Miyazaki holds a degree in agricultural and was originally a sales representative for machinery. "I am fish fanatic and have always loved fish. If I have some spare time, I go fishing and clean the fish I catch to eat them," says Miyazaki. When Sojitz conducted in-house recruiting for tuna fish farming personnel, Miyazaki was more than happy to apply.

Miyazaki recalls, "Building collaborative relations with the local fishing industry was the key to successful establishment of the company." There were some concerns that tuna farming would have an impact upon the torafugu, or tiger puffer fish, farming of which was extensively developed in Takashima. Under these circumstances, however, the local fishermen's union accepted the company as a member and the members kindly provided very helpful advice on matters such as the size and shape of preserves, feeding methods, and so on. The Company also made efforts to establish mutually beneficial relationships with the local fishermen by, for example, offering diving services by qualified employees upon request from the fishermen. "It was a time of trial and error for us, and we were so thankful to and encouraged by the full support from the fishermen's union," Miyazaki says with appreciation.

Even with this support, the tuna farming business, the first such undertaking by Sojitz, faced many struggles from its inception until today. Tuna cultivation begins with yokowa (juvenile fish that weigh several hundred grams) put in the preserves. It takes three years before the juvenile fish become adults that weigh more than 30 kilograms. The survival rate of juvenile fish itself is quite low and raising them to adult tuna is no easy matter. Tuna can die as a result of a sharp drop of water temperature or from colliding with the sides of the preserve, and they also jump out of the preserve and swim into the open sea. There were a number of trials. During the process of tackling these issues and making improvements, there were new discoveries and then additional problems to overcome arose. This process was repeated continually.

The company accumulated experience and began to yield results, with the first shipping finally being made at the end of 2010. The shipping volume, however, was below the original plan. Rigorous demands arrive almost daily from the head office asking questions such as "can you really turn a profit?" After those difficult days, the production volume increased steadily, and the fish haul for the fiscal 2013 is projected to reach some 300 tons. The tuna farming project is expected to make a significant contribution to revenue from now on.