"Bread is just a means to an end. What I want to do is think about how to create connections with the local community and society."
Daisuke Sasagawa, the production manager of "Kamapan" at the Food Hub Project in Kamiyama, Tokushima, always seemed to be struggling for words, as if to say, "When I make bread, my hands move so smoothly, but the words always slip through my fingers."
On September 30, 2024, " Au Pan & Coffee ," which was launched with the help of Monosus and the Food Hub Project of Kamiyama Town, Tokushima, opened in Kurokawa Onsen, Kumamoto. Sasagawa-san still accompanies the local team. How was his experience making "local bread" in Kamiyama utilized in building the "Au Pan & Coffee" team? We would like to share the answer based on an interview with Sasagawa-san.
" In a hot spring town in Kumamoto, a bakery solves local issues and builds a community. Producing a bakery built on local relationships. "
Why did Kurokawa Onsenkyo offer the Food Hub the job?
About an hour and a half by highway bus from Hakata Station, or about an hour by car from Kumamoto Airport. Kurokawa Onsen is one of Kumamoto's leading tourist destinations, located in the mountains of the Aso region. Based on the idea of "Kurokawa Onsen Ichi Ryokan," the 30 ryokans and the scenery of the Satoyama are likened to one ryokan, with each ryokan considered a "detached room" and the small paths connecting the ryokans as "corridors," and the whole region has been working to enliven Kurokawa Onsen.
However, with the end of the era of large-scale tours that were popular during the high-growth and bubble periods, hot spring trips have become more personal. Furthermore, mountain towns are facing serious labor shortages due to depopulation and an aging population. In particular, the number of Japanese cuisine chefs is decreasing nationwide, making it difficult for inns to secure chefs. In addition, the traditional style of hot spring inns, which provides one night stay and two meals, is no longer compatible with the needs of inbound tourists seeking diverse experiences.
In response to these challenges, Takamichi Otonari, owner of the inn "Oku no Yu," came up with the idea of "separating accommodation and dining." If guests staying at Kurokawa Onsen had a place to eat, wouldn't it be unnecessary for each inn to have its own kitchen? With the help of a "business restructuring subsidy" from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, which supports businesses responding to the post-COVID-19 pandemic, Otonari created " Au Kurokawa, " a local food hub centered around eight restaurants.
Takamichi Otonari, Representative Director of the Kurokawa Onsen Tourist Inn Association and Owner of the Inn "Oku no Yu", at the Au Pan & Coffee opening reception. Photo by Maeda Tomotsugu.
The building is complete. So, what kind of store should we create? While considering a suitable store for "Au Kurokawa," the idea of "creating a bakery" came to mind.
When they were looking for a bakery to partner with, they came across the Food Hub Project (hereafter referred to as Food Hub). Like Kurokawa Onsen, Kamiyama is a town in a mountainous area that shares the same issues of depopulation and aging as Kurokawa Onsen. Otonari had previously visited the town as a "successful example of regional revitalization."
After receiving the offer from Otonari and his team, Monosus and Food Hub decided to first check whether Sasagawa wanted to do it. What did Sasagawa think when they asked him if he wanted to do a project to create a bakery in Kurokawa Onsen?
Gathering amateurs to create a shop rooted in the community
"As to whether it's possible or not, I would say it's possible. There were many aspects where I could take the lead, so I thought I could do it."
Sasagawa-san recalls how he felt when he was approached about the idea. At the time, he remembered an article he had read in the daily Itoi Shimbun newspaper around the time the Food Hub was launched, called "The Big World of Home Cooking," a conversation between chefs Yoshiharu Doi and Shigesato Itoi .
Daisuke Sasagawa, head of Kamapan production, at Au Pan & Coffee. Photo by Maeda Tomotsugu.
"Mr. Doi said, 'I'm just gathering amateurs together and creating a new restaurant.' The reason for this is that if you have poor skills, you will only do what you want to do, but amateurs are serious, so they do things other than cooking properly as well, and they think about what the food in this restaurant should be, rather than someone else's cooking, which is fine."
What especially stayed in my mind was the words of Mr. Doi, "The most beautiful and delicious thing is to do what is appropriate for each land." Mr. Sasagawa decided to hire "amateurs" who had no experience in bread making.
"Rather than hiring one craftsman, I wanted to hire three part-time workers. At my previous job, I was managing with just one full-time employee and one part-time worker, but it worked surprisingly well. Three ideas are better than the functions of one person, and I have experienced that a team is overwhelmingly stronger than one person with poor skills trying to do things their own way. Doi was the one who put this into words. Because he had embodied it at Kamapan, the logic behind it meant that it could be done elsewhere too."
The members employed at Au Pan & Coffee were all novices when it came to bread making, except for those who had worked part-time at a bakery for a year. The so-called bakers started from scratch. After receiving training at Kamapan for about a month, the members moved to Kurokawa Onsen and began "building a bakery."
Training in Kamiyama injects identity
Regular white bread, super soft white bread, raisin bread, bacon epi, vegetable loaf, donuts... Au Pan & Coffee has many of the same breads as Kamapan. However, when you eat them, they have a different taste than Kamapan. Of course, there are differences in the ingredients, such as the milk used and the bacon in the epi, but I felt that these alone could not explain the difference. So what is it that creates the taste of bread?
Sasagawa instructs Au Pan & Coffee store manager Shoichi Kikuchi on how to fry donuts.
"I think it completely depends on a person's identity, or way of thinking. I have no doubt about that. If you don't understand the essential reasons why that person is making bread, even if the bread tastes good, it won't be the same. Au Pan & Coffee's bread is delicious and beautifully made, but I think the inside is still a long way to go. That's why when we had them come to Kamiyama and train at Kamapan for a month, we thoroughly instilled their identity in them."
During the training, while teaching bread-making techniques, time was also spent in meetings where each member shared their own ideas. "To put it bluntly, technique is secondary," says Sasagawa.
"Once you learn the basics of bread baking techniques, you can bake bread using the Kamapan recipe, but that means you're just providing a recipe. How do you connect with the local community? How do you connect with society? Bread is merely a means to an end. That's why during the training we constantly discussed 'why are we doing this?' The most important thing was to convey what the Food Hub has been trying to do. This time, Miyoshi (Sawairi) from the Food Hub joined the local team, so it was important that there wouldn't be too much of a discrepancy as long as she was there."
The main message he wanted to convey was, "Think about things for yourself, make decisions for yourself." He wanted to create a team that would think for themselves and do what they thought was best, not because someone or the owner said so.
At Kamapan, we value the time our staff spend listening to each other's thoughts.
"At work, I always try to make black-and-white decisions, like yes or no. But instead, I express my opinion. If you know there are drawbacks, you decide, 'Well, I'll do it this way for now,' and I wanted to convey that it's important to let that feeling of uncertainty hang over you. Bread is a repetition of that. Through making bread, I hoped to convey that the state of not knowing is important, and that if you lose that state of not knowing, you lose your sense of self."
Fermentation doesn't go well, and even if you think you're doing it the same way, the bread might turn out differently. There are many things you don't understand in the daily life of making bread. Whenever this happens, you have to stop and hold a meeting, think about it for yourself, and exchange opinions. Before teaching bread-making techniques, Sasagawa wanted to convey the importance of the process.
Seeing the same view with all the members
After the training at Kamapan, we visited some bread producers around Kurokawa Onsen. The purpose of the program was to give the participants the experience of "building relationships with the local community and making bread within those connections."
"I think that going on research together as a team is a distinctive feature of food hubs. I think it's important for everyone to see the same scenery together. At the time, I was careful about how much of my conversations with the farmers and producers I was listening to. If we just went to look together, we wouldn't be able to connect, and it would just be a tour and that would be it. To properly connect with producers, we need to position ourselves and the producers within the social ecosystem, understand each other, and then have a conversation. This time, I really felt like I was able to connect properly with the producers."
The ingredients used at Au Pan & Coffee are sourced within a 50km radius of Kurokawa Onsenkyo. They bake bread while cherishing their connections with local producers. Photo: Maeda Tomotsugu.
Among the producers they visited, some were known locally, but no one knew who was making what. The research by Au Pan & Coffee may have been a thread that wove together the relationships in the community, even if it was a thin one. However, Sasagawa also said, "I don't think it's right to feel like you know something about the community just because you saw something in the community." So what kind of bread is a bakery rooted in the community, or "community bread"?
"I feel like bread that has a connection to the community is a little different these days. Before, it was about 'making it with people you know' and 'having people you know eat it'. But it's kind of different now. It's more like a presence. Nowadays, it's better if people eat it, but I'm happy just to be recognized as 'that Kamapan place over there and the person who works there is the PTA president.' I think that continuing to bake bread here means it is community bread."
Mr. Sasagawa seemed frustrated as he said, "Words can lead to misunderstandings, so it's difficult." I think he probably has a strong feeling for it inside him, and what he does at Kamapan is what makes it "community bread." And that's why he tried to communicate that to the members of Au Pan & Coffee by "seeing the same scenery."
Photo by Maeda Tomotsugu.
Let's "ferment" relationships well
Wanting to put into words the outline of Sasagawa's inner thoughts, I decided to use an analogy with bread. For example, what if we thought of Kamapan as a shop that ferments just like bread - what if the fermentation process is driven by the natural yeast of the Kamapan team, as well as relationships with local producers and people? Upon hearing my analogy, Sasagawa laughed with delight and said, "That's really interesting! I've heard some great stories today." Oh, but I was supposed to be the one interviewing him and listening to him...
"Yes, yes, Kamapan has become what it is today because of the fermentation of relationships. At Kurokawa Onsen, many people were involved, including designers, store planners, and exterior designers, so I hope that things will continue to ferment from here. Fermentation doesn't work well if the timing is wrong. There may be times when it's best for me to get involved, but I think it's quite important how my bacteria affect Au Pan & Coffee. Because I'm not on site all the time, it's difficult to gauge the right distance and the timing for my involvement."
Miyoshi Sawari, who was seconded from Food Hub to help open Au Pan & Coffee. Photo by Maeda Tomotsugu.
Mr. Sasagawa always says, "I don't want people to call me a baker," and listening to him speak, I think I understand what he means a little better. Of course, there's no doubt that he is worthy of being called a baker, given his technique, wealth of experience, passion for bread, and sense. However, I think what Mr. Sasagawa wants to create is "something" that is created through bread.
"I believe that bread is something that everyone should be able to touch, so I didn't want to make it something that only I could touch. I didn't think it was right to open my own shop and say, 'This is Sasapan.' Lately I've been thinking a lot about what is delicious, and I think it's important to be ordinary. I want people to think, 'That was delicious' when they eat it. There's no need for explanations, and they don't need to see the hard work that went into it. Something that is made with care and thought is delicious, and I think Kamapan's bread has a particularly strong sense of that."
Kamapan has been open for almost nine years. The yeast for Au Pan & Coffee has just been born. I'm sure that as the years go by in the daily life of Kurokawa Onsen, the relationship between the two will ferment and produce a unique flavor. I would love to eat bread and coffee at Au Pan & Coffee again someday. Please come to Kurokawa Onsen too! Soak in the very pleasant hot springs and try the bread and coffee that can only be found in Kurokawa.
Photo by Maeda Tomotsugu.
SUGIMOTO Kyoko
Freelance writer. Since autumn 2016, she has been serializing ``Kamiyama no Musumetachi'' in Hinagata, in which she interviews women who have moved to Kamiyama.