Dialogue - Mikusa [Part 2] -

What will you do when you first visit the land of "Kurohime"?

Yoko : There was no real estate agency in town, so I just went around aimlessly. While doing so, I passed by someone, who connected me with the current owner of the land. Without that encounter, I wouldn't be here today. It was as if I was guided by fate, as within a month of visiting the land of "Kurohime", I found my current place, and in the second month, I picked up a sickle and saw and started developing it.

Hiroki : We didn't start developing the land based on any ideals or ideology. After searching for over 10 years, we finally found the ideal land. However, no matter how hard we tried, we just couldn't reach the open land nearby. There were times when we cried tears of frustration, and we almost gave up, thinking it was impossible for us. We knew it was the ideal land, but there was nothing we could do. In that cornered situation, a change of thinking was born, and that's what development was. If we could clear the untouched jungle-like forest ourselves, we could live there. Once we realized that, it didn't take long. Whether we could do it or not, we just wanted to live here, that was the only thing we had in mind. And so development began.

How long did it take to get to where you are now?

Hiroki : Eight years. I worked while commuting and slept in my car. It took five or six years to clear the land. It would have been quicker if we had only found a place to build a house, but we had a dream of raising horses and sheep in the future, and we also needed a certain amount of space to farm. As it is an area with heavy snowfall, the land is buried in snow for nearly half the year, making it impossible to work. It was also very rocky, with many large rocks. It took a long time to uproot the trees and move the rocks.

Yoko : At the same time, we also spent time collecting scrap materials for our future home. Whenever we heard that buildings were being demolished, such as a nearby US military house, a friend's family home, a storehouse, an old ice factory, or a shipyard, we went to get the scrap materials that were being thrown away. The amount of scrap materials filled more than 10 trucks, and we are now building three sheds to store them. The last building we demolished was the US military house where we had lived for a long time. Thanks to the kindness of the landlord, we were given a month to dismantle it with our own hands. We spent our days dismantling the building during the day, loading it onto a truck, and transporting it at night. It's hard to put into words, but it was a memorable and tough time in my eight years here.

Since you moved to Kurohime and have been developing and living here, have there been any changes in your work or your mental state? Has your perspective changed over the years?

Yoko : Through developing the land myself, my perspective on the landscape that had been created by so many of my predecessors changed dramatically. One day, I came down from the mountain, completely exhausted, and tears flowed uncontrollably at the sight of the endless rice fields that I was used to seeing. I wondered how many people had gone through so much hardship to create such a vast, flat piece of land.

It also changed the way I viewed our land. I still can't forget the shape, feel and posture of the trees that we had to cut down due to the location. I felt the weight of the time it takes for a forest to form, and I think my attachment to the land where I will spend my whole life has grown even deeper. It was a physically tough time, but now I treasure that experience.

Hiroki : From the beginning, I wanted to make everything related to my life from natural things and waste materials around me, like the self-sufficient Australians. So rather than feeling like I changed as a result of developing the land, I feel like I've finally come closer to what I was aiming for by getting my own land. When I lived in the US military house, I mainly made things using waste materials, but from now on, I'll be using more materials like trees that I cut down myself, and soil and stones that I dig up.

Having found the ideal piece of land, they decided to put down roots there, cleared the forest themselves, and are currently in the process of building a house, but what kind of future does they envision for themselves?

Hiroki : The activities of "Mikusa" are so diverse that it is difficult even for us to explain them, and I think it will take 30 years for people to truly understand what we were aiming for. It will probably take at least 12 years to show the prototype.

Yoko : When I first heard the story from Hiroki, 30 years seemed like a really long way away. But now that I've actually put my hands into it, I realize that it will take that long.

Hiroki : I am irresistibly drawn to the way people live and the things they make, who rely on their own hands and feet to survive in nature. I want to get closer to that deep spirituality and beauty, and now that such things are on the verge of disappearing from this world, I want to leave as much of them as possible behind. I hope that by getting even a little closer to that way of life, more than a few people will empathize and the circle will gradually expand. There are many things that we cannot protect or preserve on our own. That's why I want to continue working steadily, so that I can share my feelings with as many people as possible. I feel like that's the life I was given.

Yoko : We happen to live this kind of life, but I don't think that everyone has to live the same way. People live in different environments and with different encounters. But I think we can share our realizations, values, and feelings.

Hiroki : Japan is already blessed with plenty. I believe that if we just make better use of what we already have and the natural resources, people can live richer, happier, and more beautiful lives. I believe that much happiness and abundance is within reach if we just reach out and the nature around us is full of beauty. It's hard for us living in modern society to see this, and when I travel to the countryside in countries that are considered poor, I am often shocked to realize this. I would like to create things and live in a way that awakens such awareness. I believe that the things that are truly important, irreplaceable, and beautiful are actually right around us.