A Town's Festive Refreshening

Where We Call Home.

The Yosakoi Festival brightens the summer in Kochi.

Sporting a mohawk hairdo as he takes part in the town's big event...

...is US-born Owen Wade, an English teacher and member of a local business owner's association.

The street has so many shops.

One of the sites for the festival is this shopping street.

With the decline of the population and the pandemic, businesses here have been struggling.

Put on hold for the past three years, the Yosakoi Festival makes its return.

We need proper safety measures.

Although some worry about holding the event...

...Owen believes it's important to reinvigorate the shopping street.

We're like family.

The street is important
for the town and community.

Let's follow Owen in the summer leading to the festival.

Facing the Pacific, Kochi City in the prefecture by the same name is blessed with a mild climate.

Owen runs an English language school with a casual, welcoming atmosphere.

How do you feel? Your leg? Your leg is OK?

Huh?

Kenjiro's leg?

Leg? OK, OK! Now (it's) OK.

OK, good news.

- Did you eat soft-serve ice cream?
- I had soft cream. Yeah, yeah. Good.

Very good. Yeah.

How about Fiona... Fiona(‘s) photo?

His students are also his friends. They even know his family.

How cute!

This is her first time on the train.

- I took 800 photos.
- 800!?

I'm "oya-baka."

Oya baka: an overly affectionate and doting parent.

Is there such an expression in English?

There are parents like that.

Perhaps ‘baby crazy' would work.

While Owen was in university, his father passed away.

He had to work hard to pay for his studies.

After graduation, he wanted to see the world and came to Kochi to work as an assistant English teacher.

I already had a lot of respect
for Japanese people.

Japanese people work hard,
and they're so smart.

They design and manufacture
cool cars and motorbikes.

But I thought they wouldn't be kind.

What changed Owen's opinion was the Mama Shopping Street where his English school is now located.

Old, family-run shops like this.

From one hard-working
generation to the next.

An old-fashioned shopping street lined with privately-owned specialized shops run by friendly staff.

After all the hard work in his studies and part-time job, Owen found in this area a place where he could unwind.

But now, with the ageing population and the appearance of large-scale shopping malls, the street has been losing its vitality.

This used to be a large butcher shop.
Now, it's a parking lot.

I worry that the whole street
will be just parking lots.

Just walking around here
and visiting the shops...

It's hard to explain, but it brings
a bit of warmth to people's lives.

To help liven up the street, Owen organized a Halloween festival with some friends.

Children went trick or treating with their parents from shop to shop, becoming more familiar with the area.

The event was a huge hit.

Owen was invited to join the administration of the business owners' association.

Good morning!

He's also the proud father of an 18-month-old baby girl.

He and his wife Mineko got married ten years ago.

Although Mineko is from Kochi, it was Owen who introduced her to the shopping street's appeal.

He helped me realize how fun it is
to walk around and visit the shops.

He's the one who taught me
how great the shopping street is.

I agree with his wish to liven it up.

The couple opened up a cafe on the street.

Fans of the smoothie, they made it their shop's specialty.

This regular customer is also one of Owen's students.

Every time she visits, she and Mineko have a little ritual.

Shall we do our usual thing?

I give you energy!

It powers me up.

Both of us.

When I was going through hard times,
and was feeling down...

we started doing this.

- Thank you!
- Bye!

Owen and Mineko put down roots here and are determined to help invigorate their community.

The local shop owners and residents had been putting all their efforts into keeping the street going when they were suddenly faced with another hardship: the coronavirus pandemic.

Owen has long been looking forward to an event that will give the community hope and strength to overcome this new obstacle.

Wow!

The seventy-year-old annual Yosakoi Festival.

Banbanzai, the dance team representing the Mama Shopping Street has been putting long hours in rehearsing.

Owen first experienced the festival soon after he arrived in Japan.

It's something he'll never forget.

A team of dancers invited me
to join them, and so I did.

It changed my image of Japanese people.

I'm from the US.

I'm not Japanese, but I instantly
felt I was part of the group.

I was deeply moved.

The event will be held for the first time in three years.

It's great we finally get to do
the Yosakoi Festival.

It cheers me up.

We'll do our best.

For several months now, the business owners' association has been gathering regularly to prepare for the big event.

The florist, the barber, the take-out meal vendor - everyone is excited, but they also have to deal with unprecedented issues.

The media will check our safety measures.

Some have voiced concerns saying it might be too soon to bring back the festival.

We need signs that instruct to leave
an empty seat between spectators.

I could make some simple 'X' signs.

Can you make fifty and laminate them?

Though the possibility of the event getting cancelled is still present, they put effort in setting up measures against infection.

Owen sees importance in holding the festival especially in times like these.

For 70 years, the Yosakoi Festival has been a source of encouragement for the local community.

The very first iteration was back in 1954, when times were hard throughout post-war Japan.

To blow away the gloom and reinvigorate the town, the citizens came together to create the festival.

All around the city, groups competed with their own unique dances and costumes.

The festival became an essential part of Kochi.

We mustn't cancel the event due to COVID.
On the contrary...

we need to hold it.

For Owen, this year's festival holds a very personal meaning.

Two months ago, after a long-winded battle with illness, his older brother Thomas passed away.

Because he lives in faraway Japan, Owen couldn't be by his side to say goodbye.

Mustering the strength to express how he feels, he takes the director's camera and films himself alone.

Yeah, I'm asking myself...

You asked me, 'Why are you still in Kochi?' Why am I still in Kochi?

I love it, but... And I'm happy, usually.

But recently, I don't know.

My brother died about two months ago.

He was sick... a few years.

And, my family was helping him, but I stayed in Kochi for various reasons.

But now, I wonder if it was the right decision.

Why did I stay here?

I chose Kochi over my brother.

So, I... I don't know, I... Sometimes I regret.

Yeah.

OK.

Owen has spent half of his life in Kochi.

While he poured his heart and soul into his community of adoption, did he neglect those he loves back in his homeland?

Struggling with feelings of remorse, he's unable to find the answer.

The day before the festival, Owen heads to the shopping street's barber.

Good afternoon!

He always gets the same haircut for the Yosakoi Festival.

It's been a while.

- You're sure?
- Yes!

It's been three years since he got his trademark mohawk hairstyle to get him in the festive spirit.

- Mineko asked if you were sure?
- Yes.

- I'm worried Fiona will be surprised.
- She will!

She might cry.

Your Yosakoi hairdo.

Yes, let's do it!

Owen is now fully prepared.

Seventy years ago, the Yosakoi Festival was born to encourage the people of Kochi.

And now, for the town that's lost its liveliness amidst the declining population and the pandemic, and for Owen's grieving heart, the festival is as meaningful as ever.

For me and for all the community,
it's going to be a very special event.

At last, the festival Owen has impatiently been waiting for is about to begin.

After a three-year absence, the Yosakoi Festival is back.

Both the organizing staff and spectators share the wish to make it a success.

Here we go!

The first group: Banbanzai of the Mama Shopping Street.

The shopping street is one of the twelve sites throughout the city where the event takes place.

The usually quiet street is now enlivened with colors, music and dance.

Owen is there to cheer on the dancers and crowd.

This year, businesses, students and dance lovers of all walks of life make up a total of 6,600 participants divided into one hundred teams.

For the first time in a long while, dancers fill the streets.

Summer's back in Kochi.

I'm from this area,
so I really wanted to be here.

When he first arrived in Japan, he jumped into the dancing crowd, and thus began his new life.

Now an important member of the community, he's one of the event's organizers.

It's heavy!

Dancing's fun.

But this work is special.

We made this together.

It's so meaningful.

The two-day event is drawing to a close.

The crowd continues to cheer the last remaining teams.

Banbanzai have danced their way back to the Mama Shopping Street.

It ain't over yet!

Especially during trying times, the Yosakoi Festival bears significance.

Encouraging one another, the Mama Shopping Street community has come together.

Surrounded by people he loves in his town of adoption, Owen looks toward the future.

Yosakoi is the spirit of Kochi.

Without it, Kochi wouldn't be the same.

Haven't felt this great in so long.

The festival gives us the strength
to work hard to liven up our town.

Though the summer is almost over, Owen continues his efforts to bolster the spirit of his beloved shopping street.

Welcome!

Hi, I'm MD Chowdhury from Bangladesh.

I'm going to prepare soba noodles.
It's the work I devote my life to.

A minute walk from Zushi Station
is where Chowdhury runs his soba shop.

6:00 a.m.
work starts.

I start by grinding buckwheat kernels
with a millstone.

He grinds the kernels into flour.

The flour loses its aroma over time,
so he only grinds enough for a day.

If a lump forms when I press it,
it's in the best condition.

adding water to the flour.

This is the hardest part.

I adjust the amount of water
according to the day's temperature.

Soba noodles are best when
the flour is freshly ground...

and the noodles are freshly cut
then freshly boiled.

cutting the noodles.

It's time to open.

11:00 a.m.
opening.

- Hi!
- Long time no see!

It's been a while.

A customer who's been a regular
for over 10 years arrives.

boiling the noodles.

Welcome!

- About his first visit...
- I wondered if he had a suntan.

I remember.

Here you are.

- Really good.
- Thank you!

The shop starts to fill up
with local customers.

I was surprised at first,
but his soba is great.

He must've trained hard.

It's great how he learned to make soba.

Chowdhury always insists
on seeing the customers off.

He came to study in Japan in 1993.
When he tried soba, he found his calling.

But most soba shop owners
were reluctant to train a non-Japanese.

Not giving up, he visited a flour maker
to try to make soba on his own.

Impressed by his story, the company's
president taught him how to make soba.

He's my mentor.
He taught me everything.

He trained in our company's kitchen.

Kutsuma-san regularly visits the shop
to sample Chowdhury's soba.

- It's tasty.
- Thank you.

He told us he wanted to run his own shop.

We were impressed.

He's got great determination.

Here are my colleagues.

Mashiro-san and Hanaka-san.

Their parents are regulars here.

I've been coming here since I was 3.

I eat here even on my days off.

I tell them to come anytime.

Customers say, 'I've been coming
here for a long time...' and, 'It's so delicious.'

It's such a nice, at-home atmosphere.

We're all like family.

Let me show you my treasure.

This is it.
Have a look.

To offer a place for customers to unwind,
he set up a rooftop terrace.

I wanted to let customers relax.

Here you are!

There were some tough times,
but I have so many people supporting me.

This is the best time of my life.