5 years had passed since my research on dog food started. Only after having spent all my money, gone deep into debt and started losing my way, I realized the importance of what I was doing. Even though I knew that it would cost money and money would not stay forever, I never thought that it would take this much time. I was running my research dangerously on a hand-to-mouth basis spending all my money and bank loans, resorting to consumer financing companies and borrowing money or asking investment from friends and acquaintances. I was miserable and felt if I was falling into the bottomless pit of Hell with one wrong step. However, even under such circumstances, there were many happy and touching moments. When a bank told me that they were not able to give me a loan anymore, one of their bank clerks gave me his own savings of 3,000,000 yen, wishing me to be succeed. I was overcame with emotion. Some of my friends and acquaintances made contributions towards my ambition. For all those reasons, I was not able to neither fail nor betray them and this research was not only for my own interests any more.

It is my priceless treasure for whole of my life that I was always given courage, being touched and surrounded by heart-warming people and incidents. During my development on recipe, I spent many days researching and examining on necessary nourishment as well as on nourishment for health through various organizations. It took me another 2 years until I encountered Professor Kuroda from Miyazaki University. Mr. Yamaguchi, the executive director of Miyazaki Midori pharmaceutical Inc. who is also my teacher introduced me to Prof. Kuroda. Yamaguchi shared joys and sorrows with Prof. Kuroda during their research. Once I explained my thoughts and progress to date, Prof. Kuroda understood deeply and thankfully he offered me a recipe that he had been researching for 16 years for his own dog. After a long time, I felt my efforts were well rewarded. However, I had to face a difficulty of how to distribute the hand made recipe from Prof. Kuroda without draining nutrients.

I would like to tell more details regarding the encounter with Mr. Kuroda since this encounter led me to another crucial person for my research. When I lived with my family in Miyazaki and had been spending days struggling for my research, I called Midori Miyazaki Pharmaceutical Inc., which produces Mokusakueki, wood vinegar, since I thought it could be an ingredient for dog food. Mr. Yamaguchi, who explained me about wood vinegar and listened to my story carefully over the phone, told me that “I am happy to help you since you have been struggling with such a great ambition. Eventhough there is a difference between humans and dogs, our difficulties are the same. You should not go suffer any more.“ I only discoverd when I visited the company the other day that Mr. Yamaguchi, whom I talked over the phone with and who welcomed me at Midori Miyazaki Pharmaceutical Inc., was the executive director of the company. He had been living his life dedicated to wood vinegar making every effort for our health for 30 years. He brought me the enormous results of long years of research and explained them thoroughly step by step. Those data contained the results of 16 years of joint reaseach for dogs that had been accumulated togather with Agriculture Docutor Kuroda of Miyazaki University.

A sudden suggestion from Mr. Yamaguichi after our talk made me doubt. “Let me introduce you to Dr. Kuroda so both of you can make better research on dogs.“ I was offered to advance research and development using data at Midori Miyazaki Pharmaceutical Inc and to continue accumulating data. I would not have expeceted such a sudden development since I rang them up just thinking to obtain some materials. Progress that would promise my future without a hitch, that was the moment when I found a way out of the difficulties after non ending troubles. Even now I think it was nothing but God’s help.

I visited Doc.Kuroda introduced by Yamaguchi executive director from Midori pharmaceutical Inc. Doc.Kuroda welcomed me kindly saying he was looking forward to meeting me. Even though it was our first time of meeting, he told me his personal story. “I am a professor at the moment. However, since I was born in a farm family, I wanted to be a farmer in the future. I have been keeping a dog and I have always been thinking that we should do something about dog food. If you are serious about making ideal dog food, why can’t I help you? I will fully support you.” Having been offered from Doc. Kuroda what I was about to ask, I could not help thinking that my hardship had been rewarded at last. I enthusiastically visited his laboratory everyday. Doc. Kuroda taught me generously his results of 16 years of research and a hand made food recipe based on his hard works. He also told me his thoughts and attitudes towards dog food in the future. And then when hand made natural food based on Doc. Kuroda’s recipe was ready to be distributed to dogs and their owners, I faced two new problems. The first problem was if it was possible to obtain enough materials to distribute owners from all over Japan or not. The second problem was how to keep natural foods whose freshness was crucial for a long time without destroying nutrition. All of my hardship so far crossed my mind and again I was depressed to think that it would costs much more money and take much more time. If so, I would not have enough energy and money left now, would I have to give up? Luckily, thanks to Doc. Kuroda and Midori Pharmaceutical Inc, the first problem was solved. According to them, there was a nationwide union of farmers that grow chemical-free and medicine-free products.

Now all I had to do was to find out a way to keep freshness of food without loosing any nutrition. I prepared myself to take all the responsibilities to find out the way and began researching desperately through a trial and error process in order to answer all the people who helped me. Despite my ambition, however, the situation was turning to the worst case.

The encounter with Doc. Kuroda made tremendous progress on making the recipe. Thanks to enormous material and experience of Doc. Kuroda, we enjoyed making the recipe sharing the same desire and without realizing the long time we spent on our research. However, when we were ready to distribute our ideal dog food, which we researched and developed everyday at a laboratory, to dogs and their owners all over Japan, we faced the reality. Despite the fact that to keep its freshness longer was vital, we realized for the first time that there was no such a way. Its production was only available at home and not suitable for distribution. Another long research brought us to retort-pouch foods. We visited many retort-pouch foods’ manufacturers. However, they always gave us the same answer. “Unfortunately current technique of making retort-pouch foods is only suitable for foods which contain more than 75% of water, such as curry and soup. It is almost impossible especially for rice. Rice has to be filled into aseptic-pack containers in bio-clean rooms. To do so, you need equipment which costs hundreds million yen, which means we are not able to manufacture Gomokugohan, special rice boiled in stock with vegetables that you would like to produce.” The conclusion was that foods similar to Gomokugohan were not able to be produced even by state-of-the-art retort-pouch technique.
I had devoted myself on research to conclude my feeling towards my dog, Atom, even though I spent all of my money and had been treated as a crank. I was given much warm help and encouragement from many people. While I was doing my research, my feeling towards my dog had gradually been changed to a sense of mission. I decided to keep moving forward for the sake of dogs’ health and their owners who shared the same feeling as I. However, a sense of failure took me this time and could not help feeling emptiness. I felt like all of my effort so far was refused and blamed for its waste.

I cannot go further, it is more than enough.
Atom would understand my effort.
I made up for Atom already.
I told myself repeatedly. The promise I made with Doc. Kuroda and other people would not be fulfilled anymore, I did not have enough power to make it happen.
To be continued to Vol.11

There is a word from a friend of mine that I remember clearly. “Oki, you did more than enough. Atom will understand it.” He is the person who is kind to me and understands me most. “Self-centered and self-satisfied? You should not care what people say to you. There are many people who even cannot do that. I think you are a noble person. I am proud of you. So why don’t you give up and find another job? I am more than happy to help you.” However, this kind remark from him encouraged me more. Now my purpose was not only for Atom. I started pursuing my research to make up for Atom and in expiration of myself, however, being encouraged and helped by many people and learnt a lot. My feeling towards Atom had changed to a mission. ‘I would like all dogs to have healthy long lives. I would like to prevent owners who have worries from making the same mistakes as mine. I would like many people to know how I was touched and given trust while I was researching. I would like to make many dogs and their owners happy through my feeling towards Atom. I wish to create the world that everyone can feel a measure of sympathy through dogs.’ So I should not give up. Some people who had been supporting me sincerely gave me suggestions such as to start making something possible, such as side dish, soup and dry food.

However, making Special rice, hand made food was my only goal no matter what happened. If there was no such a machine to produce the food, I could make the machine. Nothing to worry about, it was whether decide to do or not to do. And again, I swore to Atom.
I will definitely make your Special rice.
If I was not able to make it, I would never make anything else. I started building a machine.
To be continued to Vol. 12

I had no experience in making machines nor had any knowledge about it. In addition to this, the machine I was about to build was unknown and the first machine in the world. On the contrary, the situation without any sample, manual or blueprints made my mind clear. First of all, I considered the reason of why Supecial rice would not be distributed. I thought researching the reason that Special rice was unable to be produced by existing machines would help me find an answer. As a result, while moisture percentage has to be 75% to produce retort-pouch foods, my Special rice consisted only 55% of moisture, which resulted in unable to be aseptic as it was difficult to go heat through. It is necessary to give 165 centigrade of heat for hours to create an aseptic condition. Keep giving heat for hours destroys nutrition of foods remarkably. Giving rice that high heat in hermetically-sealed condition makes rice melt and change into rice cake. I understood that I had to build a machine that could create an aseptic condition under low temperature not to destroy nutrition and not to change rice into rice cake. However, thinking at a desk did not progress my research any further. Just as we say “Fear is often worse than the danger itself”, I tried to make a machine in imitation of a retort-pouch foods machine. Unfortunately the existing retort-pouch foods machine was expensive and even a part was not be sold. It was similar to make an only car in the world by hand. I visited again retort-pouch machine manufacturers where I visited before to watch and touch it. A main part of the machine was a huge metal tank and many electronic controls and pipes were put around it. Since it was impossible to know how it works from the outside, I went to a library to learn its mechanism and got to know that the mechanism was simply to insert steam into the tank and cool down the inside of the tank using a coolant. I was not quite sure why this simple-looking machine costs that much. It might have more complicated mechanism inside. However, I decided not to worry about it.

“Do not care. Nothing will happen if I worry about outcomes. Once I decided to do it, I only focus on what I can and ignore the others. I will achieve it no matter what happened.” Believing my sixth sense, I suggested myself repeatedly and started looking for a tank. Since I decided to make a machine, my motivation had never been down thanks to my passion towards Atom. I was in the state of being possessed by something or by the supernatural.
To be continued to Vol. 13