The Ikigai Podcast
The Ikigai Podcast
Life Needs A Role with Yūki Ōhata
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A grandmother stops farming and something quietly disappears: her energy, her rhythm, her reason to get up. That single story becomes the thread that ties everything together as we talk with Yuki Ohata, representative director of Sanchi No Mikata in Shizuoka, about Ikigai as a lived practice instead of a business buzzword. Yuki’s work sits right at the intersection of purpose, Japanese agriculture, and community building, and it offers a surprisingly practical model for rural revitalization.
We dig into the Irodori leaf-farming approach made famous in Kamikatsu, where elderly farmers collect and ship high-quality leaves used as tsumamono garnishes in Japanese fine dining. These are the details that make kaiseki feel like a season on a plate, and they create real income in places that need it. We also touch on Kamikatsu’s zero waste lifestyle and what it teaches about discipline, pride of place, and how local systems shape daily behavior.
From there, we move into what Yuki is building now: a Shizuoka-based leaf project designed to help older adults stay active, earn money, and most importantly, have an ibasho, a place to belong. Plus, we explore his branding work on a rare hanabiratake cauliflower mushroom nicknamed the phantom mushroom, sold under the warm, memorable name Hohohotake. Sydney Siegford joins us as interpreter and shares her perspective as a Tokyo-based food writer and inbound hospitality consultant working with Japan’s fine dining scene.
If you care about Ikigai, farm-to-table culture, aging with dignity, or the future of rural Japan, hit play, then subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more listeners can find the show.
Meeting Yuki And Sydney
SPEAKER_04On this episode of the Higai podcast, my new friend Yuki Ohata from Shizoka joins me. Yuki is the representative director of Sanchi Nomikata, a company that supports farmers and producers connecting agricultural products to markets, restaurants, and consumers in valuable ways. He helped sells garnishes and the legendary mushroom Hohohok Take. With approximately 8,000 farmers in his Instagram network, he is helping farmers and communities flourish. Things have moved fast for us, Yuki. We connected on LinkedIn. I stumbled upon a post of yours in which you wrote, Life Needs a Role, relating it to Ikigai. This inspired me, so I left a comment, you replied, I DM'd you, you accepted my connection request, I shared that I was going to Tokyo in May and June. You suggested that we meet. I invited you to my Tokyo masterclass, which you attended, and then you invited me to lunch with your friend Satoshi the next day, and we talked about working together. And we're also joined by Sydney Siegford, a food writer, hospitality consultant, and a Japanese speaker based in Tokyo who actually joined us for lunch and is helping as interpreter. So welcome to you, Sydney, as well. So, Yuki, welcome to the podcast. Thank you for joining me today. Thanks for having me, Nick. My pleasure. And welcome to you too, Sydney. Good to catch up.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, thank you so much. Happy to be here.
SPEAKER_04All right.
Seeing Ikigai As A Lifestyle
SPEAKER_04Maybe this is a bit self-serving, but what did you think of the Tokyo Masterclass I held in May? Yuki.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, honestly, it's changed something in me. Uh actually I have been working with Ikigai for many years, but I was working with it as a business. But in your master class, I saw it as a way of living. And I surprised someone said I need a reason to wake up in the morning. That is exactly what I see in Mountain of Sizuoka.
SPEAKER_04So it gave you a different perspective on ikigai. Maybe Sidney can help us there.
SPEAKER_02So ano so then so ano visitoste kanga takido.
SPEAKER_00Up until that point I'd always thought about it as a thing having to do with business, but after participating in your workshop, I got to see that not only are people thinking of it as you know from a different perspective than I did, but they're actively incorporating it into their lifestyle and as a way of living. And I was really surprised by that.
SPEAKER_04Yes, I like to say Ikigai is the gift that keeps on giving, and it can be part of your daily life, part of your business, your relationships, almost tied to everything. Uh so that's that's fantastic to hear. Now you mentioned you started to relate Ikigai as the reason you get up in the morning, which is related to the mountains, I think you just said in Shizuoka.
Irodori And The Leaf Farming Model
SPEAKER_04So can you talk about your background, Yuki? You were born and currently live in Shizoka.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, uh I was born in Shizoka Prefecture, Japan, and I live in Shizoka City now. Uh but in 2010, I joined a company called Irodori. It is in a small town called Kamikatsu town in Tokin Prefecture, and Kamikatsu is famous for one thing elderly farmers there sell leaves, so restaurants use them to decorate Japanese cuisine. It sounds very strange, but it became a rare industry. I worked there for nine years.
SPEAKER_04Yes. When I heard this story of these elderly Japanese farming, I guess we'd say, farming leaves and collecting leaves, and then those leaves being used as garnishes on food. I thought that was a fascinating story.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. What I saw there changed my life totally. I saw grandmother in their 80s using tablet to check market prices. And I saw them competing with each other and laughing. I really surprised.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, it's an inspiring story. So you lived there for was it eight, eight years in Kamikatsu? Nine years. Nine years. Let's go back to your background a bit. Have you always been interested in farms and agricultural products?
SPEAKER_02No,
Grandmother And Losing A Role
SPEAKER_02actually not. I I actually I don't like farming when I was a child because my grandmother was farmer, but she worked very hard, but she didn't get much money. So actually I didn't want to be a farmer when I was a child.
SPEAKER_03I see. What changed? Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Uh because when I but after that, when I was like 22 years old, when I was doing job hunting, uh so she stopped farming at that moment and something changed in her. Her body is was still fine, but she lost her energy. Uh I thought what was the reason? I thought she had no reason to get up in the morning every day. So she lost her role at that time.
SPEAKER_04That's the Ikigai connection. She had a meaningful role. She gave that up and then really had no sense of purpose and nothing to look forward to each day.
SPEAKER_03So Yukanji?
SPEAKER_04So
Zero Waste Life In Kamikatsu
SPEAKER_04Yukanji's can we also touch on Kamikatsu? Because I know Kamikatsu is also famous for being a no-waste or zero waste town.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Do you want to talk about that?
SPEAKER_02Uh actually I'm not familiar with that, but uh I lived in that kamikats town, so and uh I for that the waste I have to separate the our garbage fifty types of garbage I have to separate.
SPEAKER_03It's very it was very hard.
SPEAKER_04I read they have no garbage trucks in kamikatsu. No.
SPEAKER_02That's amazing. I have to bring our rubbish to the the west place, and I have to separate fifty types of rubbish.
SPEAKER_04So it's like a processing station. Yes. So that's an interesting place. It has zero zero waste. It's also got this industry of leaf farmers who are farming leaves and then do quality control, get the best leaves and then s sell them to obviously to your your friend who I met, um Satoshi. So that's that's his business, yes?
SPEAKER_01So yokeshima.
SPEAKER_02So what does wokugaita iodoritiu kaishawa? Hapa businessuo management.
SPEAKER_00And then you have sort of separately also this zero waste concept that they're working on. Um and there's maybe only about five members. Uh when Yuki-sun was working with them, it was more working in management.
SPEAKER_02Management.
SPEAKER_00He was working in management um and sort of facilitating things there at Irodori. But his own business, um, working with the Leaves is separate from that.
SPEAKER_04So the Sanchi no Mikata was inspired by Irodori. Yeah, of course. Yeah. And your friend who I met, Satoshi, his business is for guiding uh tourists, either domestic or international, around kamikatsu. Yes. Okay, let's talk about your business then. So
Building Sanchi No Mikata
SPEAKER_04tell me about Sanchino Mikata.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, as Sancho Mikata, it means ally of the farmers. We support the farmers. Uh, we champion by sharing their passion and commitment with as many people as possible. Great.
SPEAKER_04So you're an ally of the farmers, and you're supporting them with things like marketing, uh distribution, and so on. Yeah. How how long have you been running this business?
SPEAKER_02I've been running my business for eight years. About years.
SPEAKER_04So the leaf business, which is what we'll talk about today, you started fairly recently.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Uh I started with business at May this year. I've run I ran leaf business just only for three months. Three months. How's the leaf business going? I think we start very well. Uh in May we started shipping only with five farmers, but now the ten farmers uh attend our project and they enjoy shipping their product to the vegetable market in Sizook City.
SPEAKER_04I had the pleasure of joining you uh to meet these very friendly and enthusiastic uh ladies who were collecting leaves, and I met them with you and you were explaining the process of the business and the importance of picking high-quality leaves. That was a lot of fun to meet those ladies in Shizoka. Maybe Sidney you can help us there. So so so. We are on newspaper, I am Nick. Relating Ikigai to this story of providing a role to these women, you could see their energy and their enthusiasm as they were talking about the leaves and having a good time in this community hall.
SPEAKER_02They really enjoy not only the sipping, also they enjoy the chatting with each other. So I I think that's very important, not for earning money. They need to meet someone, and they need to chat with someone.
SPEAKER_03I think that is the reason to get up in the morning. I agree. I think you're creating a ebasho.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, you're creating this small community where people have a role, they have a place of belonging. It was very special. Thank you. Let's talk about some agricultural products you're involved in promoting and
Leaves As Community And Belonging
SPEAKER_04selling. Can you tell me about the mushroom hohohotake?
SPEAKER_02It's very difficult to explain,
Branding The Phantom Cauliflower Mushroom
SPEAKER_02but hohohotake is our original name. It's actually uh the must the mushroom known as Hanabiratake in English the Califlower mushroom. It only grows in extremely limited environment of one thousand meters in altitude. Altitude? Mm-hmm. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04So it's very rare. It's so rare it has the nickname the Phantom Mushroom.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's very rare mushroom. And difficult to growing it up.
SPEAKER_04This company's not farming it in in nature. They're producing it in a factory that used to be a light bulb manufacturing business. Yes. Is that correct? Yes, it it is correct. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So how are you helping that business? What are you doing?
SPEAKER_02I cannot produce the mushroom because I'm not a farmer, but but I can sell them. So I developed the the name Hohoho Take and uh created premium packaging and built the brand. So you're a marketer?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, kind of. Yes. So let's talk about the name, because the name is interesting, difficult to say a little. Yeah. Hohohotake. What does that translate to?
SPEAKER_02Hohoho is uh kind of sound of laughing. It's yeah, it evokes laughter and warmth. Take means just it just simply means mushroom.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Laughing mushroom. Yeah, yeah. Something like that. It sounds strange. But yeah, it's correct.
SPEAKER_04The actual mushrooms, very large, it almost looks like a a brain. Like a like a cauliflower brain.
SPEAKER_00Nomi sonitad.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, can't uh it looks like brain.
SPEAKER_02Well wa white. Really white brain.
SPEAKER_03Hohoho take it, it's good for the brain has. Ah, there you go.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. So this is interesting. You have this business and you're helping farmers with these unique products. So this hanabira take, this hohoho take, and of course, these leaves, which as garnishes they're called tsumamono. Yes, what are tsumamono?
SPEAKER_02Oh, what are sumamono? Tsumamono is a garnish
Tsumamono And Seasonal Fine Dining
SPEAKER_02for Japanese cuisine, mainly for the only top quality Japanese restaurant.
SPEAKER_04And I think when we all met after the Tokyo Masterclass, we went and had kaiseki, and many of the dishes had tsumamono, these leaf garnishes.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So when I have traditional Japanese food, the chef wants the customer to enjoy the dishes not only for their taste, but also they want customer enjoy through their eyes. Like when the dishes use the bamboo reefs, the chef wants us feel the summer season because there are a lot of bamboo in the summer season in Japan. And when the chef uses map red reefs, they want us to enjoy the feeling of the autumn so we can enjoy the food through our eyes too.
SPEAKER_03Nice.
SPEAKER_04Your mission is to transform Shizoka into a new
Shizuoka As A New Leaf Hub
SPEAKER_04leaf production center. Can you talk about that?
SPEAKER_02Yes, I ran the leaf business in Tukushima before when I was in Tokushima, but now I want to a new place where the elderly people work brightly.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, with with energy enthusiastically.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So the first place is could be the Sizo City where we started leaf business. So I want to more farmers join our product in the that area, and uh I want I want to make them more happier and brighter through my business.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. You're giving these people a role. I hope so.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I think so. So congratulations on starting your business. Yeah, this goes back to the reason why we connected. You believe that life needs a role. Why does life or why do you feel life needs a role?
SPEAKER_02Uh because as I said, my grandmother was a farmer, but she lost her bride when she stopped farming. So from that time, I believe people need a role.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, so maybe her role was her icky guy. Do you think? Yeah, I think so. And your goal, and I guess you part of your role, is to create a community where the elderly can remain active for life, earn an income, and truly shine with a sense of purpose. Yes, exactly. It it is. So some people listening might be interested how much can someone earn collecting leaves?
SPEAKER_02In the Tokushima Prefecture, the Kanikatsatown, some
Real Earnings From Collecting Leaves
SPEAKER_02million, yeah.
SPEAKER_03So that's about ten thousand dollars a month. Wow. Yeah, that's ten thousand dollars. That's that's the highest, yeah. Yeah, that's the highest. Okay. So significant income. Yeah. Good income. Even in rural area, it's gonna be a good income.
SPEAKER_04Well, yes. Maybe I will start collecting leaves when I move to Japan. Yeah. It's good business. So I've read some of your blogs, and one principle that guides everything you do is to
Agriculture As Hope In Aging Japan
SPEAKER_04create a society where everyone can look forward to growing old through agriculture.
SPEAKER_03Yes. Why is this important to you?
SPEAKER_02The biggest reason is my grandmother, I wanted her have the role but second reason is Japan is very aging society and young people lost their hope in their future. So through the elderly people getting brighter and young people have hope for their future when they get old. So I hope through my business that everyone have hope about our country.
SPEAKER_03Does it make sense? It does make sense.
SPEAKER_04I think it's related to our last question which is what are your future plans for Shizoka?
SPEAKER_02I have two purposes in my business. The first is help farmers earn more income
Future Plans And A Shizuoka Retreat
SPEAKER_02and the second purpose is create opportunity for old people elder is to continue working with enjoyment and purpose.
SPEAKER_04Sounds good and maybe there's a third purpose that we might share together is to bring foreigners to Shizoka and for them to see part of this business and maybe experience collecting leaves and seeing this community that you're building as part of a ikiga retreat. Maybe Sydney you want to step in and translate that for us.
SPEAKER_02Please come to Japan Well I am.
SPEAKER_04I'll be there next year so that let's make it happen. But it's a very inspiring story. I think what you're doing is also very hard so uh I commend you I congratulate you you you care about Japan you care about Japanese you care about your community you care about the elderly you care about nature so it's very inspiring um and I'd love to help you thank you Nick I really enjoy chatting with you in your podcast thank you so we we might do another one so I think we're going to do a series um so thank you for joining me today and Sydney great to catch up with you so thank you for helping us would you like to touch on what you do and happy to promote your services um sure so uh briefly about myself so I know Yuki because his leaf business is related to fine dining in Japan.
SPEAKER_00And so I am an inbound hospitality consultant. Basically I help fine dining restaurants in Japan, uh help treat their
Sydney’s Work And Closing
SPEAKER_00inbound guests better. And in doing that I also do some consulting for people like Yuki and do some of this interpretation work for tours, mostly working in the FB space. So that's sort of how I am here today.
SPEAKER_04Nice niche. Very niche awesome so we might have you back on the next episode too to help out. So thank you for your time and help today.
SPEAKER_00Yeah no problem thank you guys for having me at done so let's speak in a month or so with uh part two.
SPEAKER_04Yes okay