< Return to Video

EN_UMI-NO-OYA_FULL-FILM_2025_V4_SHORT_10Kbs-H265.mp4

  • 2:07 - 2:09
    It’s a cold winter night.
  • 2:10 - 2:12
    Fishermen are harvesting nori
  • 2:12 - 2:15
    a seaweed now appreciated the world over
  • 2:15 - 2:19
    for its use in making
    the famous maki sushi rolls.
  • 2:21 - 2:24
    Although the recipes date back
    to 18th-century Japan,
  • 2:24 - 2:28
    when nori began to be produced
    in square sheets,
  • 2:28 - 2:30
    it wasn't until the 1960s
  • 2:30 - 2:33
    that their popularity
    spread in the Western world.
  • 2:36 - 2:39
    Nori flavor is now enjoyed the world over,
  • 2:40 - 2:41
    but do we really know
  • 2:41 - 2:45
    to whom we owe
    the global spread of this delicacy?
  • 3:21 - 3:26
    There are many different deities.
  • 3:28 - 3:31
    Here we pray for maritime safety
  • 3:31 - 3:34
    as well as nori production
  • 3:36 - 3:38
    fish, shellfish
  • 3:39 - 3:42
    lots of things harvested from the ocean.
  • 3:45 - 3:47
    So every year
  • 3:49 - 3:52
    we hold a festival
  • 3:55 - 3:57
    to pray for
  • 3:57 - 4:00
    a bountiful harvest from the sea
  • 4:02 - 4:06
    In this region
  • 4:06 - 4:10
    nori is an important industry.
  • 4:11 - 4:13
    Drew contributed to
  • 4:13 - 4:20
    a successful nori harvest
  • 4:20 - 4:25
    so to give thanks for her research
  • 4:26 - 4:32
    she is treated like a deity.
  • 4:34 - 4:39
    Generally speaking, deities...
  • 4:41 - 4:44
    In Shinto there are deities.
  • 4:45 - 4:48
    This festival is to pay our respect
  • 4:48 - 4:49
    to this deity,
  • 4:52 - 4:54
    that is what makes Drew
  • 4:54 - 4:59
    worthy of such reverence.
  • 5:57 - 5:59
    This is Professor Fusao Ota
  • 5:59 - 6:01
    my teacher
  • 6:01 - 6:03
    an honored person.
  • 6:04 - 6:07
    It was mainly his idea
  • 6:07 - 6:12
    to erect a monument here.
  • 6:12 - 6:13
    He called for it.
  • 6:14 - 6:18
    This is Mrs. Segawa
  • 6:19 - 6:22
    she and Drew had a friendly relationship.
  • 6:25 - 6:30
    It was Professor Segawa who told us that
  • 6:30 - 6:33
    Drew had discovered that laver grows
  • 6:33 - 6:39
    in calcareous objects
    such as oyster shells.
  • 6:41 - 6:45
    It seems that
    Professor Segawa and Dr. Drew
  • 6:45 - 6:48
    had a friendly relationship.
  • 6:48 - 6:50
    They exchanged letters.
  • 6:52 - 6:54
    So in one letter, she wrote:
  • 6:54 - 7:03
    “Maybe Japanese nori
    also burrows in oyster shells?”
  • 7:03 - 7:06
    It was also Professor Segawa
  • 7:06 - 7:12
    who passed this on to Professor Ota.
  • 7:19 - 7:25
    It was here that artificial seedlings
  • 7:26 - 7:28
    were first harvested
  • 7:28 - 7:30
    in 1953.
  • 7:31 - 7:34
    At that time, nori production
  • 7:34 - 7:36
    in Kumamoto prefecture
  • 7:38 - 7:40
    was very low.
  • 7:42 - 7:47
    Then there was the great Kumamoto flood
  • 7:49 - 7:51
    so at that time
  • 7:52 - 7:56
    artificial seedlings became a hot topic.
  • 7:57 - 8:00
    Drew made her discovery before that
  • 8:00 - 8:02
    in 1949
  • 8:02 - 8:05
    and four years later
  • 8:07 - 8:12
    we were harvesting artificial seedlings.
  • 8:13 - 8:16
    So while production had stagnated
  • 8:16 - 8:19
    nori production increased
  • 8:19 - 8:23
    according to the aquaculture harvest.
  • 8:26 - 8:30
    So that's how nori production increased
  • 8:32 - 8:36
    but I remember the time before that
  • 8:39 - 8:42
    as I started working
    at the research institute
  • 8:42 - 8:43
    in 1958.
  • 8:46 - 8:48
    The Drew monument
  • 8:48 - 8:50
    was erected here
  • 8:53 - 8:54
    in 1963.
  • 9:03 - 9:05
    Yes, 60 years ago.
  • 9:05 - 9:07
    What is your best memory?
  • 9:07 - 9:08
    Well...
  • 9:13 - 9:18
    Inaugurating the monument
  • 9:18 - 9:23
    was the greatest accomplishment
  • 9:23 - 9:26
    of my youth.
  • 9:27 - 9:29
    I was really happy.
  • 9:30 - 9:32
    That was 60 years ago.
  • 9:36 - 9:37
    Do you feel nostalgic about that time?
  • 9:37 - 9:38
    Yes
  • 9:40 - 9:43
    At the time I was still single
  • 9:48 - 9:50
    but my fiancée was there
  • 9:52 - 9:57
    My fiancée wrote down what was said
  • 9:57 - 10:00
    beside the monument,
  • 10:02 - 10:04
    it’s all buried underground
  • 10:06 - 10:08
    like a time capsule.
  • 10:34 - 10:37
    The nori harvesting season
  • 10:37 - 10:40
    used to start on October 1st.
  • 10:42 - 10:44
    Now we have to wait
  • 10:44 - 10:46
    till around October 20.
  • 10:47 - 10:50
    In Uto, spring comes early
  • 10:50 - 10:53
    so the period for nori aquaculture
  • 10:53 - 10:55
    has gotten shorter.
  • 10:55 - 10:58
    This is because of climate change.
  • 10:58 - 11:00
    If we can stop global warming
  • 11:00 - 11:03
    the nori harvesting season can be longer
  • 11:03 - 11:07
    and production can become more stable.
  • 11:07 - 11:09
    Now due to global warming
  • 11:09 - 11:12
    the nori industry is gradually shrinking
  • 11:12 - 11:16
    and nori production is declining.
  • 11:17 - 11:20
    Also due to the rising price of oil
  • 11:20 - 11:22
    and other materials
  • 11:22 - 11:25
    it costs more to produce nori
  • 11:26 - 11:29
    so the number of nori farmers
  • 11:29 - 11:31
    is decreasing.
  • 11:32 - 11:35
    Now it's harder to make a profit
  • 11:36 - 11:39
    so production is declining.
  • 11:39 - 11:43
    So my family also quit the business.
  • 11:53 - 11:56
    Now we’re here.
  • 11:58 - 12:00
    Aquaculture used to be here
  • 12:00 - 12:04
    on the lower end of the Kikuchi river
  • 12:04 - 12:06
    there were seedling racks
  • 12:07 - 12:10
    Every year, according to our experience
  • 12:10 - 12:14
    this was the only place where seedlings
  • 12:14 - 12:17
    would be planted in the nori cultch.
  • 12:20 - 12:23
    The method was to charter a boat from here
  • 12:25 - 12:28
    to take out the cultch, seed the nori
  • 12:28 - 12:32
    then bring them back here to be farmed
  • 12:32 - 12:35
    as aquaculture.
  • 12:37 - 12:39
    They also came here
  • 12:39 - 12:41
    focusing on
  • 12:41 - 12:45
    Saga and Fukuoka prefectures
  • 12:47 - 12:49
    They gathered here.
  • 12:49 - 12:51
    Space is limited
  • 12:54 - 12:57
    so the local union
  • 12:57 - 13:01
    charges the highest fee possible
  • 13:01 - 13:03
    for the location.
  • 13:07 - 13:08
    It would be great if nori
  • 13:08 - 13:09
    could be seeded everywhere
  • 13:09 - 13:11
    but there are some places
  • 13:11 - 13:12
    where it doesn’t grow.
  • 13:19 - 13:21
    That’s why Drew tried
  • 13:23 - 13:25
    seeding inside the shells.
  • 13:25 - 13:29
    Artificial seedlings
    were successfully cultivated.
  • 13:31 - 13:32
    In an emergency
  • 13:32 - 13:35
    you can cultivate them locally
  • 13:36 - 13:39
    in your own space.
  • 14:02 - 14:03
    This is sea water.
  • 14:52 - 14:54
    Yamamoto Sensei tells us
  • 14:55 - 14:56
    in 1945
  • 14:56 - 14:58
    people on these shores could see
  • 14:58 - 15:01
    the Nagasaki atomic
    mushroom cloud in the distance.
  • 15:02 - 15:03
    Even the day after the disaster,
  • 15:03 - 15:06
    Kumamoto was still heavily bombed.
  • 15:10 - 15:12
    With the war over,
  • 15:12 - 15:14
    the situation was particularly difficult,
  • 15:14 - 15:15
    and food was scarce.
  • 15:17 - 15:20
    For many years,
    and long before the war,
  • 15:20 - 15:23
    Japanese scientists
    had been already striving
  • 15:23 - 15:25
    to understand nori’s complete life cycle
  • 15:25 - 15:28
    so that it could be
    cultivated more reliably.
  • 15:29 - 15:30
    Different theories clashed,
  • 15:30 - 15:32
    so when young Fusao Ota
  • 15:32 - 15:35
    succeeded in
    germinating spores on oyster shells
  • 15:35 - 15:37
    in 1953,
  • 15:37 - 15:40
    the national academic society
    did not immediately
  • 15:40 - 15:43
    recognize these results
    and even questioned it.
  • 15:44 - 15:45
    But the following year
  • 15:45 - 15:47
    its accuracy was successively proven
  • 15:47 - 15:49
    in neighbouring prefectures.
  • 15:52 - 15:53
    By 1955,
  • 15:53 - 15:55
    people traveling along the coast
  • 15:55 - 15:57
    could see the countless nets
  • 15:57 - 15:59
    of seaweed offshore.
  • 20:31 - 20:34
    My name is Yumiko Shimada
  • 20:34 - 20:38
    I was born and raised in Kawachi town.
  • 20:38 - 20:40
    Ever since I was little
  • 20:40 - 20:42
    I have been involved
  • 20:42 - 20:48
    in my parents’ nori aquaculture.
  • 20:49 - 20:50
    Of course
  • 20:50 - 20:51
    I have been helping
  • 20:51 - 20:53
    since elementary school
  • 20:53 - 20:55
    I would come home with my school bag
  • 20:55 - 20:57
    and look toward the factory
  • 20:57 - 20:58
    If the lights were on
  • 20:58 - 21:00
    I would drop my school bag at the door
  • 21:00 - 21:02
    and go help.
  • 21:02 - 21:04
    I watched my father and mother
  • 21:04 - 21:06
    struggle for a long time
  • 21:10 - 21:12
    but I didn't think about
  • 21:12 - 21:15
    spreading the goodness of nori
  • 21:16 - 21:19
    until I was around 30 years old.
  • 21:19 - 21:20
    Up until then
  • 21:20 - 21:24
    I just saw it as a family business.
  • 21:28 - 21:31
    In 1964, around then
  • 21:31 - 21:34
    we quit doing it the old way.
  • 21:34 - 21:36
    Up until then we used
  • 21:36 - 21:38
    the cracks in the bamboo
  • 21:38 - 21:40
    That was how we cultivated nori
  • 21:40 - 21:42
    like this, we plucked it out
  • 21:42 - 21:44
    we could only get 2,000 sheets
  • 21:44 - 21:46
    in one day.
  • 21:47 - 21:50
    At that time the price was 20 yen.
  • 21:54 - 21:57
    So we earned enough money to eat
  • 21:58 - 22:00
    but in summer
  • 22:01 - 22:05
    we didn’t make enough
  • 22:06 - 22:10
    so we caught fish so that we could eat.
  • 22:10 - 22:13
    Every day we went fishing.
  • 22:14 - 22:15
    Artificial seedlings
  • 22:15 - 22:17
    as my mother mentioned earlier
  • 22:17 - 22:19
    it was all natural until then.
  • 22:19 - 22:23
    I think it was probably in 1948 or 1949
  • 22:23 - 22:26
    that Professor Ota established
  • 22:26 - 22:29
    the artificial seedlings.
  • 22:31 - 22:35
    As for developing techniques for nori ,
  • 22:35 - 22:37
    for example
  • 22:37 - 22:38
    Freezing technology
  • 22:38 - 22:40
    and floating technology
  • 22:40 - 22:43
    were combined in the 1950s
  • 22:43 - 22:47
    so nori began to grow faster
  • 22:47 - 22:49
    But thanks to the prior contributions
  • 22:49 - 22:51
    of Professor Fusao Ota
  • 22:51 - 22:53
    the nori industry really began
  • 22:53 - 22:54
    to develop artificial seedlings
  • 22:54 - 22:56
    by planting them in oyster shells
  • 22:56 - 22:58
    and putting them on nets.
  • 23:00 - 23:02
    If you don't use a microscope
  • 23:02 - 23:03
    you can't tell
  • 23:03 - 23:05
    if the filaments
  • 23:05 - 23:06
    are attached or not.
  • 23:07 - 23:08
    But it's best to
  • 23:08 - 23:11
    buy your own microscope
  • 23:11 - 23:12
    then by looking
  • 23:12 - 23:14
    into the microscope
  • 23:16 - 23:17
    then right away, right there
  • 23:17 - 23:19
    you can work with the sea.
  • 23:19 - 23:21
    After the professor taught me
  • 23:21 - 23:23
    how to use the microscope
  • 23:23 - 23:24
    I was able to do it
  • 23:24 - 23:25
    step by step
  • 23:25 - 23:27
    accumulating skills along the way,
  • 23:27 - 23:27
    even now.
  • 23:28 - 23:31
    Once we looked into the microscope
  • 23:31 - 23:33
    we could see right away.
  • 23:35 - 23:38
    We could see from the color
  • 23:38 - 23:41
    It was lit up in color.
  • 23:41 - 23:45
    We followed what Ota-sensei was saying
  • 23:45 - 23:49
    as he taught us to recognize the shapes.
  • 23:51 - 23:55
    The spores were like this
  • 23:55 - 23:59
    all lined up...
  • 24:03 - 24:07
    After they came out in vertical lines
  • 24:08 - 24:11
    then a few hours later
  • 24:13 - 24:17
    they were ejected from the shells
  • 24:17 - 24:22
    So we had to prepare the shells.
  • 24:24 - 24:27
    I didn’t quite understand at first.
  • 24:29 - 24:32
    Of course, to us
  • 24:32 - 24:37
    Ota-sensei was a God
  • 24:37 - 24:39
    God, God.
  • 24:45 - 24:46
    In recent years
  • 24:46 - 24:49
    annual nori production in Japan
  • 24:49 - 24:53
    has been less than 5 billion sheets.
  • 24:53 - 24:56
    This year in the Ariake Sea
  • 24:56 - 24:59
    red tides spoiled the harvest
  • 24:59 - 25:02
    so we only harvested
  • 25:02 - 25:04
    around 5 or 6 billion sheets.
  • 25:06 - 25:09
    I think the nori farmers are doing this
  • 25:09 - 25:12
    as a matter of course.
  • 25:12 - 25:15
    They don’t have a particular desire
  • 25:15 - 25:17
    to do research.
  • 25:19 - 25:21
    They just want
  • 25:22 - 25:23
    to get good nori
  • 25:23 - 25:25
    delicious nori.
  • 25:26 - 25:28
    So in order to get good nori
  • 25:30 - 25:32
    they need to buy a microscope
  • 25:32 - 25:35
    and learn how to look into the microscope
  • 25:35 - 25:37
    and learn from others
  • 25:37 - 25:40
    how to put the seedlings on the nori.
  • 25:40 - 25:43
    so today I learn from my neighbor
  • 25:43 - 25:45
    If someone is successful
  • 25:45 - 25:47
    let’s see how they’re doing it
  • 25:47 - 25:48
    so little by little
  • 25:48 - 25:50
    we're doing our own research.
  • 26:08 - 26:09
    Tides
  • 26:13 - 26:15
    floodings
  • 26:20 - 26:21
    algae blooms
  • 26:26 - 26:27
    typhoons
  • 26:32 - 26:33
    heatwaves
  • 26:39 - 26:41
    earthquakes
  • 26:46 - 26:47
    tsunamis
  • 26:53 - 26:54
    volcanos
  • 26:59 - 27:01
    atomic bombs
  • 27:11 - 27:14
    the powerful forces of the Earth System
  • 27:23 - 27:26
    the driving forces of human activities
  • 27:42 - 27:43
    In the 1950s
  • 27:43 - 27:46
    Professor Ota shared with passion
  • 27:46 - 27:49
    the new practical science
    of nori aquaculture.
  • 27:49 - 27:51
    These were also the years
  • 27:51 - 27:52
    that marked the beginning
  • 27:52 - 27:53
    of a major acceleration
  • 27:53 - 27:55
    in the impact of human activities
  • 27:55 - 27:57
    on the Earth System.
  • 27:58 - 27:58
    This sudden, severe
  • 27:58 - 28:01
    and irreversible acceleration
  • 28:01 - 28:04
    making humanity
    a planetary geological factor
  • 28:04 - 28:07
    was considered to mark
    the beginning of a new era
  • 28:07 - 28:09
    the Anthropocene.
  • 28:13 - 28:15
    But humanity is too presumptuous
  • 28:15 - 28:17
    to agree on the issue.
  • 28:17 - 28:19
    And although geological institutions
  • 28:19 - 28:21
    accept the idea of human impact
  • 28:21 - 28:22
    they refuse for now
  • 28:22 - 28:25
    to consider it a new epoch.
  • 28:30 - 28:32
    To define a geological epoch
  • 28:32 - 28:34
    they need a located site
  • 28:34 - 28:35
    recording the marks of the impact
  • 28:35 - 28:36
    over deep time.
  • 28:37 - 28:39
    The thermonuclear tests
  • 28:39 - 28:41
    on the Bikini and Enewetak atolls
  • 28:41 - 28:44
    in the Western Pacific from 1952 onwards
  • 28:44 - 28:46
    and their radioactive fallout
  • 28:46 - 28:48
    have been proposed as markers
  • 28:49 - 28:51
    alongside other concurrent markers
  • 28:51 - 28:55
    from pesticides
    to heavy metals or micro-plastics
  • 28:55 - 28:58
    all traces dating from after 1950.
  • 29:00 - 29:01
    Several sites
  • 29:01 - 29:02
    recording all these traces
  • 29:02 - 29:03
    were studied
  • 29:04 - 29:05
    such as Beppu Bay
  • 29:05 - 29:07
    northeast of the Aso volcano
  • 29:07 - 29:09
    in neighboring Oita prefecture
  • 29:09 - 29:12
    halfway between Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
  • 29:12 - 29:15
    The bay also records high levels
  • 29:15 - 29:16
    of phosphates and nitrates
  • 29:16 - 29:17
    and unprecedented
  • 29:17 - 29:20
    microplankton community changes.
  • 29:23 - 29:24
    Crawford Lake in Ontario
  • 29:24 - 29:26
    was the final choice
  • 29:26 - 29:28
    of the Anthropocene Working Group.
  • 29:28 - 29:29
    But this didn’t convince
  • 29:29 - 29:31
    the decision-making committee.
  • 29:41 - 29:43
    With global warming and algae blooms
  • 29:43 - 29:45
    today’s nori producers
  • 29:45 - 29:47
    have to reinvent themselves.
  • 29:49 - 29:52
    Can we imagine
    human resilient systems
  • 29:52 - 29:54
    still in line with a functional
  • 29:54 - 29:56
    and evolutionary ecology?
  • 29:56 - 29:57
    In order to help
  • 29:57 - 30:00
    our living environments to regenerate?
  • 30:46 - 30:49
    ... which talks about
    the micro and the macro worlds
  • 30:49 - 30:52
    of seaweeds,
    of this very queer
  • 30:52 - 30:56
    and underestimated
    biomass of planet Earth.
  • 30:56 - 31:00
    ... so while algae blooms
    have a threatening character
  • 31:00 - 31:02
    towards us humans,
  • 31:02 - 31:05
    it's also a fact
    that algae blooms are...
  • 31:05 - 31:07
    or algae and phytoplankton
  • 31:07 - 31:09
    are providing more than 50%
  • 31:09 - 31:12
    of oxygen into our atmosphere.
  • 31:37 - 31:39
    Haneda Airport was built
  • 31:39 - 31:41
    at the time of the Olympics.
  • 31:42 - 31:44
    Nori was harvested in the area
  • 31:44 - 31:47
    of what is now Haneda Airport.
  • 31:48 - 31:50
    So by the time Haneda Airport opened
  • 31:50 - 31:52
    the nori factories had left.
  • 31:53 - 31:55
    Because the Ariake Sea was
  • 31:55 - 31:57
    a good spot for nori factories
  • 31:57 - 31:59
    now over 50% of the nori
  • 31:59 - 32:02
    that is industrially manufactured
  • 32:02 - 32:05
    is harvested from the Ariake Sea.
  • 32:08 - 32:12
    When did people
    start eating nori in Japan?
  • 32:12 - 32:14
    It was a long time ago
  • 32:14 - 32:15
    in the Jomon period
  • 32:15 - 32:17
    when people were also probably
  • 32:17 - 32:20
    eating fish and shellfish.
  • 32:21 - 32:23
    But it seems that it was not
  • 32:23 - 32:26
    in the form of square sheets
  • 32:26 - 32:27
    like paper
  • 32:30 - 32:33
    It was more like wakame
  • 32:33 - 32:34
    dried wakame.
  • 32:35 - 32:38
    So people first started eating
  • 32:38 - 32:40
    crunchy dried wakame
  • 32:40 - 32:42
    in the 18th century
  • 32:42 - 32:44
    in the form of sheets.
  • 32:45 - 32:47
    We skipped past the history of nori
  • 32:47 - 32:49
    up to the 18th century
  • 32:49 - 32:50
    but before then
  • 32:50 - 32:53
    in the year 701
  • 32:53 - 32:56
    there was the Taiho Code
  • 32:56 - 32:58
    in Japanese law.
  • 33:01 - 33:04
    Nori started to be used
  • 33:04 - 33:07
    as one kind of tax payment.
  • 33:09 - 33:11
    Nori was just one
  • 33:11 - 33:15
    among many other ways to pay tax.
  • 33:15 - 33:17
    For example, you would have to give
  • 33:17 - 33:20
    a whole lot of wakame or fish or rice
  • 33:20 - 33:23
    so it was better to switch to nori.
  • 33:23 - 33:24
    People understood that
  • 33:24 - 33:26
    in contrast
  • 33:26 - 33:28
    nori was very efficient.
  • 33:29 - 33:32
    Nowadays tax is paid in money
  • 33:32 - 33:36
    but at that time, in ancient times
  • 33:36 - 33:38
    people paid tax with objects
  • 33:38 - 33:40
    as a contribution to the Emperor.
  • 33:40 - 33:43
    If they paid tax in rice or wakame
  • 33:43 - 33:46
    they had to contribute a lot of it
  • 33:47 - 33:49
    so they thought nori
  • 33:49 - 33:51
    was a pretty good option.
  • 33:52 - 33:54
    Of course, you might think
  • 33:54 - 33:55
    that in ancient times
  • 33:55 - 33:57
    everyone ate it
  • 33:57 - 33:59
    but most people did not eat it
  • 34:00 - 34:03
    It was mostly fishermen who ate it.
  • 34:06 - 34:08
    Fishermen ate nori
  • 34:08 - 34:10
    and the imperial family
  • 34:10 - 34:12
    thought it must be good
  • 34:12 - 34:16
    so they asked to receive nori.
  • 34:17 - 34:20
    So after 701, around that time
  • 34:22 - 34:25
    the noble class
  • 34:28 - 34:31
    wealthy people ate it.
  • 34:32 - 34:33
    At that time, it was not yet
  • 34:33 - 34:35
    in the form of flat sheets
  • 34:36 - 34:38
    They still ate it like this.
  • 34:41 - 34:44
    So it was probably mixed with rice
  • 34:44 - 34:47
    or eaten as is.
  • 34:49 - 34:53
    Today’s aquaculture is also very primitive
  • 34:53 - 34:55
    but they use a method
  • 34:55 - 34:57
    of hanging shellfish
  • 34:57 - 34:59
    that contain nori babies
  • 34:59 - 35:01
    underneath the net.
  • 35:03 - 35:04
    So thanks to Drew
  • 35:04 - 35:07
    the quantity of nori harvested
  • 35:07 - 35:10
    gradually expanded.
  • 35:11 - 35:12
    The most nori produced
  • 35:12 - 35:14
    was about 10 billion sheets.
  • 35:14 - 35:16
    Before Drew
  • 35:16 - 35:19
    it was only about 3 or 4 billion sheets.
  • 35:19 - 35:20
    So thanks to Drew
  • 35:20 - 35:21
    they could harvest
  • 35:21 - 35:23
    more than 10 billion sheets.
  • 35:24 - 35:25
    Although the quantity
  • 35:25 - 35:26
    is once again declining.
  • 35:30 - 35:33
    Why is nori so delicious?
  • 35:34 - 35:38
    Because it has 3 umami ingredients
  • 35:39 - 35:42
    Kombu contains glutamic acid
  • 35:44 - 35:48
    Bonito flakes contain inosinic acid
  • 35:48 - 35:52
    Shiitake contains guanylic acid
  • 35:52 - 35:54
    Mushrooms contain a "tasty" ingredient
  • 35:54 - 35:56
    called guanosine monophosphate.
  • 35:58 - 36:00
    The only natural food that contains
  • 36:00 - 36:02
    the three famous representative
  • 36:02 - 36:04
    tasty ingredients
  • 36:04 - 36:08
    the one unique natural food product
  • 36:08 - 36:10
    is nori.
  • 36:28 - 36:30
    Please try it.
  • 36:32 - 36:36
    ... the 20 essential amino acids
    that we need for life
  • 36:38 - 36:43
    ... you see which one is hydrophilic
    which one is hydrophobic...
  • 36:58 - 37:00
    Could we use it as seasoning?
  • 37:00 - 37:02
    Yes, why not
  • 37:07 - 37:10
    You know the phycocyanin
    actually is really good
  • 37:10 - 37:12
    as a hormone regulator
  • 37:13 - 37:16
    in France they sell
    as a pill like this
  • 37:18 - 37:22
    There's not much
    scientific research going on
  • 37:22 - 37:25
    but as I met lot of
    spirulina farmers
  • 37:25 - 37:28
    they all say
    this colour is so magic
  • 37:29 - 37:31
    it's good for your hormones
  • 37:32 - 37:36
    for the regeneration
    of your DNA as well...
  • 37:54 - 37:59
    I'm mad with that because
    it's a bit like vinegar, but with citrus...
  • 38:01 - 38:02
    kefir...
  • 38:05 - 38:06
    then you boil it...
  • 38:10 - 38:12
    Also please
    write down the recipes
  • 38:20 - 38:24
    spirulina and oil...
  • 38:26 - 38:28
    It's very dark, look...
  • 38:30 - 38:31
    you can paint with this
  • 38:35 - 38:36
    smells good
  • 38:38 - 38:41
    just that the egg white
    is not coming out
  • 38:41 - 38:42
    during the boiling process
  • 38:43 - 38:45
    so now we're going
    to dip it into...
  • 38:49 - 38:51
    What do you say?
    3 minutes?
  • 38:51 - 38:53
    or 7 minutes?
    or 10 minutes?
  • 38:53 - 38:54
    I think 7
  • 38:54 - 38:56
    7 minutes ok, 7...
  • 39:02 - 39:06
    This is our interpretation
    of seaweed inoculation.
  • 41:12 - 41:14
    We're back at the Ariake Sea
  • 41:15 - 41:18
    The Drew Festival
    takes place the day after tomorrow.
  • 41:19 - 41:23
    It will be the 60th anniversary
    of the Drew-Baker memorial.
  • 41:24 - 41:27
    Today we're invited
    next to Yamamoto Sensei's lab space,
  • 41:27 - 41:30
    to cook with
    the ladies of Noriko’s Kitchen
  • 41:30 - 41:33
    who will prepare
    the gifts for the ceremony.
  • 41:34 - 41:37
    We appreciate nori
    more and more every day.
  • 42:07 - 42:08
    Next time
  • 42:08 - 42:14
    on the 18th or the 14th
  • 42:14 - 42:17
    the day after tomorrow.
  • 42:18 - 42:19
    Boil it
  • 42:19 - 42:24
    let it cool off in the refrigerator overnight
  • 42:29 - 42:31
    It will clump together
  • 42:31 - 42:33
    so you can cut it into small pieces
  • 42:33 - 42:35
    That’s how
    you make it (tokoroten).
  • 42:35 - 42:37
    I think we have some here somewhere.
  • 42:38 - 42:39
    Then it's ready to eat?
  • 42:42 - 42:44
    Yes, with sauce.
  • 44:13 - 44:15
    When the nori gets old
  • 44:15 - 44:18
    you can’t eat it raw
  • 44:18 - 44:20
    so eating it
    like this (tsukudani)
  • 44:20 - 44:22
    it still tastes good.
  • 46:23 - 46:24
    Thank you very much.
  • 46:26 - 46:29
    Since you left the fishing cooperative
  • 46:29 - 46:30
    what are you doing now?
  • 46:30 - 46:32
    Now I have a nori shop
  • 46:32 - 46:34
    I opened my own nori shop.
  • 46:34 - 46:35
    Oh, in Kawachi?
  • 46:35 - 46:36
    In Kawachi
  • 46:36 - 46:39
    Wow, really? That’s great
  • 46:39 - 46:41
    I’m doing my best
  • 46:43 - 46:44
    Thank you, see you later.
  • 46:59 - 47:01
    We will now begin
  • 47:01 - 47:03
    the 60th commemoration event
  • 47:03 - 47:05
    to the Drew Monument
  • 54:00 - 54:02
    Hello everyone.
  • 54:02 - 54:04
    As introduced, I’m the local Uto mayor
  • 54:04 - 54:06
    Motomatsu Shigeki
  • 54:06 - 54:10
    This is the 60th Drew festival.
  • 54:10 - 54:12
    It was a very difficult year
  • 54:12 - 54:13
    but I’m so glad
  • 54:13 - 54:15
    we were able to hold it this year
  • 54:17 - 54:20
    I think you all know
    the story of Ms. Drew,
  • 54:20 - 54:23
    Dr. Drew’s discovery of nori filaments,
  • 54:23 - 54:25
    then Ota sensei’s development of
  • 54:25 - 54:28
    artificial cultivation techniques.
  • 54:28 - 54:29
    From these events
  • 54:29 - 54:31
    Japan’s nori aquaculture techniques
  • 54:31 - 54:33
    spread around the world
  • 54:33 - 54:35
    and became established.
  • 54:37 - 54:40
    You have been fishermen for many years
  • 54:40 - 54:43
    I guess you know that your techniques
  • 54:43 - 54:46
    are originally based on Dr. Drew's
  • 54:46 - 54:49
    and Professor Ota’s work.
  • 54:50 - 54:51
    We might have thought that
  • 54:51 - 54:54
    nori aquaculture would go on naturally…
  • 55:04 - 55:09
    The clearing fog reveals
  • 55:09 - 55:12
    a sea of treasures
  • 55:12 - 55:16
    Today another hopeful
  • 55:16 - 55:20
    day is dawning
  • 55:20 - 55:24
    In the early morning tide
  • 55:24 - 55:28
    the boats set out
  • 55:28 - 55:31
    Praying for their safety
  • 55:31 - 55:36
    we saw them off
  • 55:36 - 55:39
    Now with our own hands, we accept our task
  • 55:39 - 55:43
    We of the fishing village
  • 55:43 - 55:47
    accept our task.
  • 56:06 - 56:07
    A recent scientific study
  • 56:07 - 56:10
    has described how the microbiota
  • 56:10 - 56:11
    of the Japanese population
  • 56:11 - 56:14
    has undergone
    a lateral transfer of genes
  • 56:14 - 56:16
    from eating nori over centuries,
  • 56:17 - 56:20
    enabling Japanese people
    to better digest the seaweed
  • 56:20 - 56:22
    and assimilate its nutrients.
  • 56:23 - 56:25
    We evolve through what we eat.
  • 56:26 - 56:27
    The food system accounts
  • 56:27 - 56:30
    for a third of global carbon footprint.
  • 56:30 - 56:33
    How can seaweed
    contribute to the long-awaited
  • 56:33 - 56:35
    food and ecological transitions?
  • 56:36 - 56:40
    How can we get even
    more seaweed on our tables?
  • 56:41 - 56:43
    And how can today's nori producers
  • 56:43 - 56:45
    reinvent themselves and find resilience
  • 56:45 - 56:48
    in the face of global warming?
Title:
EN_UMI-NO-OYA_FULL-FILM_2025_V4_SHORT_10Kbs-H265.mp4
Video Language:
Japanese
Duration:
59:27

English subtitles

Revisions Compare revisions