OK: From my perspective, it seems that the marketing of Umaji's goods relies heavily on the 'made in a small village/the countryside' image. Is this important?

MT: Very much so. We are selling the countryside as well, so don't want our image to imitate an urban city. Home-made goods, yuzu made with care by your grandparents, and a place where children play happily are the kinds of important elements that we want to promote.

OK: Do you believe that Umaji's yuzu goods are of a higher quality than yuzu goods made by a companies based out of cities?

MT: Of course! From picking the fruit to primary processing to the secondary stage of the finished goods, we do it all ourselves. A big company probably cannot do their own ingredient processing, so because of this, they begin their production from when they buy the fruit. Umaji can do both production and manufacturing which is to our advantage.

OK: Would Umaji consider moving the yuzu factory into a city?

MT: I don't think it would be good to do that. It's not just yuzu that we're selling; it's necessary to sell Umaji as a place: its climate, and it's natural features; as a village in the forest of 1200 people where the villagers themselves make the yuzu and live happily.