Episode 34: A Year Like No Other
Ingrained
California farmers are no strangers to drought, although the magnitude of this, , has widespread and significant impacts in Sacramento Valley rice country and nearby communities. A lack of adequate rain above Shasta Dam has brought historic water cutbacks to growers on the west side of the Sacramento Valley, with a major reduction in rice plantings. This contrasts the east side of the valley, where rice acreage is expected to be normal to potentially above normal. Full rice acreage won’t be known until later this spring. “We’re down to 25 percent of normal rice acreage,”...
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Episode 33: Unprecedented
Ingrained
Many travelers heading north on Interstate 5 or Highway 99 only get a fleeting glimpse of the Sacramento Valley. However, those who know this region understand and appreciate how unique and valuable it is. The Sacramento Valley is an impressive patchwork of farms and communities, living and working in harmony with the environment. A worsening drought has led to major water cutbacks. Farmers will grow less and the communities with agriculture as their foundation will be impacted. Local officials are concerned about how lost farm production will impact their communities. “Those impacts are...
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Episode 32: Momentum Grows for Sites Reservoir
Ingrained
A third straight drought year poses major challenges for California’s environment, cities and farms. While cooperation, collaboration and innovation are needed in the short term, many feel a major part of the long-term water solution is additional storage. A remote area on the west side of the Sacramento Valley could be a big part of the solution. Sites Reservoir has been debated for decades, and getting this critical addition to water infrastructure appears more likely than ever. One major development in getting this project completed is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency earlier...
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Episode 31: How Rice Fields may help Salmon Runs
Ingrained
Since fundamental changes were made to the way rice straw is managed following harvest in the early 1990s, Sacramento Valley rice country has steadily grown as a vital rest and refuel stop for millions of birds. Local rice fields not only provide habitat for nearly 230 wildlife species, the value of rice fields for the environment is proving to be even greater during drought years, because there is less water on the landscape and fewer habitat options. What's next for the environmental crop? If promising research by the Rice Commission and UC Davis pays off, . The third year of...
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Episode 30: How California can secure a more stable Water Future
Ingrained
For all of the high-tech advancements California is famous for, one part of the state’s infrastructure – providing enough water for its environment, cities and farms – is lacking. It has been more than four decades since the last major water storage facility was built in the Golden State, and our total population has nearly doubled since that time. Proposed for the west side of the Sacramento Valley, provides an opportunity to dramatically boost water storage capability, which would help safeguard the state during drought, like what we are currently enduring. Sites would provide up to...
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Episode 29: Helping Fins and Feathers
Ingrained
A generation ago, it may have seemed far-fetched that Sacramento Valley rice fields could play a vital role for millions of birds. However, changes in rice growing methods in the early 90s – a shift from burning fields after harvest to adding a few inches of water to break down leftover rice straw - led to just such an occurrence. Area rice fields are now home to nearly 230 wildlife species, including 7–10 million ducks and geese every fall and winter. The "surrogate wetlands" are now crucial to migrati
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Episode 28: Time for Wildlife Refuges to Soar
Ingrained
Winter is approaching, and that will soon translate into the arrival of millions of birds to the rice fields and wildlife refuges in the Sacramento Valley. For many, including Suzy Crabtree, it’s a magical time. Suzy has visited Gray Lodge Wildlife Area in Butte County thousands of times over the years, to photograph the amazing array of ducks, geese, shorebirds, raptors and other animals there. “There’s so many things to see there,” she remarked. “We find it to be a place of refuge and solace.”
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Episode 27: The Birds
Ingrained
It took longer than normal, but fortunately it is happening. A shallow amount of water is showing up in rice fields throughout the Sacramento Valley – essentially a welcome mat for the 10 million ducks, geese and other wildlife migrating through our area for their annual Pacific Flyway journey. This year was the driest in a century in California. The water shortage led to about 100,000 fewer acres of rice planted in the Sacramento Valley.
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Episode 26: Water Planning in the Sacramento Valley
Ingrained
Water has long been a contentious subject in California. As the nation’s most populous state, leading the nation in farm production and a state dedicated to environmental protection, it’s easy to understand why. The severe, ongoing drought only puts a greater focus on water. While there’s hope for a wet fall and winter, Sacramento Valley water managers and other stakeholders are doing what they can to prepare for all outcomes. Teamwork and coordination are invaluable, especially during difficult times
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Episode 25: Go Time for Harvest and the Wildlife Migration
Ingrained
Even during difficult times like we’ve been experiencing, it helps to look for the positive. In Sacramento Valley rice country – two positives are unfolding. After a difficult year where drought left 20 percent of fields unplanted, harvest of America’s sushi rice is underway and early reports are favorable. Although acreage is down, initial reports on quality and yields look strong.
info_outlineTaro Arai has an electric personality. As Chief Dreaming Officer for Mikuni, with nine popular restaurants and sushi bars in Northern California, his enthusiasm and generosity are well known throughout the region.
But it wasn’t an easy road to success. After arriving from Japan, the Arai family opened their first Mikuni restaurant in 1987. Reverend and Mrs. Arai prepared food in the kitchen, while Taro and siblings Noamichi and Keiko worked as greeter, busser and server. After a lot of hard work and perseverance, Mikuni continued to grow and prosper.
Their success has left an indelible imprint on Northern California.
Before the pandemic slowdown, Mikuni served more than 1 and a half million customers a year, utilizing about 20 tons of California rice every month.
Taro said he is continually humbled by their success and vows to maintain their approach of giving back to the community.
Mikuni has supported more than 80 charities. Their rescue rolls have raised tens of thousands of dollars for many who have suffered through disasters. Their golf tournament has raised millions of dollars for charity.
Why do so much?
“Without God and our community, we’re not here right now,” Taro remarked. “We need to give back. To be here, share the joy and help charity, I’m living a dream right now. The least I can do is to go out every day, spread the joy and help others as much as we can.”
Episode Transcript
Jim Morris: Welcome to a special bonus episode of Ingrained. I'm Jim Morris with the California Rice Commission, visiting with one of my favorite people on the planet, Taro Arai, Chief Dreaming Officer at Mikuni, a fantastic group of restaurants and sushi bars in Northern California. Taro is an author, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and one of the kindest people I've ever met. And I've often suspected you don't sleep, Taro, and now you're planning your daughter, Chiyoh's, wedding. So how do you balance all that?
Taro Arai: Ooh, I'm so excited. I've been waiting. I had a tuxedo ready two years ago, and also a speech for the wedding. I have been ready, so I'm excited about it. My wife keeps telling me, "It's not your wedding," so that's the thing I have to remind myself every day.
Jim Morris: That's awesome. Tractors are working in the fields, airplanes are flying over seed, there's a new season underway in rice country in the Sacramento Valley. You have seen this process firsthand, so what are your thoughts as we're starting a new season for rice in California?
Taro Arai: I love it, and also it’s a new season for my family too. Right? So getting marrieds great, but for me having a grandchildren, next generation of workers, that's exciting too. I love always something new.
Jim Morris: You have more than 50 different sushi rolls, so how important is it to have local, affordable, high-quality rice to work with?
Taro Arai: I mean that's everything. Sushi without sushi rice, that's not sushi! Of course, I grew up in a culture that rice is the most important thing in the food culture. Then I can't imagine without having rice, and also having a rice in our backyard, how blessed are we? We're spreading all over the love of rice to United States too. Right?
Jim Morris: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yeah.
Taro Arai: I mean I'm so proud of California rice, and I'm so fortunate to be here.
Jim Morris: You have seen the rice fields in Japan and probably have a lot of experiences when you grew up, so tell me a little bit about being a child in Japan and some of your experiences in rice.
Taro Arai: We used to play baseball on the rice field. Oh, I get yelled at because we make it dirt so hard while baseball season. And here when I went there, you see the big truck, the big airplane. I mean it's totally different way of raising rice here.
Jim Morris: And we owe so much to the Japanese culture, not only as one of our big customer bases, but also the Japanese varieties, Koshihikari, Akitakomachi, on, and on, so we are incredibly grateful for that relationship. Let's get to the here and now. We're sitting at your restaurant in Roseville and there's people here eating. It is so refreshing to see. But tell me a little bit about how the pandemic has been. It has just been really tough for restaurants.
Taro Arai: Toughest thing is we had an unknown future, so we couldn't plan anything. That was the hardest things for us. We don't know if we can open the restaurant, close the restaurants, and then all the employee are going through COVID protocol. I don't know. Every day we have a new challenges. It was a really long time suffering or overcoming this COVID thing. But meanwhile, my job was to encourage my managers. We don't want to just survive, but let's thrive in this, let's keep our hope, so that was my message to our managers all through this COVID season. And then we got a lot of benefit too through this. We learned so much about each individual managers, and also even sushi class too. I used to do 35 people max. Now I do a virtual, so we learn how to do the virtual sushi class. We did for 300 people the other day.
Jim Morris: Oh wow.
Taro Arai: So a lot of things. Through this we learn positive things, too.
Jim Morris: We are getting closer to maybe a full reopening, so how excited are you to get more people back in the restaurants?
Taro Arai: I'm excited, but I just want to focus on thanking our community since we're closed a long time, we had amazing support in to-go’s, curbside, I mean delivery. We never seen anything like it in the past. Like two, three hours of waiting they waited for us to deliver food. I mean I can't thank enough to our community. I can't wait to give back as much as we can in the future too.
Jim Morris: And you have given back considerably, tens of thousands of dollars to charities with your Rescue Rolls, and also I believe more than 80 charities Mikuni has supported. Why do you do it to that degree, especially in a time when it's hard to run restaurants?
Taro Arai: Without God, without our community, we're not here right now, so at least we can do is give back. For example, last August we had a golf tournament that was 25th annual. Middle of the pandemic, heat waves, smoke from the fire, they told us, "Please, you should just cancel it." But I said, "People still need money, help, so we have to have it. If we can get together, we do 4x4, just nine-hole tournament." So we pushed forward, and then we raised $300,000. That was a record breaking with a nine-hole tournament because people are so supportive here, and we ended up raising $2.5 million just from the golf tournament for charity. So anything we do, again, we can't do ourselves. We just make sushi. The community has to come together and support. That's why we could do amazing things.
Jim Morris: You have been rolling sushi for more than 35 years. Mikuni has more than one-and-a-half-million customers every year. That's pre-pandemic, and I'm sure you'll be back to that. So what keeps you motivated and positive? Our world needs more positivity right now.
Taro Arai: Every morning I wake up, first thing I thank God for, my life and then also people around me. I don't know. I kept thinking so many things that I can't wait to go out there and spread the joy that I have in me. So every morning I'm so passionate about it, just meeting people. I do a lot of private parties nowadays. I just can't wait to go out there and then share Mikuni's story because we don't deserve to be here. Coming from Japan with nothing, no friends, no language, to be able to be here and share the joy and help the charity, I'm living in the dreams right now. So at least I can do is go out there every day to spread the joy, help others as much as we can.
Jim Morris: Don't ever change, Taro. Thanks so much, Taro, for your time, and thank you for listening to this bonus episode of Ingrained. You can find out more at podcast.calrice.org.