A visit to Okinawa Partners, spring in 2019

In March 2019, members of GRØN traveled to Okinawa to visit producers.
Under the strong, pouring Okinawan sunshine, the plants that become GRØN's materials were growing very healthily.

They are all very lovely people, with a gentle yet dignified nature.

1. Mugwort farmer Shirota (Yaese Town)

Mr. Shirota, who works energetically in the fields, is still in good health even though he is over 80 years old.
Grown with love and without the use of pesticides.

The mugwort that Shirota grows is a variety called western mugwort, which has soft buds and little bitterness, and is known as a Japanese herb that contains many medicinal ingredients.

Visit the production area of Ryukyu mugwort and fuuchiba

2. Purple sweet potato farmer Nagai (Itoman City)

Mr. Nagai is smiling as he clutches purple sweet potatoes in the fields.
After harvest, they plant a type of wheat in the field to preserve the nutrients in the soil, and they make every effort to grow purple sweet potatoes using only natural forces as much as possible.

Okinawa has attracted worldwide attention as a "blue zone" area with a large population of healthy centenarians, and the nutritional content of local vegetables is also being re-examined.

Reference: "Blue Zone" and Okinawa's "Nuchigusui"

The source of Okinawa's longevity: Purple sweet potato

3. Shell ginger farmer Arakaki (Itoman City)

Arakaki-san showed us around his fields where he grows shell ginger and sugar cane.
He told us that the strength of Okinawan plants that can survive typhoons comes from their high dietary fiber content.

Shell ginger has been a support for life in Okinawa, where the temperature is high and humidity. It has strong antibacterial properties, and is used as a deodorant and insect repellent due to its insect repellent, mold prevention, and antibacterial properties.

About shell ginger, a beauty herb that grows wild in Okinawa

By incorporating this material, which has thrived under the Okinawan sunshine, into GRØN products, our desire to contribute to the beautiful and healthy lives of even more people has grown even stronger.

Thank you to Mr. Taira and Mr. Matsui for showing us around.

Photo by Moeko Sawada