Nishiogiology - 西荻町学

We asked about the state of business after moving from the Showa-era Market on Ginza Street to the current location. "It's been twenty years now. After all, it's a bigger space here. It wasn't so roomy before. You can put out a greater variety product. Then naturally the number of customers will increase. I feel a sense of responsibility (to the customers). When customers say, ‘I want that,’ or ‘I want this,’ I'll try to have as many seasonal items as possible."

 

Greengrocers have a different relationship to customers than do supermarkets, Kodaka explained. "Supermarkets feel the same all year round,” he said. “After all, they buyers aren't face-to-face (with customers). They just have the goods. We're face-to-face with customers. If you sell something you don't think tastes good, you won't be able to stay in business. That’s what you have to be most careful about. That's why. So, you have to keep your eye on everything. If something doesn’t meet the market price, you can’t get it. You have to get something else.”

 

The number of small restaurants and eateries in Nishiogi is one key feature of the local market. “. “This is a neighborhood with many private restaurants,” Kodaka said.  “That's why I have to keep my eye on the inventory. I'm paying attention to that. Today, if I see this is good, I’ll put it in.”

 

The greengrocer also shapes the business of local restaurant owners as well, he explained.

"Some items on a menu are decided on a daily basis,” Kodaka said. “Many owners come to see what we have, and then decide on the daily menu. I will recommend this item today. Others will place orders, of course, and we will prepare it for them as they need it.”

Kodaka will also consider costs for these commercial customers. “For example,” he explained. they will want items A, B and C. But A may be expensive, so I will recommend that they can make a delicious dish with C. They will be happy about that because A is too expensive. Of course.”

 

Ordinary household customers are still the mainstay of the business, he said. The ratio of restaurants to ordinary households is about three to seven, he explained.

 

There is no time-series data on the numbers of greengrocers in Japan, but Kodaka told us that they are decreasing year by year. According to government statistics, the number of greengrocers nationwide in 2018. The number of greengrocers in Tokyo was 911or 14.72 greengrocers per 100,000 people in Tokyo. Tokyo is only 33rd place among 47 prefectures nationwide. By the way, Kochi Prefecture was ranked first, with 30.49 greengrocers per 100,000 people (with a total of 225 greengrocers in rural Kochi Prefecture). Tokyo is thus on the lower side.

 

Nishi-Ogikubo, however, seems to be, according to our observations, a place where greengrocers are still thriving.  “There are quite a lot of restaurants here,” Kodaka explained. “However, sales to restaurants are high-volume and low margin.” The restaurants in Nishiogi that we have interviewed so far are trying to provide tasy food while keeping costs down. The local greengrocer plays a role in this.

 

With these thin margins, business is not easily sustained financially. “This job is difficult,” he said. “I have to make a living. I just can't do it as a hobby. I have to make a profit. In the end, customers want to buy quality produce. If you have good quality, the customers will come from far away."

 

Kodaka says it is important for him to serves as a connoisseur of vegetables. “It is something people put in their mouth,” he explained. “If you don't take responsibility for your products, you won't stay in business. That's it. If you can do that, customers will come. You have to find good products, so go to the market early. Only by getting there early are you going to keep getting things. There may be something good that is C. So even if you are looking for A, there are times when C is better. That is how you get your profit. Do you have the eyes to see all the items available and think about what people are going to feel like eating? There have always been connoisseurs."

 

Choosing vegetables relies upon the eyes and the nose, he said.  “You don't have to taste it,” he said. “You can tell by the smell (picking up a tomato and putting it to his nose). Tomatoes will smell completely different. Greenhouse tomatoes won’t have this smell.”

 

Appearance also matters, he said, such as the coloration on a naturally grown tomato. “With greenhouse tomatoes, this color doesn't come out. This is a natural tomato,” he said, holding up a green and red mottled tomato. “That's why the taste is completely different. Different fields will grow them different. They are not all delicious. In production areas in the mountains, the temperature at night drops sharply. If it doesn’t go down, then they are no good. That's why Hokkaido's vegetables are delicious all year round. In the summer produce from Hokkaido is delicious no matter what you eat. But the temperature is changing over the last few years, so if we keep on like this (shifting towards greenhouse plants), it is ridiculous. After a while, the customers will not be able to eat delicious food.”

 

Kodaka contrasted the approach of greengrocers towards stocking vegetables to that of supermarkets. "(At the supermarket) it's stocked in the refrigerator for about two days. It is purchased from market and put out, bunch by bunch. It's a problem if they run out of an item. That item would not appear in the store." For Kodaka, on the other hand, the vegetables procured that day are sold out the same day. “It's no good in the evening in the summer, so I feel like I'll sell it even if I make a loss on it. It’s a very reasonable price. Supermarkets will do this for sushi, but not for vegetables.”

 

Vegetables are relatively easy to judge, Kodaka said, but fruits are a different story.

"Fruits are different depending on the temperature, so even if you say that it was delicious last year, it could be off now, depending on the temperature. For examples oranges. We all know Wakayama oranges, Ehime oranges. If you stick to these and buy them, it's expensive. But there are other good ones. Kumamoto still has a good mountainous terrain. The taste of oranges from the mountains is completely different. In the end, you must taste one. So, we will try them at the market, then buy.”

 

We recently hear news about soaring vegetable prices, but from Kodaka’s perspective this is just a healthy interaction between the weather and market price. “This is just the weather,” he said. “If a typhoon doesn’t come, the price of vegetables will plummet…. But when a typhoon comes, it takes out about one third of the produce, so the market price goes up. If the typhoon doesn't come, everyone has a good harvest, but the price drops to nothing.”