The great Japanese poet and writer of fairytales Kenji Miyazawa saw Iwate as a pastoral ideal. Miyazawa also went on to describe the southern foothills of Mt. Iwate as a ‘miracle’ – referring to the vast acres of green woodland that took hold over barren volcanic soil, which is where Koiwai Farm calls home.

This land was once sterile volcanic ash. Nothing grew here. At the end of the Edo Period, which saw the sun set on the samurai class, Japan embarked on a period of industrial growth and modernization now known as the Meiji Period. Masaru Inoue, a bureaucrat and later to become famous as the “Father of the Japanese Railway” was also a pioneer of the railway in the Tohoku Region. Inoue envisaged green expanses of woodland where others only saw barren soil. Part of his vision was Koiwai Farm, which was founded in 1891.

The name Koiwai comes from the Kanji characters in surnames of the three founders – Gishin Ono (the “Ko” 小) was the vice-president of the Japan Rail Company, Yanosuke Iwasaki (the “Iwa” 岩) was the president of Mitsubishi Corp. and lastly Masaru Inoue (the final “I” 井) – the chief executive of the National Railway Agency. At the time it was founded, the site of the Koiwai Farm was barren land. The founders embarked on a soil improvement program that also involved the planting of countless trees to enrich the soil – a program that continues to this day.

In 1899, responsibility for the still-incomplete Koiwai Farm passed to Hisaya Iwasaki, the third president of Mitsubishi Corp. Iwasaki was passionately interested in the Koiwai project and saw the potential of the Koiwai site as a diary farm capable of providing grazing pasture for dairy cattle. He had vision and saw in his mind’s eye the possibility of creating an ideal farming environment right here in Iwate.

In the 120 years since the Koiwai Farm was founded, the once barren soil is now covered with cedar, red pine, larch, etc. The miracle described by Kenji Miyazawa has become a reality, with contented dairy cattle grazing in the shade of tall trees, alongside herds of sheep. The coops at Koiwai Farm are home to some 60,000 healthy chickens. The vision of Hisaya Iwasaki has proven to be accurate.

Civilization leaves its mark on arid land – or so the saying goes. The Japanese, for as long as there have been people living on these islands, are a people who mark the passage of time and significant events, both good and bad, with the planting of trees. They leave a forest for future generations. The same can be said of the trees surrounding Meiji Jingu in Harajuku, Tokyo. Koiwai Farm is proud to be part of this continuing Japanese tradition.

The fundamental concept behind the design and layout of the Meiji Shrine and grounds was a ‘forest that seems to stretch on and on forever. The trees should be, as much as possible, the same as woodland in nature.’ Koiwai Farm has taken the same attitude and approach to reforestation in Iwate. Since the first trees were planted over 120 years ago, Koiwai Farm has overseen something of a miracle as a forest was born to create an ‘Art Museum of the Great Outdoors’ – come see for yourself!