Photo/Illutration A scene from the film "Minari" (©2020 A24 DISTRIBUTION, LLC All Rights Reserved.)

"Minari," a 2020 U.S. film set in the 1980s, is about a South Korean immigrant family who settles in rural Arkansas to grow and sell produce, and overcomes various hardships, including water shortages. 

A performer in the film just won the best supporting actress Oscar at the 93rd Academy Awards. 

I wasn't familiar with the Korean word minari, but learned it denotes a plant known in Japan as "seri" (Japanese flat-leaf parsley).

In one of the movie's most memorable scenes, the family's grandmother, who arrives from South Korea a few years later, plants minari seeds by a creek.

It has been years since a hot pot dish called "seri-nabe" became popular in Japan.

The city of Yuzawa in Akita Prefecture is one of the nation's top seri production centers. Local grower Kazunori Okuyama, 35, is now busy tending to seedlings of Mitsuseki seri, a celebrated brand dating to the Edo Period (1603-1867).

Nurtured with underground water from Mount Higashichokaisan, the sprigs feature long roots.

"They're so popular, we haven't been able to catch up with demand for the last 10 years," he said. "We even get orders from the greater Tokyo metropolitan area."

Akita Prefecture leads the nation in depopulation. But Okuyama, determined to pass the local industry on to the next generation, has founded a farming company called CRAS.

The acronym stands for the region's four specialties--cherries, rice, apples and seri. "Cras" is also Latin for "tomorrow."

Okuyama wants to ensure that his children will grow up to be proud of their hometown.

In the film, the minari seeds the grandmother planted spread their roots by the creek.

I heard that in South Korea, the word minari implies the commitment of parents who work hard so their children will have a better life.

Every scene in the film is beautiful, and the background music is gentle and soothing.

In Japan, seri is at the top of the list of "haru no nanakusa" (seven herbs of spring) that are traditionally eaten in early January. For this reason, I always believed this was a winter-only delicacy.

But in South Korea, minari is indispensable to salads, hot pots and other popular dishes.  

After watching the film, I suddenly craved the crisp texture of seri roots.

 --The Asahi Shimbun, April 27          

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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