Salt of the sea
The hamlet of Nakahama also has a well known project going. It focuses on salt-making methods formerly used in the area. The history of salt manufacturing in Sanpoku goes back a long ways. As early as the 9th or 10th century, the local method of boiling salt brine in earthenware pots was already quite well known. This fascinating technique has now been almost completely replaced, however, by the electrolytic process.
But it will never die out completely as long as Hiroshi Sato has anything to say about it. Thanks to the 1997 repeal of Japan's Salt Monopoly Law, private parties are now free to engage in salt manufacturing. Sato, an avid devotee of traditional salt manufacturing methods, has taken advantage of the new legal environment to resume making sea salt, an activity that he remembers helping his father and grandfather with as a young boy. The first step is to make bamboo grates and stack them one atop the other, several deep. Salt-laden seawater is then poured continuously over the bamboo, which speeds up evaporation. Once the brine has become sufficiently concentrated, it is transferred to big ceramic pots for boiling. Beginning from scratch, Sato has gradually built up a small salt manufacturing plant on the coast of the Japan Sea.
Sato lights up whenever he starts talking about salt: "Salt is the most important seasoning there is. Medical researchers are beginning to point out that the nutrients in hand-made salt may be better for your health." Standing behind a big pile of piping hot salt that looks from a distance like freshly steamed rice, Sato peers through squinting eyes at the salt, which is at over 100oC: "There's something very beautiful about the old way of making salt."
Thanks to media coverage by NHK and Asahi Shimbun, people all over Japan know about Sato's salt manufacturing operation. He has received over 8,000 postcards in the mail, all of which sit on his little workbench. People want to know how his process works, so they can make natural Sanpoku salt themselves. "We now have two professional salt makers in Sanpoku-machi, and I've also taken on a younger guy as my apprentice." Sato is thrilled at the support, and to have successors. As he stands over the brilliant white salt, a smile spreads across his face.
A school built from cedar
Also important to the local economy is Japanese cedar. Some 93% of the town's land area is classified as mountain forest. Of that, 45% is Japanese cedar. But the introduction of cheap imports from mainland China in recent decades has forced the people of Sanpoku-machi to think hard about the future of the forestry industry that has grown up around the Japanese cedar.
In response to a changing market, the people of Sanpoku-machi have come up with a strategy of using locally produced Japanese cedar in their own local building projects. They've used it to make desks and chairs for the local junior high, and the cafeteria at a local community center. But perhaps the most notable project has been Hachiman Elementary School, which was built 11 years ago. According to Shoichi Sato, "This is the first school in Japan to be built completely from Japanese cedar. It cost ¥800 million (about US$6 million), and all of the wood was Japanese cedar from right here in Sanpoku." Local carpenters took part enthusiastically in the construction of the school, and the community learned a lot in the process about planning a Japanese cedar building and carrying out its construction.
There are only one or two hundred students at Hachiman Elementary, but the locals pulled out all the stops in building their school. Everywhere the happy kids turn, the pleasing sight of Japanese cedar meets their eyes, in the cafeteria, gym, classrooms. . . . And in the corridor there is a big wooden panel with the handprints of all 105 students who were enrolled in the school at the time of its completion. Sato exclaims with pride, "Japanese cedar has a warm feel to it. It's easy for kids to be open to the world in an atmosphere like this!"
Hometown sake
Shina cloth, salt, and cedar are just a few of the themes of Sanpoku-machi's community-building movement. Each hamlet has chosen a theme for itself. Although the local town hall played a key role in getting the movement started, local residents eventually took over as the driving force. During a visit to Kichijo Kiyomizu spring in the hamlet of Ohgoto, Shoichi Sato ladled himself up a mouthful of spring water and said, "It wasn't easy at all to find something unique to focus on in each of our 48 hamlets. But we did it. Ohgoto, for example, used to have a little reservoir, fed by spring water from the foothills of Mt. Karei. It's very cool and refreshing, so the residents decided to establish an Ohgoto Spring Memorial.
The people of Ohgoto use the spring water from Kichijo Kiyomizu and Mt. Karei to make tea and cook. "You can use this water for your own consumption, but you can't take it and sell it," explains Sato. Anyone selling it would have to negotiate a thicket of health standards, otherwise they would be breaking the law. No one is breaking any laws, but the residents of Ohgoto use their water to make Nihonkoku Shu, a distilled spirit that has become famous throughout Japan. It is even available at Narita and Haneda airports, and sells quite well.
Combing the town
As the trip progressed, I found my bags stuffed with more and more souvenirs-a bottle of Nihonkoku Shu, a shina cloth handbag. . . . Rambling from Mr. Sato's salt plant to Hachiman Elementary School, I pretend I am traveling back in time to my own school days. And we move on to many other charming little hamlets, including Fuya (noted for its lion dance), Koizawa and Nakatsu Minamoto (beautiful natural scenery), and Ohtori, where the clam cherry trees they planted a decade ago now provide the stage for an annual cherry viewing season.
Traveling around in a child-like frame of mind, I relive the dreams I once dreamed. If you would like to get back a piece of your childhood yourself, Sanpoku may be just the place for you. As you wander among the 48 hamlets there, finding what each one has on offer, you might just remember what it felt like as a kid to run around with a map in hand, searching for hidden treasure. Who said you couldn't go home again?