Through the Eighth Winter

February 14th.

Leaving my home deep in the satoyama hills and heading toward the coastline.
The scenery through the car window still carries the air of winter, but at my feet, in the grasses and at the tips of the trees, I can feel the first quiet signs of spring beginning to stir.

On a day when the world is wrapped in a sweet kind of air, it is, for Botarhythm, also a milestone that calls for a straighter spine.

Thanks to everyone's support, Botarhythm Coffee Roaster has reached its 8th anniversary since founding.

In an era when survival in food service and retail is said to be difficult, and in a place far from the city at that, to have made it through eight winters.
That is not something I can proudly call a "success." It comes down, simply, to a quiet gratitude, the sense of having been "kept alive" by the accumulation of ordinary days and by everyone who has supported me.

"Botarhythm"

This coined word, combining Botanical and Rhythm, carries a wish: just as plants breathe in accordance with the cycles of the sun and moon, I hope that through a single cup of coffee, people too might live within the rhythms of nature.

Eight years is both long and short, and it has been turbulent.
The world changes at a dizzying pace, in a time when efficiency, numbers, and loud voices are often treated as justice.
And yet, time in Minamiboso, where the roastery stands, seems to move at a different current altogether.
Wanting to take in that flow of time as part of myself was one of the reasons I decided to make my life here.

In the autumn of 2019, the building that would house the roastery, which I had slowly begun preparing for opening, suffered major damage in a large typhoon.
Even so, I kept repairing it bit by bit, and just as I took the first steps as a roastery, the following year the world was covered by the pandemic.
Having come out the other side of that long tunnel, I have now finally put up the roastery's sign and am able to open almost every day, even with irregular holidays.

A small, small shop, and because of that, a closeness with customers that could not otherwise exist.

Days spent sending not just coffee beans but a feeling, through the online store and furusato nozei (hometown tax donation program), to people far away whom I have yet to meet.

And the presence of partner shops with whom I can grow together.

Eight years ago, at the start of this business, honestly, I had predicted none of this.

All I have done is sincerely give whatever I could, at each moment, to the opportunities I was given.
Having continued to this day is nothing more than the result of that plain, unglamorous accumulation.

Of course, it has not all been a smooth road.
There were difficulties I never anticipated, and there were times I had to choose distance from those who held different values, in order to protect what matters most to me.
That was never an easy thing to do, but to keep the identity of "Botarhythm" intact in this place, it was a path I could not avoid.

And so I arrive at today, the start of my 8th year.

Not forcing myself against the larger current, and not being swallowed by it either.
Just quietly holding its shape in that place, reflecting the scenery before it, like a single drop of water.

I want to continue building a livelihood that, however small, is deeply trusted.

In its 9th year, Botarhythm will keep moving forward, one step at a time, at its own pace, in its own rhythm.

Thank you, and I look forward to your continued support.

With gratitude.

Botarhythm Coffee Roaster
Nobuaki Motozawa