Kamikatsu Town
Yasushi Hanamoto

“Irodori” was born because there was a lack of agricultural land here and they didn't have enough local specialty products. They arrived at “Zero Waste” from the custom of open burning and the garbage problem.
In that way, Kamikatsu-cho has shined its individuality by overcoming the adversity and difficulties.

We will protect a “beautiful village” that can never be recovered once lost.

Kamikatsu-cho was established in 1955 by the merger of two villages, Takahoko-son and Fukuhara-son. Currently, there are 55 settlements scattered in a town with a population of 1500 people.
In the past, there were many forestry workers in the main industry, and the cultivation of Satsuma mandarin was also active, but both have been decreasing. Especially Satsuma mandarin took a devastating blow from a severe cold wave in 1981. Against this background, "Irodori" business which was the first opportunity for Kamikatsu to attract attention was born.
The reason why the “Irodori” attracted attention is not only “leaves were sold”, but because the elderly men and women who are the producers used PCs and tablets to check the required number and manage the number. In fact, the same is true for the “Zero Waste Declaration” which was the first in Japan. It was not always been a town with a high level environmentally conscious, but it was a place where the custom of “open burning”, in which garbage was collected and burned in one place in the area continued.
A small incinerator was installed as a countermeasure against environmental deterioration, which was a concern, but it was found that dioxin emissions was exceeded the regulatory value, and it was closed in just three years. Finally, when we thought there is nothing we can do, we happened to come across the idea of zero waste.
The idea that was born in the face of adversity, and the power of the townspeople who took it positively and moved into action saying, “let's try.” With these two things, I think that Kamikatsu has become a municipality that attracts the attention of many people even though it is a small town. In this way, choices and actions have gradually affected the region and nurtured new changes.
With the completion of the Zero Waste Center “WHY” renewed in 2020, many observers and visitors visit, but the townspeople are not closed even though it's a small town in the mountains, and there is an atmosphere of acceptingnew people. This is just a generosity that has been nurtured by accepting many visitors since the period of “Irodori” and is like a by-product nurtured in the process of challenge.

Interviewed in October, 2021
Writer : Mikiko Tamaki / Photographer : Hiroyuki Tamura