Tobetsu's Entrepreneurs

Whisky Student: Tanaka Takayuki

Building a Whisky Factory inside an abandoned school.

Tanaka Takashi has been passionate about Whisky since his days as a student at Sapporo University.

Integrating AI into a data-driven approach to brewery, he will be crowd funding his project to turn a disused school into a state of the art distillery in Tobetsu, Hokkaido.

Hopefully, if you come to Tobetsu after 2028 or so, you will be able to try his Whisky for yourself and watch the distillery process from the viewing area.

Marc Gagnon

Bringing authentic Canadian Maple Syrup production techniques to Tobetsu forests

As a Québécois who came to Hokkaido in 2003 with just a backpack to be with the love of his life, a lady from Otaru, Marc Gagnon soon realised the importance of food to Japanese culture. Wanting to bring authentic Canadian Maple Syrup, which had been such a big part of his life in Quebec, to Japan, he opened a shop in Sapporo in 2007 specialising in imported Maple products.

Dreaming of someday producing 100% Hokkaido Maple Syrup, he stumbled upon Tobetsu when he went there off-roading with friends. It was perfect; the city neither too big nor too small, the nature wonderful, and the forests just right for making Maple Syrup. He converted a disused outhouse into a small factory and an events space, and leased land nearby in Sweden Hills to cultivate.

He works with locals and the forest itself (and his big dog Sap) to harvest the syrup in a way that works together with the local environment rather than against it.

See https://gagnonmaple.com/ for more!