EMBANKMENT Coffee

After entering Guji, we traveled down an uneven red dirt road. The surrounding area was lined with houses constructed from mud, the homes of the farm’s coffee pickers.

Cars were almost non-existent there. All we saw were motorcycles and horses laden with hemp sacks.

As our car passed by, the people would wave at us, but I wasn’t sure if they were doing it because they truly wanted to welcome us. After slightly hesitating, I waved back at them.

Finally, we arrived at the coffee farm.

After passing through a hilly road dotted with wild coffee trees, we reached an area where cultivated coffee trees had been carefully planted on a slope.

Although most of the coffee cherries had already been picked, there were still few remaining on the branches.

It was the first time I’d ever eaten one. It tasted sweet, almost like a peach or plum.

The warehouse was full of large piles of hemp sacks, but it was well-organized and clean.

Through our conversations over the homemade lunch, I learned that the pickers I’d seen living along the road had been excited for us to come and see their coffee. This made it much easier for me to wholeheartedly wave goodbye to them on the way home.

While we were traveling, we decided to play a game where each car would be assigned a topic that the passengers would discuss among themselves.

We traveled for a total of about nine hours that day, and I had the fortune of riding in the car that had been assigned the topic of management. I don’t have enough words to describe the words of wisdom and knowledge I gained from traveling with Mr. Goto and Mr. Tomidokoro, two very accomplished executives. Thinking about it now still makes me thankful from the bottom of my heart.

I hope the other team members can take a turn riding in the management car soon so everyone else has a chance to experience that eureka moment for themselves.