Aging, sustainability and entrepreneurship meet in rural Japanese town

A group of Korean students visits the Kamikatsu Zero Waste Center's gomi (waste) station and learns how plastic products are recycled in Tokushima Prefecture in Japan on Jan. 26. [LEE SOO-JUNG]

TOKUSHIMA, Japan — In a rural town in Japan’s Tokushima Prefecture, older adults earn up to about $130,000 per year by collecting and polishing fallen maple leaves from their backyards as part of a local sustainability drive.
 
This lucrative opportunity is only available to grandmothers.  

Kamikatsu, a town in Tokushima Prefecture, has helped its aging population become self-reliant by encouraging residents to find value in everyday objects, from leaves to garbage. The town was the first Japanese locality to adopt a so-called Zero Waste Declaration in 2003, aiming to make the town free of waste for incineration. 
 
The rural town's population is largely older, as is the case in most Korean provincial counties. Both Korea and Japan face rapidly aging populations, with more than 20 percent of their total populations aged 65 or older as birthrates plummet. However, older adults in this rural Japanese town remain a key part of the work force and producers of a local specialty. 
 
Older women from 136 households, with an average age of 75, are working as leaf collectors, crafters and self-employed entrepreneurs. Leaves processed by them are sold nationwide as decorative features for Japanese dishes.
 
“The top-earner made 20 million yen last year,” said Satoshi Nonoyama, a founder of a digital service company called Pangaea LLC, which streamlined the sales process from processing orders to delivery. He also explained how the leaf business can be environmentally friendly and lucrative to a group of 67 Korean students visiting Japan through the Japanese Foreign Ministry’s exchange program, Japan-East Asia Network of Exchange for Students and Youths (Jenesys), on Jan. 26.
 
The story of the Japanese town suggests that mere objects can become moneymaking opportunities.
 
Grandmothers: Leaf-collecting entrepreneurs
 

Collected leaves are seen packaged for sales in an undated file photo. [IRODORI]

For the working grandmothers in the leaf business, their homes and nature are their workplaces.
 
Their morning starts with checking their tablet computers for orders received electronically from across Japan by 8 a.m. They head out to the backyards of their houses or mountainous areas under their ownership to collect leaves of 320 specifically designated species.
 
Once they return home with baskets full of freshly picked leaves, they process them into adornments, which are often placed on Japanese kaiseki (haute cuisine) dishes to enhance their aesthetic appeal.
 
They also plant and grow certain kinds of wood in their backyard for their business, a move to prevent indiscriminate harvesting.
 

A grandmother picks leaves in an undated file photo uploaded on website of Irodori, which promotes sales of the processed leaves across the nation. [IRODORI]

The year-round best-seller is maple. In summer, lotus leaves are popular.

A single leaf costs approximately 100 yen ($0.65). The village's annual sales totaled around 200 million yen in 2021, according to Nonoyama.
 
“The business cycle has been streamlined with the digital system receiving orders until 8 a.m. and organizing outbound shipment of collected leaves by noon every day,” Nonoyama said. “The leaves are sent to Tokyo’s Haneda International Airport — a central logistical hub — and delivered to other regions.”
 

Satoshi Nonoyama, a founder of a digital service company called Pangaea LLC, speaks during a media interview in Kamikatsu, Tokushima Prefecture in Japan, on Jan. 26. [LEE SOO-JUNG]

However, the town currently faces a looming population crisis.
 
“While older women from 180 households were active in 2011, the number of participating households diminished to 136 due to the aging population,” Nonoyama said. “Passing on the leaf business remains the most significant problem. Now, we are recruiting new participants across the nation who can start their businesses after two years of practice.”
 
Recycle and make money, save the Earth
 

An aerial view of the Kamikatsu Zero Waste Center in Tokushima Prefecture, Japan, in a screen captured image from the website of the Government of Japan' Public Relations Office [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Tucked in the middle of a mountain ridge, the Kamikatsu Zero Waste Center’s question mark-shaped red wooden building made of Japanese cedar greeted the Korean student delegation on Jan. 26. The building's walls are composed of 540 windows from local households. Two notable sections inside were the gomi (waste) station and the thrift shop.
 
The center helps residents navigate the half-circle road at the gomi station to drop off their garbage for recycling, classifying it into 43 categories.
 
The unique building structure is intended to “throw questions” to residents on “how to recycle better and improve our environment,” said Takuma Kisanuki, an operations staff member at the center, during a media interview on Jan. 26. 
 
The recycled products, such as used batteries, beer cans and papers, are sold to processing companies nationwide. The center earns eight yen by selling a kilogram of paper books to waste-treatment agencies.
 

Takuma Kisanuki, an operations staff member, poses for a photograph during a media interview at an indoor thrift shop at the Kamikatsu Zero Waste Center in Tokushima, Japan, on Jan. 26. [LEE SOO-JUNG]

Participants are eligible to earn points for their environmental behavior. They can be swapped for vouchers redeemable at commercial facilities in town or for gifts such as a battery charger or tracksuits.
 
The town — where residents 60 and over account for 68 percent of the population — sees a recycling rate of around 80 percent, far higher than the rest of Japan's localities, which average around 20 percent.
 
“To encourage residents’ participation, we distributed a guidebook explaining the recycling system and how much their recycled products would cost and how they would be treated afterwards,” Kisanuki said. “The current version was published in 2020, and the new version will be published this year.”
 

A group of Korean students visits the Kamikatsu Zero Waste Center's thrift shop in Tokushima Prefecture in Japan on Jan. 26. [LEE SOO-JUNG]

Used furniture, kitchenware, aprons and children’s toys are free souvenirs at the thrift shop at the Kamikatsu Zero Waste Center. The giveaway saved 5.4 tonnes of waste last year.  
 
“If someone takes it, it is no longer trash,” a guide told visiting Korean students.
 
The facility’s initiative even changed the mindset of young people who had been insensitive to the environment.
 
“Now, I always think about how the products I buy would be treated and processed after their disposal,” Kisanuki said. “It helped me become more discerning.” 
 

BY LEE SOO-JUNG [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]