Mustering the frontier spirit instilled in college to take on infinite challenges

This article was published in the Autumn 2021 issue of Litterae Populi. The full issue can be found here.

Dr. Yu Hinata moved to Rikubetsu Town in the Tokachi region of Hokkaido, where he launched the Laboratory of Seeds Discovery and Development, or Tane Lab., a company that develops and sells products made with medicinal plants, herbs, and forest resources. The company is run by himself and his wife, Mikie Hinata, his university sweetheart. The couple, who began their activities in their adopted hometown, talked to us about the circumstances leading to their relocation to Rikubetsu, memories of their school days, and their new business.

Yu Hinata.

Yu Hinata

President, Laboratory of Seeds Discovery and Development/Tane Lab.
Graduated from the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacy and Graduate School of Life Sciences.

Born in Hokkaido in 1983, Yu Hinata received a bachelor’s degree from the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacy of Hokkaido University in 2006 and a doctoral degree from the Graduate School of Life Science of the University in 201 I. He then joined Shionogi & Co., Led., where he engaged in research in medicinal chemistry at the Pharmaceutical Research Division. He moved to Hokkaido in 2017, serving as Rikubetsu Town’s Chiiki Okoshi Kyoryokutai (local revitalization cooperator) in charge of supporting and promoting new businesses. He has been president of Tane Lab. since February 2021. He has worked co promote regional revitalization in his adopted hometown all while valuing personal relationships.

(Y): Yu Hinata, (M): Mikie Hinata.

What are your most popular products today?

(Y) Essential oils from Sakhalin fir and Sakhalin spruce. They’re popular for their pleasant forest scents.

What’s your workday like?

(Y) Our work centers on farming from early spring to autumn, from a little past eight in the morning until late in the afternoon. From autumn to winter, we process, market, and sell the plants we harvest. Today, we grow 30 kinds of plants, engage in the development of food, cosmetics, and other products, and work to determine our flagship products going forward. With the motto I learned in my college days, “Try it yourself first,” we hope to deepen our contacts with people in various fields and gradually increase those interested in our products.

What made you move to Rikubetsu?

(Y) We used to work for a research laboratory at a pharmaceutical company in Honshu (Japan’s main island). After we turned 30, we decided to rethink our future from scratch, giving thought to the possibility of using what we’d learned for work other than research. Under such circumstances, we began to think about moving to Hokkaido, collecting information at the Hokkaido Emigration Fair that was being held at that time. Our conversations with officials from the Rikubetsu Town Office at the Fair led to our trial stay in the town, resulting in our selection of the town as our adopted hometown. We initially assumed the posts of the town’s Chiiki Okoshi Kyoryokutai (Local Vitalization Cooperators), with me engaging in medicinal plant cultivation tests and my wife in activities to promote commerce, industry, and tourism.

(M) Hokkaido was my first choice as the destination for our relocation because I’d fallen for Hokkaido while living here during university, but we considered it carefully for a few years. We made up our minds only after finding positive answers to the various questions we asked ourselves, including about what’s good about living in Rikubetsu and its alignment with our values and aspirations.

Yu Hinata (left) and his wife, Mikie Hinata (right).

What difficulties did you encounter when taking up farming?

(Y) Before starting it, I had to be qualified to borrow farmland as stipulated in the Agricultural Land Act. Then, I had to find someone to lend farmland to me. It was, and still is, tough that we had to plan and do everything from scratch. And differences in cultivation methods between medicinal plants and herbs on the one hand and general crops on the other requires me to study every day. We faced a mountain of cultivation-related challenges from the weather, such as heavy rains, strong winds, and low winter temperatures, which can have devastating impacts on plants. That said, focusing only on cultivation methods would leave us little time for processing and sales. So, we’re working to develop interesting products using the plants we grow while harvesting certain amounts of them. My research experience at college has paid off, for example, in terms of work progress management and chemical knowledge of distillation to extract essential oils.

What prompted you to enter Hokkaido University?

(Y) Hokkaido University was a natural choice for me because I’m from Sapporo and the University was near where I lived. I chose the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacy because the profession of pharmacist seemed interesting.

(M) I’m from Hiroshima Prefecture. I chose Hokkaido University because I thought it would be interesting to live a student life where nobody knew me. I was interested in a career as a pharmacist, but that wasn’t the only reason I chose the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacy. I thought studying pharmaceutical sciences would offer many other career options.

Essential oils developed by Dr. Hinata. They are also sold at the information center of Hokkaido University.

What was student life like?

(Y) I was snowed under with studies as an undergraduate and a graduate student, attending lectures and practical training sessions from morning until evening. I don’t remember slacking off [laughs]. I was glad I could encounter the discipline of organic synthetic chemistry. It was tough, but I was able to continue my studies because they were fun. When I was a first-year doctoral student, I had the opportunity to study at an American university for three months. Everything was fresh and new to me, due in part to cultural differences. I felt I was able to grow as a person, so it’s the best memory of my college life.

(M) I remember having a hard time with animal experiments, forgoing my New Year holidays to continue my experiments on mice. Living a student life that put studies above all else wasn’t easy, but I also belonged to a mixed choral group, where I gained lots of experience and developed people skills, teamwork, and the like.

Having lived on Honshu (Japan’s main island), what do you think is the appeal of Hokkaido?

(Y) Hokkaido tops the list of regions in Japan in terms of ease of living, including the climate. Surprisingly, it’s also cold in Honshu in winter.

(M) All the food is delicious. And the natural scenery has a regional distinctiveness, making travel truly enjoyable.

Lastly, do you have anything to say to current Hokkaido University students?

(Y) My experience in talking with people who had various values and opinions during my time at academic conferences and overseas study is what sustains my career now. I hope the current students of the University will proactively venture into the outside world.

(M) I’d like them to visit various places and learn how diverse the world is. They should never be satisfied with the status quo, but should aspire to new heights where they can take advantage of their skills.

This article was published in the Autumn 2021 issue of Litterae Populi. The full issue can be found here.