Magic of Love, Life, and Leaves - How A Leaf Business Turns Japan’s Demographic Challenges Into Opportunities-

Japan has the world’s second most aged population (after Monaco).  The average (median) age of the Japanese population is 45, compared to the world’s estimated median age of 28.  With 23% of the population aged 65 and over, Japan’s demographic chart looks quite opposite to developing countries’ pyramid shapes.  Moreover, rural areas of Japan have been facing serious depopulation, as young people move out of town to pursue higher education and/or find jobs in large cities. 

Tokushima Prefecture, where I was born and brought up, is one of the prefectures with highly aged population.  Nearly 30% of the population in Tokushima is above 65.  This means that three out of ten people you meet in my hometown are likely to be older than 65.  Such demographic composition poses big challenges.  As the ratio of the retiree to workers becomes larger, increased social security costs need to be born by diminished working population.

But there is a ray of hope to this gloomy situation.  During my 3-day homecoming trip, I visited Kamikatsu town in Tokushima and saw an encouraging business model that fully utilizes elderlies’ capabilities.   Kamikatsu is a mountainous, remote area with its 88.5% of land covered with forest.  Among the 24 cities and towns of Tokushima prefecture, Kamikatsu town has the highest average age of citizens: 59.  The share of people who are 65 and above is 49% compared to the Prefecture’s average, 30%.  Kamikatsu became a household name in Japan thanks to its successful leaf business by senior citizens.  Believe it or not, Kamikatsu’s elderlies have made a fortune from local leaves.  Some grandmothers earn ten million yen (approximately $125,000) per year by selling leaves.  The number of Kamikatsu farmers who take part in this leaf business grew to 200 from four in the 1980s, and the business has become a good model of utilizing elderlies’ potential and local nature.  Even a movie was made this year based on the true stories of Kamikatsu town.

How can elderlies make such an amount of money from leaves?  The hint lies in Japanese food culture.  When you travel to Japan, you will be served Japanese dish with some colorful leaves and flowers.  They are called Tsumamono.  A good Japanese dish appeals to your eyes, smells nice, tastes good, and it is filled with a sense of the season.   In this respect, Tsumamono, which adds colors and seasonality to the dish, plays a vital role in authentic Japanese cuisine.  Moreover, it is used for not only aesthetic but also hygienic reasons; Tsumamono kills and repels bacteria.  Thus, Tsumamono represents a wisdom of our ancestors to make food look more appetizing as well as safer, and beautiful leaves and flowers can be sold at a good price in Japan.

Although the high economic benefit from the business is well known, it is just a small part of what the leaf business has brought to Kamikatsu.  The leaf business matched well with the mentality of Japanese senior citizens, most of whom are quite healthy and active and usually prefer to be independent than to be taken care of by others.  “It is quite painful to be told to just sit and watch TV.  I want to continue working,“ said one of the farmers who take part in the leaf business.  Senior citizens became livelier  and healthier as they found themselves playing a vital role in their society.  Indeed, Kamikatsu bears the lowest medical cost for senior citizens in Tokushima Prefecture.

Another positive effect of the leaf business was the return of young people to the aged, depopulated town.  Every year, around 25 people move into Kamikatsu, mainly to support their families engaged in the leaf business.   As families started living together in the town again, the number of three-generation households has increased.  Senior citizens became even more cheerful with the return of their children and grand children to the town.  Moreover, 556 students visited the town as interns in the last two years. Although the lack of successors remains a headache, the small town has succeeded in improving the welfare of the local citizens by utilizing its rich nature and healthy senior citizens.

Visit by Hon. Shimba, Parliamentary Senior Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, to Kenya’s PKO Training Center

On December 4th, Hon. Kazuya Shimba made an official visit to the International Peace Support Training Centre (IPSTC) during his 6-hour stopover in Nairobi, Kenya.  The IPSTC is one of the best PKO training centers in Africa, and the Government of Japan has been supporting the center since 2008.  The center has two campuses in Nairobi: PCSS (Peace and Conflict Studies School) in Karen and HPSS (Humanitarian and Peace Support School) in Embakasi.  PCSS provides lecture-based courses on strategies, while HPSS offers exercise-based courses focused on tactics in the field.  This time, the Vice Foreign Minister visited the campus of HPSS to see operational exercises conducted there.

After a short briefing by the Director of the PKO center, Vice Minister Shimba and his staff moved to the Peace Support Operation Training Village, where the IPSTC provided a special demonstration on civilian protection for the Vice Minister.  The storyline of the demonstration was that an armed rebel group attacked an IDP camp in a small village when the Red Cross was providing a health check-up inside the camp. 

“BANG!”  Loud gunfire echoed throughout the training village.  Taking advantage of the vast area, vehicles raced around the field and lined up in formation.  As the facilitators of the center tried to make trainings as close to the real situation as possible, the demonstration made us feel as if we were witnessing a real case.  

Vice Minister Shimba was very impressed by the realistic trainings provided at the center.  He welcomed African initiatives to address conflicts in the continent by themselves and stressed the important role played by Kenya in promoting the region's peace and stability.  

Vice Minister left Nairobi on the same day.  After Kenya, he visited Juba, South Sudan, to hold meetings with UNMISS and then headed to Dublin, Ireland, to attend a Ministerial Council of the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe)).   

My Business Trip to South Sudan

I organized a three-day business trip to Juba, South Sudan.  Upon landing on the ground, I felt energy of this country together with a hot breeze.  The capital of the world’s newest country is now vibrant, filled with the noise of construction coming from every corner of the street.  Newly paved roads have lightened the burden of local farmers whose agricultural products used to get ruined before reaching the market.  Additional housings have put roofs over the heads of the South Sudanese who migrated from Khartoum to Juba after last year’s independence.  The city is full of energy and hope.

Japan has been playing an important role in constructing infrastructure in Juba.  The Japanese Government sent staff officers to the headquarters of the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS) in November 2011 as the first step of Japan’s cooperation with UNMISS.  With UN’s strong request, the engineering unit of Japanese Ground Self Defense Force (JGSDF) was first dispatched in January 2012, later followed by the second dispatch in June.  Currently 326 engineering unit members, including two women, are engaged in construction projects in Juba.  I was glad to see many Japanese flags on bridges and road signs throughout the city of Juba.

Japan’s engineering units have a high reputation internationally.  They have so far joined PKO missions in Cambodia, Mozambique, the Golan Heights, East Timor, Haiti, and South Sudan.  With their fine-tuned and diligent work, the units have always been well accepted by local people.  Moreover, members are well disciplined and highly motivated.  “All the unit members volunteered to come to Juba.  In fact, the number of volunteers always excels slots that are available.  Therefore, we select people whose skills, specialties, and ranks match most,” said one of the senior staff of JGSDF.

The third engineering unit, with the same number of boots, will take over the current one from January next year.  “After I go back to Japan in December, I will apply for the post in Juba again,” said a coordinating officer.  “Working here is very rewarding.  I can see that I am making change.”

Japan-funded Human Rights Course on South Sudan

I attended an opening ceremony of the 10-day human rights course on South Sudan at the International Peace Support Training Centre (IPSTC), which is one of the most prominent PKO training centers in Africa.  In my speech, I tried to bring human rights issues closer to our daily lives.

Remarks on the occasion of the opening ceremony for

Human Rights Course (5th November, 2012)

[Names omitted]

Distinguished Participants,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good morning.

It is my honour to attend this opening ceremony of the Human Rights Course today. 

I would like to convey my cordial welcome to all the 22 participants who are here today to start this course. 

I would also like to renew my gratitude to the support and cooperation extended by the IPSTC and UNDP Kenya.

This Human Rights Course is the 7th and the final course to be funded by Japan at the IPSTC during this Phase II period. 

Japan has been a strong advocate of human rights.  

The Japanese Government has been actively engaged in improving human rights situation in Asian countries and has been vocal of human rights challenges that remain in our neighboring countries, such as North Korea. 

Japan has also played a significant role at the international fora, such as the UN Human Rights Council.

On the same day of the independence in July 2011, the Government of Japan established diplomatic relations with the Republic of South Sudan.  

Although South Sudan and the international community celebrated the first anniversary of the independence four months ago, the young country faces a number of pressing security and development challenges. 

One of the key areas to be addressed is human rights. 

And we are proud to offer this Human Rights Course with a specific focus on South Sudan. 

Human Rights – When we hear this term, we usually imagine something big, something scholarly and somewhat conceptual. 

But human rights starts from a very close place like home, school, and work place. 

I assume all of you have had occasions in which you felt “That’s not fair.” 

For example, let’s think about our childhood experience. 

You may have felt unfair when your older brother snatched candies from you. 

You may have wondered why when you were not allowed to join a certain playing group at school. 

Some of the female participants here today may have felt unfair when you were not given equal opportunities as your male siblings did. 

No matter how trivial these episodes may seem respectively, they are very much relevant to the field you are to focus during this course. 

Including myself, it is very easy to loose sight and believe our standard or a yardstick is the only and the right one. 

And it is very difficult to keep in mind that other people may feel different, whether that “other” may be race, gender, age, religion, ethnicity, or nationality.  

In addressing human rights issues, I believe the key is to ask ourselves “What would “other” people feel?” 

Indeed, there is only a thin line between oneself and “other” people, or between “us” and “them.” 

We are in fact all human beings living together on the same planet. 

The difference between “us” and “others” will surely look tiny when we see ourselves from the galaxy. 

In fact, when we look at the Earth from the space, we cannot see any borders.

Through the 10-day course, which starts today, I believe that you will deepen your understanding of human rights and gain practical skills ready to be applied once you go back to your respective position.  
It is my wish that you would become strong advocates of human rights and would always stand up for human rights back home and around the world.

In closing my remarks, I hope you would get the best out of this course, and I wish each and every participant all the best.