Moving to Nemuro for a better quality of life

I met up with Mr. Furukawa at his reservation-only store, BURANN, in the Goyomai Area, which is close to Japan’s easternmost point. In this stylish space, where plants, jewelry and interior design are organized in perfect harmony, Furukawa smiles gently as he begins speaking with me.

▶ Opened in April 2022, BURANN is located inside a renovated building by a marshy grassland.

▶The mostly white interior of the store exudes a calm, dignified atmosphere.

The Great East Japan earthquake in March 2011 inspired Furukawa to move to Nemuro. At that time, images of the tsunami played on repeat on the television. This got Furukawa thinking about the concept of nature vs. people. “After the earthquake, I felt like the distance between people and nature had grown wider than before. As I thought about my future, I started to feel that I wanted to move to somewhere where people are closer to nature and create something there.”

▶ Hiromichi Furukawa, born in Mie Prefecture in 1975. Mr. Furukawa studied fashion in Paris and founded the jewelry brand AVM when he returned to Japan. His creative endeavors were based in Tokyo’s Nakemeguro, until he moved to Nemuro in 2011. Since then, he has been actively involved in the development of Nemuro’s culture and other initiatives, including the launch of VOSTOK , a company that considers how people should live in the future.

By a stroke of fate, just when the thought of a move was stirring in Mr. Furukawa’s head, his fishing buddies took him on a fishing trip to Hokkaido’s easternmost town, Nemuro. He was impressed by the sight of fishermen catching fish on their boats. Seeing this scene, Mr. Furukawa realized there was no sense of nature vs. people here: rather, people were a part of the natural cycle. “I felt that here I could have a life with little distance between people and nature. This would allow me to create something born from nature. So I said to myself, it’s worth a shot, and decided to move here.”

Nemuro had a big impact on both Furukawa and his creations

The closeness between nature and people in Nemuro has had an impact on Mr. Furukawa’s artistry.

▶ Pieces that Mr. Furukawa has been making since his time in Tokyo—rings made from gold, silver and other materials with beautiful inscriptions on the inside. I was impressed by the delicate artistry, right down to the fine details.

“While I was in Tokyo, I was in awe of nature and was desperately longing for it. I projected that feeling onto my pieces. When I moved to Nemuro, I had a sense that I had become a part of nature, so my pieces became less conceptual.”

He showed me a silver bangle. “This piece is inspired by a whale’s rib bone that I found while walking along the beach one day. I held that bone in my hand for about a year. The feeling and curve soon became ingrained in my memory and one day when I went to make the bangle, unconsciously I was able to replicate the shape and feel of that bone.”

To make this piece, he didn’t have to force anything or think too hard; rather, it became a projection of something that appeared organically in his everyday life. The piece was born from a feeling rather than consciously designing it in his mind. Compared to what he was creating in Tokyo, Mr. Furukawa’s creations are now more rooted in his daily life.

▶Rings made from deer antlers collected in Nemuro City. “I can only make this kind of creation because I’m in Nemuro,” said Mr. Furukawa.

Life in Nemuro has sharpened his senses

Mr. Furukawa lives off the land and sea, through hobbies such as fishing, wild vegetable gathering and berry picking. “Sometimes I do feel like I’m a part of the ecosystem,” he says with a smile.

“I’ve seen bears many times and whales pass through the nearby straits. Looking outside the window, I often see eagles and deer right there. There are so many big wild animals around; it’s really nice to feel that people aren’t at the top of the food chain. There are moments when I feel that I’m just another part of nature. Sometimes I have a premonition, based on the humidity or temperature when I wake up in the morning, that I’m going to catch a lot of fish today or I’m going to see a lot of insects. I feel that my animal senses have been sharpened since coming to Nemuro.”

▶A white-tailed eagle we saw from the window of BURANN during the interview.

He explains that those senses have built up over time. For Mr. Furukawa, who says that his life and work are loosely connected, it goes without saying that the strengthening of these senses is also deeply connected to his creative work.

“I recently made a piece of jewelry out of ebonite, a material made from a mixture of natural rubber and sulfur. It looks like it doesn’t have anything to do with Nemuro, but when I polished it, the thickness of the water that I felt when I was fishing near Nemuro and the sparkle seen during the golden hour come out in a way that is different to plastic and deer antlers. I believe these are the most Nemuro-esque pieces that I’ve created.”

Mr. Furukawa told me that the way he sees light and interprets it has changed since moving to Nemuro. These ebonite pieces are also something that has been born from the senses he has honed in Nemuro.

Mr. Furukawa’s top picks for places to experience Nemuro’s spectacular nature

Mr. Furukawa has invited many of his friends to Nemuro and shown them around. Some have even ended up moving to Nemuro themselves. So what does this master guide recommend seeing? “Shunkunitai and Cape Ochiishi are must-visit spots if you want to experience the magnificent nature of Nemuro.”

▶The view from Cape Ochiishi. The wild Pacific Ocean spreads out below.

“Shunkunitai was formed by an accumulation of sand. Experts believe that it takes about 3,000 years for a forest to grow from the sea, but here you can take in this phenomenon in about a 10-minute walk along the boardwalk. Cape Ochiishi boasts vast views. Looking out over the endless grasslands and ocean, you can feel a sense of awe as you take in the magnitude of nature. Of course, you can find primeval forest and vast grasslands in other places like Alaska and Mongolia. But here you can see them all in one compact area. And the fact that it is only 20 to 30 minutes from the city center makes it a very unique place.”

Nemuro’s harmony between nature and people

While I spoke with Mr. Furukawa, we kept returning to the concept of distance between people and nature. I felt that this should be the key theme of this interview. With wild animals that you don’t generally encounter, the overwhelming scale of the landscape, and the colorful show of seasonal plants, Nemuro is a place where you can enjoy nature in your daily life and at times feel like you’re a part of it. I felt that this is one of the charms of Nemuro.

At the end of the interview, Mr. Furukawa showed me the old pasture that spreads out behind BURANN. The grassland seemed to go on forever. Windmills and silos could be seen in the distance. There was a field of irises spreading out at our feet, and in some places, wild strawberries were bearing bright red fruit. “Just a few days ago, the white cottongrass flowers were blooming all over the place. It was stunning,” Mr. Furukawa told me. In winter, the whole area becomes blanketed in white snow. The scenery changes from vibrant flowers and grasses to a world of silver. I’m sure that must be incredibly beautiful.

I’d like to visit this area again in winter, when the landscape transforms and the drift ice flows up to the coast. It was with those thoughts in mind that I left BURANN.