ARTICLES
Fishermen, hunters, dairy farmers, and other producers create a guidebook for the town of Tokachi Hiroo, "PIRUY," which has just been launched.
"PIRUY," a "town guidebook made by producers" that brings together the creativity of people working in primary industries such as dairy farmers and fishermen in Hiroo Town, Tokachi, Hokkaido, was launched on April 1, 2022.
The 52-page booklet is packed with the deep charm of Hiroo Town, including introductions to recommended spots in the town, gourmet information, and introductions to the hunters, surfers, fishermen, and woodworkers who work in the naturally rich town.
"The World's Strangest" "Producers Editorial Department"
Maya Nakamura, who was involved in the production as editor-in-chief, is a former editor at Gourmet Media. She moved to Hiroo Town in April 2022. We spoke to her about this publication.
Maya Nakamura
Hunter and Editor
Originally from Miyagi Prefecture, she changed careers from a gourmet media editor to a hunter. She is affectionately known as "Mayamon the Deer Girl." Her motto is to enjoy life in a delicious way, and she does everything from catching deer to butchering them. She also actively works as a freelance editor, designing logos and pamphlets, writing, and planning and managing events.
-What led you to produce "PIRUY"?
At first, we were thinking about making a map of Hiroo Town, but we also thought that we might as well make something that would have a physical form, and since I used to be an editor producing magazines, I thought I could use my skills in that.
As we were doing this, Kikuchi Aki, representative of Piroro Planning and a dairy farmer, gave us the go-ahead, saying, "Okay, let's make a cool magazine about Hiroo town, even if we have to self-publish it!" Co-representative and fisherman Hoshi Koichi said, "I want to nurture the seeds of talent that are about to blossom in our town. I've never done writing or editing or anything like that, but I'd like to help in any way I can," and so the "unique" "Producers Editorial Department" was formed, and production began.
Aki Kikuchi, dairy farmer and representative of Piroro Planning
Fisherman Koichi Hoshi
--Is there anything that you would like people to see?
I tried to make the photos and writing "not like an interview", and I enjoyed it as much as I could. Even though it was an interview, I enjoyed the conversation and took my time to experience it. Even though it was a photoshoot, the photographer took the pictures as he liked. I've done a lot of interviews up until now, but I don't think I've ever been to such a free location.
When interviewing a man in a beet field, for example, I ran over to the field and suddenly asked him to do an interview (laughs). I think you can see in many places in PIRUY that the production team really enjoyed themselves in Hiroo Town.
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