19-Year-Old Hunter's Project to Open a Gibier Restaurant Specializing in Kyon on Izu Oshima Island The project reached its goal on CAMPFIRE within one day of its release!

～Izu Oshima, Japan: Revitalizing the Local Economy with the Invasive Alien Species "Kyon".

2024.11.28 07:30

伊豆大島ジビエ

Izu Oshima Gibier (Location: Oshima-town, Tokyo, Representative: Haruma Kawahara), a company that utilizes Kyon, an invasive alien species, has launched a project on the crowdfunding site "CAMPFIRE" to raise funds to open Japan's first gibier butcher shop specializing in Kyon and to serve delicious Kyon cuisine! The project reached its goal of 500,000 yen within 24 hours of its launch. Furthermore, 1 million yen (200%) was raised in the first 3 days, and as of November 26, 1.34 million yen (268%) has been raised.

This project will continue until January 15, 2025, with the first Next Goal set at 1.5 million yen

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(1) The target amount was achieved within 1 day of the release of the project. The response was so strong that the achievement rate exceeded 200% within 3 days of the release.

(2) We are a gibier butcher shop specializing in Kyon, an invasive alien species.

(3) A 19-year-old young hunter will represent Izu Oshima Gibier.

■Crowdfunding page

We want to open Japan's first gibier butcher shop specializing in Kyon and serve delicious Kyon dishes!

URL: https://camp-fire.jp/projects/777991/view?utm_campaign=cp_po_share_c_msg_projects_show

■Background of Crowdfunding

Kyon are designated as an Invasive Alien Species because of their extremely high reproductive capacity (estimated annual increase rate of about 40%) and the enormous damage they cause to native vegetation and local agriculture. On Izu Oshima Island, there are an estimated 18,000 Kyon inhabiting the island, and they are causing serious foraging damage to native vegetation and local products (e.g., ashitaba leaves). To address this problem, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government invested approximately 900 million yen in 2024 in a project to control Kyon. Currently, about 6,000 Kyon are exterminated annually, all of which are incinerated.

Our goal is to find new value in these Kyon and create a new meat resource for Oshima by effectively utilizing this resource rather than simply killing them.

And by utilizing Kyon as a new local specialty, we aim to revitalize the local economy and make it more appealing to tourists.

In order to make Kyon gibier a specialty of Izu Oshima, facilities for producing high-quality gibier are required. Specifically, it will cost money to install a prefabricated cold room required for a dismantling and processing facility and to develop the site. The amount of money raised through this crowdfunding will be used to cover the costs of equipment installation and site renovation.

The project is headed by 19-year-old hunter Haruma Kawahara. He moved to Izu Oshima while still in high school, and after graduating from a correspondence high school in March 2024, he trained as a hunter at a gibier processing facility in Chiba Prefecture, where he learned the techniques of capturing wild birds and animals and preparing gibier. He also opened the "Izu Oshima Gibier" in September 2024.

キョン利活用の全体像