Members of the press concerned about the vacant house problem Baton LLC
Reduce the number of vacant houses in Japan to zero with
next-generation hydroponic cultivation! Achieve food self-sufficiency rate of 100%!
Rebooting vacant houses across Japan into Mirai-type hydroponic farms ……
Baton LLC (Minamiawaji City, Hyogo Prefecture) is seriously aiming to simultaneously solve the serious vacant house problem and food self-sufficiency problem throughout Japan. To that end, we will start a hydroponic cultivation business using an empty house.
[Image 1: https://prtimes.jp/i/66387/10/resize/d66387-10-bd560f182d7c07a210a7-5.png&s3=66387-10-bdc3596a9df8399ab2d9ac6437113de2-1694×916.png ]
Our company supports April Dream, which aims to make April 1st the day to share dreams. This press release is a dream of “Baton LLC”. My name is Baton LLC (representative: Kosuge Koki), a company located in Minamiawaji City, Hyogo Prefecture that develops specialty products for the city. Starting in 2022, our company will develop and sell “Island Boar Delicious and Spicy Game Ajillo”, which uses wild boars from Awaji Island, and “Awaji Kawarameshi”, which uses Awaji tiles, a specialty of Minami-Awaji City, for the lid of kamameshi. I have done so.
[Image 2: https://prtimes.jp/i/66387/10/resize/d66387-10-642c8fe01a2fd26ad289-7.jpg&s3=66387-10-b4e2ada63efa0f6aefae38eba3298051-3712×2475.jpg] Island boar delicious and spicy wild game jillo
[Image 3: https://prtimes.jp/i/66387/10/resize/d66387-10-6ede5a0977d3d395b8fb-9.jpg&s3=66387-10-83acd37792bb0109fd75f46511f99693-3900×2600.jpg] Awaji tile meal
Meanwhile, I received a consultation from someone who said, “I have a vacant house, but I have no use for it, and I am in trouble because of the fixed asset tax and maintenance costs.Is there a way to utilize it for some kind of project?” At the same time, I have long been concerned about Japan’s low food self-sufficiency rate.
Is it possible to solve these two issues at the same time?
[Image 4: https://prtimes.jp/i/66387/10/resize/d66387-10-00ef1ae6511292ec8c79-6.jpg&s3=66387-10-99fee6d2e5ac0ccff03ffebf7cfab763-2025×2700.jpg] Thinking about it in the old house I just bought…
One day, at a business meeting, I met a company that was developing a completely pesticide-free vertical hydroponic cultivation system. Using confidential technology, it is said that it is possible to grow a variety of crops “easier, faster, cheaper, and more delicious” than traditional hydroponic cultivation.
[Image 5: https://prtimes.jp/i/66387/10/resize/d66387-10-ca9f9525665eace62535-9.jpg&s3=66387-10-2442feac0626d366dc75bed1310d9748-900×1200.jpg] Facilities visited. Lots of strawberries.
When I saw this, I thought of it. “If we install this equipment in all vacant houses, we can solve both the vacant house problem and the food self-sufficiency problem at the same time!!”
In order to do that, we must first install this equipment in-house, operate it as a model room, and increase the number of people who are interested.
I immediately approached various people in Minami-Awaji City about this idea, and one of them agreed, and I was able to rent a certain space. That’s here.
[Image 6: https://prtimes.jp/i/66387/10/resize/d66387-10-09752896d769bccdbe93-10.jpg&s3=66387-10-867030cd84fc14c91d5f3b67a4ef254d-3900×2925.jpg] A rented place. It used to be a flounder farm.
This place looked like an abandoned factory, and there were so many unnecessary things that it seemed like it would be difficult to clean up. However, I heard that this place was previously used as a flounder farm, and if you look closely, you can see that the oval concrete aquarium equipment is still in use. It was actually the perfect place for me, as I had wanted to eventually try aquaponics (recirculating agriculture that combines hydroponic cultivation and aquaculture) at a hydroponic cultivation facility.
However, this is where things got tough. There is a lot to do, such as cleaning up unnecessary items, cleaning the whole place, and installing the roof. It’s difficult to introduce everything in text, so please take a look here.
[Video 2: https://prtimes.jp/api/movieim.php?url=www.youtube.com/watch?v=csj3p8ga9j4 ]
After going through this process, we finally completed our own hydroponic cultivation facility (commonly known as “Awaji no Hatake”) in December of last year. We are currently in the stage of verifying the profitability of the crops we grow and the growing environment, but even I am surprised that they are growing so well, even though I have no experience in farming. In addition, this equipment uses vertical hydroponic cultivation, which allows for more effective use of limited space compared to conventional horizontal hydroponic cultivation. What’s more, it’s all organic, safe and secure. We have been very impressed with the quality of the crops we have grown on a trial basis.
[Image 7: https://prtimes.jp/i/66387/10/resize/d66387-10-834a3b1e07aa2ebd1f70-13.jpg&s3=66387-10-6570d9ef4f70c1a7a3a220da2dc17769-2194×2925.jpg] Test cultivation: mini tomatoes
[Image 8: https://prtimes.jp/i/66387/10/resize/d66387-10-605dcabf50108f2386c5-11.jpg&s3=66387-10-d577bcad249245d88c94317d70999df2-2194×2925.jpg] Test cultivation: coriander
[Image 9: https://prtimes.jp/i/66387/10/resize/d66387-10-a08961c43d9eb94f816d-11.jpg&s3=66387-10-6d7a4bf51b3d5959a3c084d28526bce2-2194×2925.jpg] Test cultivation: cucumber
[Image 10: https://prtimes.jp/i/66387/10/resize/d66387-10-76cb620ab704ebc54445-12.jpg&s3=66387-10-ec071ecb70f1b7680a9782e67d50131f-2194×2925.jpg] Test cultivation: arugula
It is predicted that the number of vacant houses in Japan will reach 19.55 million by 2033. If a vacant house is left unattended, it will quickly become damaged and the risk of collapse increases.
Additionally, more than 10 years have passed since Japan’s food self-sufficiency rate fell below 40% on a calorie basis. We believe that these two issues are social issues that must be urgently resolved precisely because we live in an era where the future is uncertain in every sense, including natural disasters and geopolitical risks. We are very grateful that we have also received inquiries about business collaboration from companies that are facing similar challenges. Among them, we would like to introduce comments from Yuki Kanamori, representative director of Pointer Co., Ltd.
Business partner company: Pointer Co., Ltd. Comments from Yuki Kanamori, CEO
[Image 11: https://prtimes.jp/i/66387/10/resize/d66387-10-652a1fb57bcf23a26543-15.jpg&s3=66387-10-f81ac810216286d47df05ce96e4a583a-800×800.jpg] I feel that Batonsha’s measures to deal with vacant houses and to improve food self-sufficiency are meaningful as they are consistent with our company’s mission of maximizing value and contributing to society by providing services to restaurants. We believe that by collaborating in business between our company and Batonsha, we can expect synergies that will allow us to make better use of each other’s strengths.
In addition to Pointer, we have received inquiries about collaboration with multiple companies. Our company’s dream of “reducing the number of vacant houses in Japan to zero through next-generation hydroponic cultivation! Achieving 100% food self-sufficiency!” is not something that we can achieve alone. We definitely need the cooperation of those who sympathize with this project. If you are a company or business owner who is interested, please let us know. We also welcome inquiries from people who are already running businesses that utilize vacant houses.
Starting from the completed “Awaji no Hatake”, our ultimate dream is to “reduce the number of vacant houses in Japan to 0! Achieve the food self-sufficiency rate to 100%!”, and aim to solve the problem of vacant houses and improve the food self-sufficiency rate all at once. We will seriously aim to solve the problem at the same time. I am deeply grateful to PR TIMES for providing me with the opportunity to make this declaration.
Baton LLC
https://llcbaton.co.jp/
“April Dream” is a project by PR TIMES in which companies broadcast their dreams that they hope to eventually come true on April 1st. We are seriously aiming to make this dream come true
More details about this release:
https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000010.000066387.html