Cover Image: Going for Gold

Going for Gold

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Member Reviews

An aging, slowly disappearing village gets the chance at a new lease at life when one agricultural engineer decides they can take a chance with yuzu. A wholesome read that shows how people can make the most unrealistic plot twists happen.

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This was a great book. It was so full of culture and I really loved learning from it. It was so very interesting and I loved learning about the amount of research that goes into trying to develop the best fruit. It was such a fascinating read that I had to finish reading it in one day. I loved how well thos book was translated and should definitely be available on UK book markets. It was fantastic learning about a small community and how well they worked together with great passion. It is unbelievable just how much effort goes into creating the most salable crop. Also how many factors can be changed to make the right amount of fruit.. it was fun learning about how the women overcome the challenges of picking ghe fruit. I loved the pictures as it gave ghat extra dimension to the book. If this book was to be published in English I would definitely recommend reading this.
I couldn't find anywhere other than netgalley to review thos book as it is not available in English.

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Follow Usiki-san as this enterprising agricultural engineer an aging local from Kito, Mr. Fujita, work with an aging community to sustainably build their economy and revitalize their area with a now ubiquitous summer flavor in Japan, yuzu. This short book follows them through their trials and tribulations with excerpts from Mr. Fujita's essays. A great insight into balance between ecological preservation and industrial development as means of sustaining a community. Author, Miyoko Asai does a fabulous job of catching the personalities of individuals involved in this mission through essays, letters, and conversations. A powerful read; especially for anyone studying ecology or Japanese culture.

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Thank you Netgalley and Miyoko Asai for letting me read this short memoar. My thoughts are my own.

Inspirational stories from Japan are filled with hardworking, persistent and high spirit to archieve results from each conditions. Going for Gold also give us heartwarming true story about young agricultural engineer who never stop doing his best to elevate life quality of farmers in Kito island.

Some photographs showed us how lush and beautiful Kito, a cold village in the deep mountains of Tokushima Prefecture. But the climate and the internal problems such as depopulation, an aging population, industrial collapse, and the destruction of nature become reason this village is slowly fade in the past.

I love to see Mr Usuki's way of thinking, his work ethic and how he truly care to tried everything for Kito. We will saw his struggles to get his Yuzu project idea, how to make those ideas accepted and being rejected by people he really want to help. It is wonderful moment when such a short book can bring so much emotional rollercoaster. This book so inspiring me and give me more info about small example how Japan is one of few traditional country whom fast growing after big war.

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