Are you familiar with the culture of "Yui"? It involves devising ways to distribute firewood, nuts, and water for rice paddies, and during rice planting and harvesting seasons, everyone takes turns helping out. This comprehensive mutual aid community, once found in every village, was more than just an organization; it was wisdom for survival. While this might sound like a folktale, the connections that transcend blood ties and self-interest are reminiscent of the scenes of mutual teaching and assistance that often occur on social media.
In fact, in recent years, "Yui"-type communities have been spontaneously emerging in various places as people try to re-evaluate the strengths of their local communities.


And this winter, Isetan has focused on a loose network called "Yuru-Yui" (a name I came up with myself).
For example, there's the brewery-led community development that fosters connections between people while brewing sake. Then there's the increasingly social nature of agriculture, with increased collaboration with other industries. In all these cases, there's no sense of forced unity or collaboration, yet people gather and new things unfold naturally. If you're interested, raise your hand; if not, don't participate.
That kind of relaxed connection is what I'm feeling right now. In other words, maybe truly interesting things are born not from rigidly homogenized communities, but from a certain kind of looseness? That's what I'm talking about. Please relax and enjoy this month's Isetan Men's Sweets Club.

"A winter treat: Mizu-yokan (water jelly)."

What are these three different types of mizuyokan (water jelly)?

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