OJIYA, Niigata – Yuki Kawakami is not your typical nishikigoi carp breeder. Aged just 30, she is the fourth-generation head of the renowned Torazo Urakawa Koi Farm in Ojiya. And, 16 years after a deadly earthquake struck this region, she is using social media – and her English skills – to promote sales abroad and help her business stay afloat in these latest challenging times amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The carp farm survived the earthquake, and Kawakami is confident it will survive the pandemic. "We'll also beat this coronavirus. Just you watch," she said.
In mid-October, Kawakami used a smartphone to take and send a video of some carp to a potential buyer in the United States. "Send more photos of these five carp," the customer quickly replied.
Each autumn, the carp are shifted to holding tanks where they will spend the winter. During a typical year, this would be the busiest season for breeders as buyers from across Japan and even overseas visit each day to buy these fish. But this year, there is not an overseas buyer in sight. Sales at Kawakami's farm have plunged by 40%. "We have to get through this somehow," Kawakami said, clutching her smartphone.
Just before 6 p.m. on Oct. 23, 2004, when Kawakami was a third-year student in junior high school, the Niigata Prefecture Chuetsu Earthquake devastated the region around the farm. The quake killed 68 people, registered a maximum 7 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale in the town of Kawaguchi (now Nagaoka city), and forced all residents from the village of Yamakoshi (now Nagaoka) to evacuate. In Ojiya, the earthquake caused the deaths of many ornamental carp and fighting bulls, a huge blow in an area where bullfighting is a local tradition. The shaking cracked about 30 breeding ponds and caused other damage at Kawakami's farm. Her father, Tsuyoshi, rescued many carp and moved them to holding ponds, where an electric generator kept oxygen flowing into the water.
Repairs to the farm's ponds were completed in the following autumn. Watching her father's unstinting determination to get his business up and running again one year on from the disaster left an indelible impression on Kawakami. After graduating from high school, she went to the United States to study and then found a job at a travel agency. However, it was only when an American buyer said, "Don't let the curtain come down on the Torazo brand" that she fully realized the standing of her family's carp business.
"Breeding carp is a job recognized around the world," Kawakami explained.
She returned to her hometown in April 2018 and started training as the farm's fourth-generation head.
However, the coronavirus pandemic completely changed the farm's fortunes. Overseas buyers, who account for the majority of sales, have become unable to travel to Japan.
Amid these tough times, Kawakami has leaned on her excellent English skills and the power of social media, which allows her to connect with people around the world, to give the farm hope of survival. To drum up wider interest in carp, Kawakami films scenes such as the fish spawning and how they spend summer in the pond, and then uploads them accompanied by English messages. She has received inquiries about purchasing carp from people in Europe, the United States, Southeast Asia and elsewhere. On some occasions, Kawakami has sold at least 10 fish in less than two hours.
"My daughter's great efforts are so encouraging," Tsuyoshi, 60, said happily.
Some carp are priced at over 1 million yen, so buyers prefer to see these fish with their own eyes before committing to a purchase. As such, it is difficult to predict when business at the koi farm might return to normal. Even so, Kawakami is doing everything she can to boost sales, such as switching to an app that allows her to send high-resolution images that accurately convey the vibrant colors of her fish.
"We're in a tough situation, but I want to use this as an opportunity to grow the number of carp fans and breathe life back into my hometown," Kawakami said.
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