Tamio Ogata, 53, runs a 55-hectare vineyard here on a plateau about 600 meters above sea level.
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| Former engineer Tamio Ogata happily looks over the fully grown grapes in his vineyard in the town of Tobu, Nagano Prefecture. |
Born in Yokohama, Ogata spent about 30 years as an employee of a major steelmaker until the end of 1998. He quit when the company was in the middle of restructuring as a result of the prolonged recession.
Trained as an engineer, Ogata helped build sewer drains in steel plants in South Korea and Japan. He had an annual salary of more than 10 million yen and about 150 people working under him. But he soon found himself having to take on jobs outside his expertise.
Then he saw some of his peers forced out of work. "Even if I had remained in the company, I would have either been sent to a subsidiary on loan or asked to take up a 'dirty role,' such as business negotiations," he said.