this is a day in the life of a Japanese
kinoo maker
[Music]
this is Cas 37 years old living in the
outer part of Tokyo and he's just waking
up for
work although married with three kids
his youngest still sleeps with his wife
a common practice in Japan so he prefers
to sleep in a separate room for now due
to his early morning
[Music]
schedule oh he likes country music nice
since he has a busy day ahead he always
tries to check his emails before work in
case any issues arose throughout the
night is everyone still
sleeping the country music doesn't wake
them
up sweet Alabama interestingly the
average number of children for one
household in Japan is 1.7 kids so I
guess he's ahead of the game now he
prepares breakfast one of his daily
chores as his wife also works full- time
and they share the household
responsibilities I guess he's making
tamago Yaki first a traditional Japanese
style egg
omelette oh that's his youngest son cute
good
morning where's your brother and
sister cool his wife and middle are up
too oh he's mixing his milk with Kino a
roasted soybean powder a superfood
commonly used in Japanese Cuisine and I
guess it's his protein shake for the day
[Music]
Bo and that's his eldest daughter oh no
she seems a bit Sunny this
morning M on school days Casey leaves
her work before the kids so he usually
ends up eating by himself and today I
guess he's eating Nat rice and miso soup
a very typical Japanese
breakfast
byebye mom byebye
[Music]
good morning everyone I'm back with
another day in the life I'm super
excited for this one because we get to
see what Japanese craftsmanship is
really like Cask should be coming around
the corner soon let's see how he's
[Music]
doing good
morning how did you sleep last night
cool just before starting his workday K
gave praise at The Shrine this ois just
in front of the factory is a popular DD
associated with foxes Harvest business
prosperity and household well-being
commonly found throughout
Japan and this is his workplace oawa
Sango a local Kino Factory that's been
expertly crafting roasted soybean powder
since 1908 when KK great-grandfather
started the factory kinoo powder though
uniquely known for its soft flower-like
sweet and nutty taste origin it in Japan
during its NADA and hon period and was
used as a medicine by the wealthy due to
its exceptional nutritional value but
now commonly eaten with many Japanese
sweets like Mochi and even dairy
products today the factory distributes
their own signature roasted kico powder
all throughout
Japan first KK takes care of any
outstanding business matters inquiries
and sales deals with new and existing
[Music]
customers now it's his responsibility to
open up the factory and prepare for the
Kino
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production so small to mediumsized
factories like this one called Machi
Koba have been part of the everyday
landscape of small cities throughout
Japan with about 374,000 in 1998 but has
steadily decreased in number to 182,000
today despite it this local kico Factory
with more than 100 Years of history and
six employees continues to craft some of
the best kinal powder in all of
Japan oh that's cas's dad the current
owner hi what are you
doing do you like working with your
son so did you think You' take over the
family
business he says that the key to their
successful business is to never stop
thinking about how to Market their
products in new ways so that customers
can understand what they're making you
look so young okay okay I mean you must
regularly
exercise
right
hi
oh now it's finally time to start making
their
Kino first he prepares the jet scrubber
which helps filter and minimize the
smoke release into the air from roasting
their
[Music]
soybeans the factory uses a traditional
Japanese soybean roasting and grinding
method that's been passed down from
generation to generation to generation
which to this day still requires a great
deal of Hands-On attention and skillful
technique working with traditional Stone
ovens one of them built in the
1950s to start raw soybeans are poured
by hand into the stone oven feeder the
factory uses fuku utaka soybeans known
for its Exquisite sweetness grown in the
rich and fertile soil of saga
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prefecture once above the beans are
funneled into a specialized tank for
roasting at around 200 220° C 428 F then
ushered into a second roasting tank for
another round the slow heat and natural
air flow bringing out the soybeans
natural
[Music]
sweetness all the while Casi keeping a
Keen Eye on the soybeans as it's his
sole responsibility to ensure that each
one is roasted perfectly and meets the
Factory's quality standards often
smelling and tasting the beans during
the process he says that this is the
most difficult part as he must
continually adjust the heat depending
not only on the amount of beans being
roasted but also taking into account the
quality of the Bean humidity and weather
conditions with only 2 years under his
belt it's become his life goal to master
the subtle roasting techniques taught to
him by his father hey what's
that and now that the soybeans are
perfectly Brown they're ready for the
next step since Japanese sand is used
during the roasting process every single
grain must be sifted off of the roasted
soybeans before they're ready to move
[Music]
on now the roasted soybeans are finally
grounded into a sweet and silky smooth
golden powder
Kino on an average day like this the
factory processes about 600 kg of 1320
lb of their raw soybeans which will
ultimately yield 30 18 kg 40 lb bags of
sweet roasted finely ground Kino powder
so it looks like cas's going to be
working on the machines over there for a
bit so while he's doing that let's see
if we can sort ourselves around this
[Music]
land oh check out right here so it looks
like they still have all of the old
electrical in the walls I don't know if
it's working anymore but looks like
they've kept it you know just to keep it
I guess and that's the original wooden
beam all this must be from when they
rebuilt the
Factory and look up there they have a
little I guess scarecrow something to
scare the crows anyways you guys know
what I
mean okay so let's see what's going on
in the
office hi what are you
doing are you a family member
too she says she wasn't part of the
family business in the beginning but
started to help little by little and now
she works fulltime how's it living on
the factory
property it must be pretty
loud so let's go see what's going on in
that area over
there oh I guess muga barley tea is
packaged in this room although Kino is
their main product the factory also
produces their own signature muga
apparently quite popular during the hot
summer
[Music]
months now that the soybean roasting is
complete Cas must completely and
thoroughly clean out the stone oven as
it's the heart of their entire
production process and must be taken
care of every day to ensure that it
lasts through the generations plus it's
also used to roast their barley so all
traces of soybeans must be removed
he now adds fuel oil into the stone
[Music]
oven so Cask do you want your kids to
take over the family
[Music]
business your kids would be the fifth
generation
huh apparently when he first started
working at the factory he wasn't used to
all of the physical work and was quite
sore every day to a point where he could
barely finish the day but over time his
body got stronger and he's now grateful
that he has an active job which helps
him stay
healthy nice time for a drink break
looks refreshing is that the M you
make oh customers here to buy their
products the factory not only Wholesales
their product but they also sell to
individual customers on site it's evid
that they built a strong local customer
base who trust their products and
regularly come by in fact if you're in
the US and want to try their Kino and
muga it's available online which I'll
leave a link in the
[Music]
description yay lunch time I guess today
they ordered de May food delivery from a
local SOA shop and wow it's in the
traditional Japanese food delivery style
where the food is placed in
non-disposable Bento boxes or even a
bowl used in the restaurant which means
the containers must be returned after
the meal hey so your dad doesn't eat
with
you what are you eating how did you find
this
job I see what did you do before
this oh so what do you like about this
job awesome
[Music]
now he prepares the boxes for The Kino
[Music]
packaging so did you think you were
going to take over the family
business in fact companies like his with
a long history are called shin and are
quite common in Japan as there are about
43,000 companies which are more than 100
years old more than any country in the
world and they're mostly family-owned
now that more workers have arrived they
start the packaging and Cas joins in the
line since the family business is such a
small operation Cas literally does
everything at the
factory so what do you like about this
[Music]
job he says that he never really
seriously thought about the family's
Kino that he grew up eating but since
he's now involved in the family business
and has had to try many different kinds
of Kino on the market he truly
appreciates The Taste and is proud of
the Kino that his family has crafted
over the years what are you doing you
have to do that on your
[Music]
own since they run their business with a
limited number of workers he needs to
wear many different hats including
repair and maintenance fortunately he
learned a lot about machine repair in
his previous job so he's able to reapply
those skills here did your dad teach you
how to fix machines
[Music]
today he's having a taste testing with
his workers to sample new ways they may
be able to introduce their Kino to their
customers apparently the market is quite
competitive in Japan with 27 companies
producing Kino K understands that it's
critical to produce a consistent
highquality product but also recognizes
the importance of innovation to help
grow their family business and their
legacy did the cup noodles
work a KK's nephew is doing the tasting
too
[Music]
it's now around 400 p.m. and before
leaving the place it's his
responsibility to ensure that the entire
Factory is cleaned and ready for
tomorrow's production he takes the
machine apart piece by piece and wipes
each one clean so has to leave no
residue from today's
[Music]
work yeah
oh his daughter's back from
school finally he finishes off the day
by completing any remaining office work
he couldn't attend to during the day are
you
finished yay finally done tonight cas's
wife is working late so he's responsible
for picking up the kids from nursery and
making dinner
y before going home he stops by the
nearest supermarket for tonight's dinner
but appar apparently it's always a bit
of a struggle shopping with three
energetic
kids oh no his son's upset because he
can't buy what he
wants dope Casey is using AO Shiki as an
echo bag it's basically a traditional
Japanese square piece of fabric that is
made to wrap around stuff for transport
you often see people in Japan using it
when they're wearing a
[Music]
kimono finally they're back home
[Music]
oh after A Hard Day's Work nothing like
capping it off with a cold
one the kids usually get hungry around
this time so he lets him eat something
light while he prepares dinner and I
guess tonight he's making so many other
dishes to go with
it oh that's kingdom do you like anime I
even knowz I you
[Music]
dope wow he's washing out his used cans
it's a common man in Japan to do this
before recycling
it oh his wife is back finally the
family can enjoy dinner together Cas
says that he truly values being able to
spend his time with his wife and kids as
he's grown even a deeper appreciation
for family after working with his father
at the factory and hopes that he'll be
able to provide for his family as his
father provided for him and his father
before
[Music]
that yes Paulo is my
name okay so it looks like KK and his
family will be eating just for a little
bit longer then after this they'll
probably go and take a bath and then
probably the kids will go to sleep
around 9 and then K SK will sleep around
10:00 but that's pretty much a day in
the life of a Japanese kico makeer here
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