The dishes we share at family dinners and gatherings with colleagues are important parts of life that enrich us.
However, we must not forget that many ingredients are discarded as waste without being eaten.
And in Japan, there are also children who struggle to obtain food for financial reasons.
Behind our abundant food culture lies a large amount of discarded food, while children struggle to get enough to eat because of the financial burden of poverty. This contradictory situation is happening in Japan, too.
Addressing these two major social issues through canned food is nail artist Chihiro Miyoshi, from Kurashiki City.
She delivers cans of “Konohitokan,” made using ingredients that would otherwise be discarded by restaurants and hotels, to children’s homes and children’s cafeterias.
We introduce why Miyoshi, a nail artist, decided to tackle food loss and poverty through canned food, and what kind of society she hopes to create.
The information presented was current when this article was published in February 2023. Please note that it may differ from current information.
What Is Konohitokan?
What is “Konohitokan,” canned food made from ingredients left over at hotels and restaurants?
Here, we introduce the ideas behind “Konohitokan.”
Konohitokan’s Activities
The Konohitokan General Incorporated Association addresses two social issues—food loss and poverty—through canned food.
So far, it has provided cans of “Konohitokan,” made using ingredients that would otherwise be discarded by hotels and restaurants, to facilities working to address poverty, including children’s homes and children’s cafeterias.
The project began in May 2020, when representative Chihiro Miyoshi called on hotels and restaurants to produce canned food.
Led by Hiroki Fujita, chair of Rokushikikai, an organization promoting Okayama Prefecture’s food service industry, and Ryugo Sato, head chef at the wedding venue THE MAGRITTE, they developed “Konohitokan,” canned food made using high-quality ingredients that would otherwise be discarded.
In addition to delivering “Konohitokan” to facilities in Okayama Prefecture that address poverty, they also hold events such as idea contests in which high school students from the prefecture propose ways to use Konohitokan.
Profile of Chihiro Miyoshi, Representative of the Konohitokan General Incorporated Association
Miyoshi is from Ueda City, Nagano Prefecture.
After graduating from high school in Nagano Prefecture, she took a job at a company in Tokyo to become financially independent.
She was already thinking about becoming a nail artist, but could not afford to attend a vocational school and spent her days struggling just to make ends meet.
She moved to Okayama after getting married and had three children, but raising them in an environment where she had few people to rely on seems to have been lonely.
Even while busy raising her children, she began studying to become a nail artist, a long-held dream, because she wanted to build connections with people in Okayama.
Since then, she has worked as a nail artist while cherishing the people she has met in Okayama.
Perhaps it is because Miyoshi understands the importance of engaging with the local community that a circle of support built through human connections has continued to grow.
Konohitokan’s Work to Date
The Konohitokan General Incorporated Association provides Konohitokan free of charge to children’s homes and children’s cafeterias on Children’s Day and at Christmas.
For its first donation, in December 2021, it provided Konohitokan to 10 children’s homes in Okayama Prefecture.
In November 2022, it planned a new initiative, the “Konohitokan 1,000-Can Project.”
It held a contest where high school students from 15 schools and organizations in Okayama Prefecture presented ideas for using Konohitokan.
The contest featured ideas directly addressing social issues, such as distributing cans to older people living in depopulated areas and providing them to children living in poverty overseas. Support based on the students’ ideas is now underway.
What’s Inside Konohitokan
Konohitokan, created by chefs at restaurants and hotels, comes in two varieties: Sakanakan and Nikukan.
Sakanakan was developed by Fujita, chair of Rokushikikai, and Nikukan by Sato, head chef at THE MAGRITTE.
Each can contains about 160 grams, enough to be eaten with rice for three to four people.
Another feature of Konohitokan is its seasoning, which makes it versatile enough to use in a wide range of dishes, such as pasta as well as rice.
In January 2023, they held a recipe contest using Konohitokan for children at children’s homes.
Photo courtesy of Konohitokan General Incorporated Association
Photo courtesy of Konohitokan General Incorporated Association
Interview with Representative Chihiro Miyoshi
What prompted Miyoshi, a nail artist, to create Konohitokan?
We asked Miyoshi about the story behind the canned food and the ideas it embodies.
Food Loss and Poverty
What events led you to develop Konohitokan?
Miyoshi (name omitted)
In April 2020, when restrictions on going out began to take full effect, I held a market event selling boxed lunches in the parking lot of my nail salon, together with friends who ran restaurants whose sales had fallen.
The event was a great success, with lots of people coming to buy boxed lunches every day, but there were also unsold lunches.
Watching the lunches being thrown away made me realize the problem of food loss, with large quantities of ingredients being discarded.
Through the market event, I had also thought seriously about the local community for the first time, and I think that made me more aware of social issues.
When I learned that “the equivalent of one bowl of rice per person in Japan is thrown away every day,” I felt a strong desire to raise awareness of food loss among more people.
Why did you decide to address poverty through food loss?
Miyoshi
Actually, at first I was planning to work on disaster preparedness, not poverty.
To make use of ingredients that would otherwise be discarded, I worked with chefs at restaurants and hotels to develop canned food for emergency stockpiles. But even though the ingredients would otherwise have been discarded, cans made with high-quality ingredients were expensive, and it was difficult to find places to provide them to.
I nearly gave up on the canned food, but Hiroki Fujita, chair of Rokushikikai, suggested that we reconsider how it could be used.
So I thought about how society might change as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
I imagined that as more households saw their incomes fall, poverty in Japan would become even more serious.
That’s when I decided to connect the two major issues of food loss and poverty, and deliver Konohitokan to people struggling to get enough to eat.
The Origins of Konohitokan
Tell us how the boxed-lunch sales got started.
Miyoshi
In March 2020, a friend who ran a restaurant told me, “There were two days this week when not a single customer came in.”
The changes in society caused by the COVID-19 pandemic were beginning to emerge.
By April 2020, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic had really begun to take hold, and I learned that my friends in the restaurant business were in a difficult situation.
I talked things over with my friends in the restaurant business and suggested that we sell boxed lunches.
I had no special knowledge about selling boxed lunches, but for the time being, I put up a tent in the parking lot in front of my nail salon and started a small-scale market event.
How did people respond to the boxed-lunch market event?
Miyoshi
I didn’t know how to promote it, such as through press releases, so I called newspapers and other media outlets and asked them to cover it.
With people being asked to stay home, demand for boxed lunches was probably high, too.
Many people came to the market event, and eventually 16 restaurants took part.
For one restaurant, the market event led to great success selling boxed lunches.
After switching to selling boxed lunches in various locations, its revenue increased. Some people turned the changes in society caused by the COVID-19 pandemic into a business opportunity.
The market event, which started in April 2020, continued every day for two and a half months, until the end of June. I remember it being packed every day.
The market event began because I wanted to help my friends, and its great success was also an experience that made me feel that what you envision can become reality.
Taking Action to Make the Vision a Reality
How did you connect with restaurant and hotel chefs?
Miyoshi
I kept proposing that we make canned food using surplus ingredients, calling restaurants and hotels introduced to me by acquaintances and visiting them in person.
Of course, since it was an unexpected proposal, I was turned down many times.
In the end, I contacted more than 200 places and kept at it for over two months.
As I continued contacting restaurants and hotels, I met people who were willing to accept the proposal, such as Mr. Fujita, chairman of Rokushikikai, and Mr. Sato, head chef at the wedding venue THE MAGRITTE.
How did you connect with children's homes?
Miyoshi
After deciding to tackle poverty through canned food, I called the social welfare councils in Okayama City and Kurashiki City.
Some people were taken aback by the unexpected calls, so there were many times when they wouldn't hear me out.
As I kept reaching out, people who understood Konohitokan's vision came forward, and I was able to make connections with children's homes and children's cafeterias across Okayama Prefecture.
After that, I was able to contact people at the children's homes directly and discuss the support they needed.
The Thoughts Behind the Canned Food
Is there anything you keep in mind when choosing where to deliver it?
Miyoshi
When choosing where to donate Konohitokan, we look for places where it can be delivered directly from one person to another.
For example, at children's homes and children's cafeterias, staff can give it to children along with a message.
We have also delivered Konohitokan as part of Charity Santa, an initiative in which volunteers dressed as Santa deliver presents to children in families experiencing poverty.
Rather than simply providing food, I believe that putting into words the thoughts behind it and sharing them with children also conveys love and kindness.
Have you learned anything from meeting people who need support in person?
Miyoshi
When COVID-19 spread, graduates of children's homes were reportedly struggling with food shortages.
So, in the support effort we carried out in December 2021, we decorated Konohitokan with Christmas wrapping together with the children at children's homes and gave it to the graduates as a present.
It was by meeting and listening to people in need that we realized what support was truly needed.
We recognized the mismatch in support rather than simply providing food, and were able to work on the support that children's homes truly needed.
The Future of Konohitokan
What kind of change will Konohitokan bring to society?
Miyoshi
I don't think Konohitokan alone can solve the problems of food waste and global poverty.
The number of people we can support is limited. No matter how hard we try, we can't make use of all the food in the world, and it would be difficult to deliver it to everyone.
Even if we limit our efforts to Okayama Prefecture, it may not be possible.
However, as we continue to share our message, more people will become aware of food waste and poverty.
Food that is needlessly thrown away and people who struggle to get a meal are actually close to home.
By becoming aware of these problems, we will naturally come to cherish the dinner in front of us.
I feel that Konohitokan can create an opportunity for society to become kinder.
What kind of initiatives would you like to pursue going forward?
Miyoshi
I will pursue activities that shine a spotlight on the people who support Konohitokan.
Surplus ingredients reach children who need support because so many people care—chefs at hotels and restaurants, staff at children's homes and children's cafeterias, and people in government and schools.
I want to show my gratitude by sharing what motivates them to be involved with Konohitokan.
And through activities that highlight the people who cooperate with us, I want to show children that there are many kind people in society.
As one such initiative, I started a program on Internet Radio Yumenotane Broadcasting Station, where I serve as host and introduce guests.
By shining a spotlight on the people who support Konohitokan, I hope to convey the warmth of society.
From the Writer
The circle created by Konohitokan continues to grow, bringing together restaurants and hotels, children's homes and children's cafeterias, and people involved in government and schools.
Miyoshi's character—her drive to put ideas into action right away and her candor in expressing her overflowing passion—is surely what draws so many people to her.
Miyoshi has consistently acted on the belief that “if someone is in need, help them.”
Whether it was restaurants whose sales had fallen due to COVID-19 or children at children's homes who were struggling to get food, she immediately took action wherever she could.
And as she kept working to help people in need, it grew into a major project that brings society together.
Miyoshi will continue moving forward, involving many people and bringing smiles to many faces.
Miyoshi's determination to take on the major challenges of food waste and poverty head-on has inspired me, too.
Konohitokan Information
| Name | Konohitokan |
|---|---|
| Held | Konohitokan is provided mainly on Children's Day and Christmas to children's homes and children's cafeterias in Okayama Prefecture |
| Location | 1240-3 Sasaoki, Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture |
| Admission (tax included) | Free |
| Website | Konohitokan |
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