After majoring in bio at university, got a job as an office worker in Tokyo.
Around 2014, when his father retired, he moved to Hokuto City and hoped to switch to agriculture, so he started farming together and started hop cultivation.
Initially, he went to Hokuto City only on weekends to engage in hop cultivation, but moved to Hokuto City as the scale expanded.
While still working for a company, he works with his parents on hop cultivation, harvesting, processing, packaging, analysis, sales, and sales.

If you want to jump into a new genre of occupation, and if that's something no one is doing, how many people will challenge you?
In this era when the quality of work style is questioned, many people must have this question.
Mr. Kobayashi, a hop farmer introduced this time, is one who has put himself into the challenge.
Why make that choice?I visited him with the question.

Mr. Kobayashi grows hops in Takane-cho, Hokuto City.
I often hear the word "hop" in beer commercials, but I think there are many people who can't answer even if they ask "what is a hop?"
That should be it.
That's because most hop farmers have contracts with major brewers or are owned by breweries, which is a fairly limited industry.
Meanwhile, Mr. Kobayashi is the only independent hop farmer in Japan who has no contract with anyone.
Currently, I grow about 20 kinds of hops with my parents.

In fact, hops are a costly and labor-intensive plant.
It requires a considerable initial investment, such as having to prepare dedicated equipment and machinery and using a large amount of fertilizer, and it takes about 5 years from the start of cultivation to the final harvest that can be shipped. It takes.

The optimum harvest period is only about 7 days from the latter half of July.
Even after harvesting, it must be processed quickly so that the aroma of hops is not lost as much as possible.
"Hop begins to deteriorate from the moment it is picked and loses its aroma. Moreover, it is also sensitive to ultraviolet rays. Over time, it smells like mold and cannot be used for beer preparation. All the manufacturers say, "I want to use hops that are less than 30 minutes old."

Of course, don't let your guard down just because you can now harvest.
It seems that the fight against the weather and illness is always waiting.
"By nature, hops can be totally damaged when infected with a disease. This year too, some types of hops got sick and the yield was reduced to one-third of the usual yield."

Heavy hop cultivation just by listening to this.
Therefore, hop farmers usually secure subsidies and profits by putting themselves under the umbrella of brewers and breweries.
However, Mr. Kobayashi dared to choose the path of an independent hop farmer that no one was doing.
Therefore, in addition to cultivation and harvesting, we carry out everything from processing, analysis, packaging, sales, and sales that ordinary hop farmers do not do.
When asked why he chose a hop farmer, he answered, "Rather, no one is doing it."What a bold and astonishing idea!

It was around 2014 that Mr. Kobayashi became involved in hop cultivation.
The trigger was Kobayashi's father's desire to "do farming."
At that time, Mr. Kobayashi worked as an office worker in Tokyo after majoring in biotechnology at the university's Faculty of Agriculture, but at the same time he began to be interested in agriculture, so he turned into a farmer with his parents.
I was looking for a crop that meets these three conditions: "suitable for the climate," "high market value," and "no need to sow."
(By the way, the condition that "it is not necessary to sow" is simply "because it is difficult to sow")

Another reason is the encounter with Mr. Sadayoshi Asakawa, who has been making hops for a long time in Hokuto City.
In fact, Hokuto City was once a major hop producing area, and is also the birthplace of the first domestically produced species, Kai Kogane.
However, with the rise of imported hops, the production volume has dropped sharply.
While the number of hop farmers, which was about 900 at the peak, disappeared rapidly, Mr. Asakawa said, "I don't want to lose the seeds of the first domestic species," Kai Kogane. "" I kept making hops.

Knowing its existence, Mr. Kobayashi decided to grow hops.
However, when I hit the gate to study under Mr. Asakawa, I was gently told that I should stop.
But Mr. Kobayashi didn't give up.
"Mr. Asakawa kept refusing for almost a month, saying," The domestic hop industry is declining, so you shouldn't do it. "(Laughs) But on the contrary, no one does it. Isn't it?Rather, I thought it was a business opportunity. "

Even after starting hop cultivation in earnest, trial and error has continued.
This is because hop cultivation has little data or information on cultivation because the industry is closed.
"Although it was good to start cultivation, there was no mention of cultivation methods as agriculture. Therefore, I actually visited Mr. Asakawa and farmers all over the country to teach me directly, or searched for books from overseas and read them. I researched my own cultivation method. "

In addition, he started a side business to earn foreign currency until it leads to profits.
While still working at a company, I cultivate hops in between.
Through the steady efforts, hop cultivation, which started from one pot at first, gradually expanded in scale.
It now has a total area of ​​up to 3 hectares in three fields.
In the future, he is planning to develop a dedicated machine to further improve work efficiency.

Mr. Kobayashi's hops have a good reputation for quality.
Customers include prestigious breweries such as Coedo Brewery, Yatsugatake Brewery and Far Yeast Brewing.
Besides, it is also useful for food companies and baker as a leaven.
It is because we are an independent farmer that we can provide high quality hops to various customers regardless of contracts or fixed wholesalers.
"When I started making hops, I was told," Japanese hops don't have individuality and I don't need them because imported products are enough. "Furthermore, at that time, my own processing technology was immature and the quality was inferior.So the most important thing for me is to value quality.For that reason, I will spare no effort to work overnight.When a brewer said, "Mr. Kobayashi's hops are truly amazing," I really thought, "I'm glad I did it!"

In addition, Mr. Kobayashi is also focusing on improving new varieties and providing agricultural guidance.
Eventually, he says he wants to be incorporated and expand into all businesses related to hops.
"Hop has the potential for raw foods and processed foods. It would be great if we could not only breed, analyze, and sell the original beer production, but eventually consult on businesses that use hops." The city is said to be the No. 1 land for farming, but the reality is that most people can't settle down and quit. To solve this problem, we will raise the profitability of hops themselves and cultivate crops for new farmers. I hope to be one of the options for. "

“I chose hops because I didn't have to sow seeds at first, but when I started doing it, it became a lot harder than I had imagined (laughs),” says Kobayashi.
But I like being able to keep doing this job.
Mr. Kobayashi found the value of "because no one is doing" for new things that no one is doing, and found it worthwhile.
Is making hops fun?When asked, "Of course it's fun!"
The answer, which hesitated, was determined.