to speak our ideas and ask questions. Learning to listen more was a big part of our work together as a group.

Service Design

Approach, affinity

mapping, stakeholder

analysis

Proposal

Design & presentation

ApproachUsing service design tools to analyse and develop our projects

At the end of each day we rounded off our research by writing all the facts we had gathered and our feelings throughout the day on post it notes. From here we tried to group and analyse what we had discovered.

Due to the brevity of the project, our timetable was predominantly exploring Iwaizumi doing field work. This left less than 48 hours for conception and development of our design proposals.

What we lacked in a developed solution, we made up for in a challenging learning process. Learning how to communicate with the Japanese students, understanding the teaching style and hierarchy of the professors and navigating our cultural differences all played a large part of our time in Iwaizumi.

Mapping the Exports Where and to who does Iwaizumi’s produce end up?

One of our most important tasks was to try to understand what produce stayed in Iwaizumi and what was exported to other areas of Japan. The only international export is Wasabi due to it’s difficulty to cultivate elsewhere.

Due to Iwaizumi’s collection of smallholdings, most of the food produced is too much for a single family to consume but not enough to sell elsewhere. Collectives exist within the area to sell Matsutake and Red Radishes but there is still excess food produced in the area. Currently, this is given away or not grown the next year if there is not enough demand.

However, due to the migrating population of Iwaizumi, it was surprising to see some very special Iwaizumi dishes that are not exported to the rest of Japan.

1. Protecting Unique DishesWhat makes Iwaizumi cooking special?

Tradition:Authentic Miso - Wheat FreeHomemade TofuFire pit Baked Tofu with Miso Glaze“Best dumplings in Akka”Sesame PasteFruit JamsAcorn (Donguri) Sweets

2. Sharing Knowledge How can ‘grandmothers’ pass on their skills? ‘Daughters’ move away to cities for jobs, or lose interest in the traditional way of life.

How to select fruit & veg / What to cook How to understand the seasonsHow to cook - no more ready meals!

How to plant, harvest and sustain cropsPermaculture, self-sufficiency, sustainable farming, small-scale agriculture groups

3. Connecting Iwaizumi to the WorldHow can Iwaizumi share their way of life and connect with like-minded people?

Better access to Iwaizumi for visitors: - National and InternationalJoin the global conversation on Agriculture: - To spread the name Receive information on new or foreign culinary techniques using local ingredients: - Innovate and exchange - Create demand for declining plant species

Initial work for creating furusatoIdeas for potential service or design to regenerate Iwaizumi

Create Iwaizumi Icon - a product/utensil made using local craft (iron, laquer) but designed with an international competition

Learning through Doing - using derelict houses as a physical location for cooking, exploration, teaching sessions

Tours - by inviting schools it engages children early with cooking. Through photography, allotment and permaculture enthusiasts it allows a wider outreach. Farm to Fork holidays allow normal people a taste of real Iwaizumi life and to return to their heritage.

Work Exchange (woof) - inviting people to work the wasabi harvesting season in exchange for board in the village using derelict houses or family hosts. Low tech, low cost but potential to craft experiences to mutually benefit residents and travellers.

Digital Engagement - using platforms like Instagram, no language is required and can build international following. In Japanese, sites like Cookpad can host Grandmother’s recipes and YouTube channels can show the rich beauty.

Presentation of Fact Finding Exercise

Working at Iwaizumi Town Hall

The Design ProposalA national subscription box containing a variety of produce grown in Iwaizumi

As mentioned before, Iwaizumi’s under 40s and children have mainly migrated to larger towns and cities. Therefore, this was the first user that inspired our proposal. There is also an increasing number of people who want to move away from mass produced food and switch to organic, but do not have the capacity to grow it themselves. In conjunction with Iwaizumi’s excess food production, it seemed logical to connect the two.

Through a monthly subscription of Iwaizumi produce delivered to your door, it provides the users with fresh, special and healthy food. Back in Iwaizumi, it becomes an outlet for those with excess produce or a higher capacity to sell their goods. In turn, it is also a way to pass down knowledge through the inclusion of recipe cards or information about lifestyle choices such as Yakusen.

The idea is that if Iwaizumi starts to develop as a brand and becomes known nationwide as a destination for the best organic food and speciality ingredients, it will attract more visitors and trade.

Designing the PresentationThe symbolism of the layout

When we designed our presentation to give to the town, we were really interested in this idea of the placement of dishes in a traditional Japanese meal.

As illustrated on the left, the basis of the meal always has a set place - with rice and a soup being non-negotiable. Inspired by the direction of Henmi-san, who taught us how to set a table, we tried to balance our presentation around this concept.

For a copy of the original presentation in Japanese, you can contact either Marie marie.legallet@ensci.com or Hannah hannahsegreen@gmail.com

Mapping the Research

Presentation to the Town & Residents

photo by Sarngsan Na Soontorn Outside Mamaguchi-san’s house with a jar of her Miso

Conclusion to the ProjectA challenging and rewarding two weeks in an area of natural beauty and tradition

As the final presentation was delivered in Japanese, we cannot be entirely sure if all members of the group were in agreement and had a shared understanding of the design proposal. What was more challenging than the language barrier with the students was our working styles and approach to a topic. Despite our research before, it was very difficult to get past the ‘yes’ and ‘maybe’ answers to all our questions - even if neither of those words answered the question posed.

Our struggle to relinquish our European way of working where the student and designer is fairly equal and hot debate is encouraged, caused some problems. We were disappointed at many of the activities and work we had done in preparation were not permitted in our rigid schedule. Developing and understanding the role of inemuri (napping in public) was another element that we had difficulty adjusting to until our bodies succumbed to the fast pace of our schedule.

In conclusion, it was an incredibly mixed experience where the highs and lows were polarised. Whilst there was no ‘design’ outcome, what we learnt about each other, ourselves and Japan cannot be put into words as it was an experience that influence us in the years to come and will not be easily forgotten.

photo by Joowon KimGroup photo at the top of the mountain pastures