Passion ~ Conveying the charm of the region with baked goods made from Ikasa and Bingo ingredients

Interview with Yoshifumi Yamawaki of pasión

We spoke with Yoshifumi Yamawaki, who makes baked goods and syrups using ingredients from the Ikasa and Bingo regions.

The entrance to making sweets is community development

What were you doing before you started pasión, Mr. Yamawaki?

Yamawaki (honorific omitted)

Before starting pasión in the spring of 2017, I moved around the country doing various jobs.

I worked as a kindergarten teacher in my hometown of Fukuyama, as a bus driver in Tokyo, and as a patissier at various confectionery shops in Yamaguchi and other places.

While wandering around Japan, I also experienced seasonal work cultivating local specialties.

I also went to Spain casually to experience foreign cultures and lifestyles.

I thought Spain was a country that has established a lifestyle completely different from that of Japanese people.

Even at shops that open at 8:30, there was a relaxed atmosphere where opening at 9 was acceptable, and it was impressive to see everyone enjoying their work.

I thought, "Work should be there to enjoy life and enrich it."

pasión means passion in Spanish, which is the same in English.

Was there a trigger for starting pasión?

Yamawaki

Although I was wandering around the country and abroad, I returned to Fukuyama to work as a certified care worker after my mother suffered a cerebral hemorrhage.

Feeling that I wanted to utilize my experiences in my hometown, I participated in a regional player training course called "Ikasa Inaka College," organized by the Ikasa Wide Area Tourism Association, in 2013.

After completing the one-year course, I was involved as a secretariat and learned about community development and regional revitalization.

I began to deepen my exchanges with friends who wanted to liven up the Ikasa region and instructors in the field of community development. Many of them were working on interesting projects with their own ideas, and I was influenced by them.

Amidst this, I received a request to make a cake using strawberries from the Kasaoka reclamation area, based on my experience as a patissier.

At the strawberry farm, there was a concern that not only the juicy and visually appealing strawberries that would be sold at supermarkets were produced, but also rough strawberries that could not be sold fresh.

The consultation was about whether we could effectively utilize those rough strawberries and make them delicious.

The rough strawberries have less moisture and are actually suitable for processing, so a delicious cake was completed. This was the first baked good made using ingredients from the Ikasa region.

As my interest in community development and regional revitalization grew, I experienced being a Community Revitalization Cooperator in Yoshii-cho, Ibara City, for one year starting in October 2015.

Speaking of Yoshii-cho, it is known for "Meiji gobo." This burdock, grown in fine clayey red soil fields at an altitude of about 400 meters, is characterized by its pleasant aroma and soft texture.

Becoming a Community Revitalization Cooperator allowed me to see the production sites more realistically than before.

I realized that in order to brand local ingredients, we must overcome numerous challenges such as aging issues and business succession, which made me think about how I could get involved.

I wondered if I could utilize my strengths to convey the charm and stories of the region more.

By that time, I had encountered various ingredients beyond just Meiji gobo.

Rather than focusing on one thing, I had a desire to try a broader approach, like drawing a map.

I resigned from the Community Revitalization Cooperator position in 2016 and created a workshop with the help of my father.

In May 2017, I started pasión. Initially, I began with six types: Meiji gobo, strawberries from the Kasaoka reclamation area, fully ripe lemons from Rokushima, sweet oranges from Kitagi-shima, turmeric from Oe, and black soybeans from Tamashima.

Using delicious ingredients that have a strong impact

The baked goods from pasión convey the taste of local ingredients directly, but do you have any particular commitment in making them?

Yamawaki

To convey the flavor of the ingredients as it is, I keep the dough simple and not too sweet.

Actually, I personally dislike sweet things (laughs).

I believe that any ingredient can be commercialized, but the ingredients I use have originality and stories related to the history of the region where they were produced. Also, there is the personality of the person cultivating them.

Such ingredients are often so delicious that they give a strong impact when eaten.

For example, the fully ripe lemons from Rokushima.

The trigger was a lemon tree that an old lady on the island had carefully nurtured.

When I happened to visit, she said, "These lemons are delicious," so I jokingly asked, "Can I try one?"

Normally, lemons are too bitter and astringent to bite into with the skin on.

However, that lemon from Rokushima was so sweet that I could actually bite into it right there, and I was surprised.

Even now, the pound cake made with fully ripe lemons from Rokushima is a popular product at pasión.

My encounters with ingredients happen in such a natural flow.

I don't often go out searching for them myself; rather, I often receive suggestions from people involved in regional revitalization, saying, "Can we do something with this ingredient?"

Mushima - The island where the daffodils planted by the islanders bloom, the southernmost island of Okayama Prefecture

The Kasaoka Islands' Mushima is located at the southernmost point of Okayama Prefecture. From late January to mid-February, the daffodils planted mainly by the islanders bloom all over the island, filling the area with...

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Conveying the goodness of ingredients not only to customers but also to producers

Why do you start from harvesting?

Yamawaki

First of all, I want to visit the production sites and hear directly from the producers about any ingredients.

By tasting them on-site, I can feel the charm of the region and the background of the ingredients.

There are ways to procure ingredients, but I believe that seeing the production site allows for emotions to be infused into the sweets, and through the sweets, we can convey the charm and situation of the region.

Moreover, no matter how wonderful the ingredients are, there are individual differences due to the environment, such as trees and soil, which makes some ingredients suitable or unsuitable for processing, so I value the opportunity to select and harvest ingredients on-site.

Additionally, as I continue making sweets and visiting the region, I hope to create one of the factors that can make the region even more vibrant by building trust.

When people see us enjoying the harvest, they often say, "I want to try that too," or "I didn't know there were such ways to get involved."

For the locals, it becomes an opportunity to feel the value of those ingredients, thinking, "This is an interesting initiative that comes every year."

Also, I think I continue because I genuinely enjoy the harvesting process.

For me, making sweets is merely a "means" to convey the charm of the region and ingredients to many people. To put it extremely, if the production area flourishes, I would even consider stopping making sweets and starting something else.

There are truly attractive ingredients in Ikasa and Bingo. I would be happy if many people could learn about them through pasión and simultaneously develop an interest in the region.

From the Writer

I often encounter pasión at markets, and for me, who moved to Okayama four years ago (2017), it has been a place of many discoveries, such as "Oh, this ingredient is famous around here!" and it excites me.

The syrup soda made with fully ripe apricots from Tajiri-cho, Fukuyama City, which I tasted for the first time during the interview, was so delicious that I set a goal to "go to Tajiri during the season when the apricot blossoms are in full bloom."

When Yamawaki went to Spain, he thought, "Work should be there to enjoy life and enrich it."

The baked goods from pasión, which make you feel close to the region when you eat them, truly enrich life.

Colorful baked goods made by a patissier with experience in community development and revitalization. Please give them a try.

And be sure to ask Yamawaki about the origins of the ingredients.

pasión (Pasión) Information

Name	pasión (Pasión)
Parking	Available According to the market where it will be set up
Business Hours	Participating in markets in Okayama Prefecture and the Bingo region
Payment Method	Cash
Homepage	pasión (Pasión) Website

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