The Resolve of Citrus Farmer Mr. Miyamoto - Miyamoto Farm, Mr. Miyamoto

Hello, this is Okada from ANTELOPE.

November. As we begin to feel the leaves turning color, Uwajima has entered the peak of its mandarin orange harvest.

I traveled to visit Mr. Miyamoto, a citrus farmer who has taken care of us every year, to help with the harvest and conduct an interview.

Meeting Mr. Miyamoto

It was about three years ago that I first met Mr. Miyamoto.

I wanted to try using blood oranges, but thinking it unlikely they were grown in Japan, I was surfing the web and found the "Miyamoto Farm" website around the fifth page of search results.

I felt I had to contact him immediately, so I called him. It turns out that a request to make honey-based alcohol and a desire to visit in person were both firsts for Mr. Miyamoto, and he was quite wary of me.

Even so, I was so persistent that he finally agreed to invite me to his farm.

"I'm glad you weren't a scammer," he said with a laugh during our first meeting.

I asked Mr. Miyamoto: "What does love for your work mean to you?"

"That's a difficult question... I suppose I’m just working hard year after year with the single-minded goal of growing delicious citrus. It’s not really love; maybe it’s a sense of resolve."

Resolve, not love.

Perhaps he could grow delicious citrus without doing anything at all, but no matter how hot the day or how much his body aches, if there is work to be done for the fruit, he sees it through to the end.

That dedication seemed to truly embody Mr. Miyamoto's resolve.

While harvesting oranges together, I found that rather than just being a stoic craftsman, Mr. Miyamoto is full of playfulness, creating a warm and fun atmosphere for everyone around him. The sound of laughter echoed through the orange grove.

I thought that surely, it is because the oranges hear such voices that they become so delicious.

Even if Mr. Miyamoto doesn't call it love, his oranges are bathed in an abundance of it.