Memories of Rape Blossoms - Oil Recycling Society Bloomed in Aito Town, Shiga Prefecture - circa 2004

Memories of Rape Blossoms - Oil Recycling Society Bloomed in Aito Town, Shiga Prefecture - circa 2004

At the end of the 1990s, Japan was facing the limits of a mass consumption society in the shadow of economic growth. People began to talk about recycling and the idea of a recycling-oriented society, which eventually came to fruition in the form of the "Basic Law for Establishing a Recycling-based Society" in 2000 and the "Biomass Nippon Comprehensive Strategy" in 2002. At the forefront of this trend was the small town of Aito, Shiga Prefecture (now the Aito district of Higashiomi City). On the eastern shore of Lake Biwa, in a land of greenery and fields, a story of the regeneration of people and nature called the "Nanohana Eco Project" soon began.

In 1998, the town began an experiment to create an oil cycle, starting with the cultivation of rapeseed. Rapeseed is pressed to make cooking oil, and used cooking oil is collected and recycled into soap and biodiesel fuel (BDF). The town's residents themselves have begun to take the lead in this simple cycle. The system, in which households, schools, stores, and the local government work together to return oil to the town as lights and detergent, has made the word "regeneration" an integral part of the daily lives of the residents.

In 2005, the base facility "Aito Eco Plaza Nanohana-Kan" was completed and opened as a place for environmental education where people can learn and experience oil regeneration. Here, rapeseed oil presses were in operation, BDF refining equipment was in operation, and smiling faces could be seen as people made soap by hand. The fuel produced from the waste oil was used for the town's official vehicles and agricultural machinery, and the by-product glycerin was reused as fertilizer and soap. The products are sold under the local brand name "Nadakari," and have brought a definite boost to the local economy.

This activity was more than just a recycling campaign; it was also a cultural practice that "links life and the environment. The scenery of town people reconnecting through rape blossoms and the recycling of resources became the starting point for the "Rape Blossom Project," which later spread nationwide. Even today, in the Aito district of Higashiomi City, yellow flowers bloom all over the area in spring, quietly conveying the idea of revitalization.