Bonus: Historical Buildings of Koiwai Farm

In October of this year, it was decided that the Koiwai Farm Club, designed by the Maintenance Section of the Estates Department of Mitsubishi Limited Partnership Company, the predecessor of our company, would be designated as an Important Cultural Property of Japan. In this issue, we will introduce the historical buildings of Koiwai Farm along with old drawings of the club.

Koiwai Farm's Historic Buildings and the "Club"

Koiwai Farm was established in 1891 (Meiji 24). It was named after the initials of the three co-founders, Ono Gishin (Vice President of the Japanese Railway Company), Iwasaki Yanosuke (President of Mitsubishi), and Inoue Masaru (Director General of the Railway Bureau), who dreamed of developing a modern farm. The land at the foot of Mt. Iwate was a barren wilderness of volcanic ash soil, but large-scale development began, including soil improvement and planting of windbreak and snowbreak forests. The plantations eventually expanded to two-thirds of the farm area, and while playing a role in protecting the farm, they developed into a forestry business. Through more than a century of tireless efforts, the barren wilderness was transformed into lush green land. If you drive straight from Koiwai Station on the JR Tazawako Line on Prefectural Road 219 towards Mt. Iwate, you will come across a vast farm of about 3,000 hectares (the size of Chuo Ward and Minato Ward combined) stretching from Shizukuishi Town to Takizawa City. And along this prefectural road stand the main facilities of Koiwai Agriculture. 21 of the buildings built from the end of the Meiji period to the early Showa period have been designated as Important Cultural Properties of Japan this year. Most of the buildings are still in use today, and consist of cowsheds, warehouses, offices, etc., but in the headquarters area there is a "club" designed and built in 1914 (Taisho 3). It is a wooden one-story building with a hipped roof and clapboard facade, and was built as a place to receive and accommodate visitors and as a meeting place for employees. The building was originally built in 1899 (Meiji 32) at a different location, but was moved to its current location in 1914 and extensively renovated and expanded. A large-scale renovation was carried out again in 1927 (Showa 2), and the building is now primarily used as a conference room.

Our old drawings of Koiwai Farm

Of the 21 buildings in the Koiwai Farm complex, which has been designated an Important Cultural Property, it was known that the cowshed and four-story storehouse were designed by Tozawa Jintaro (Tozawa Group) of Morioka and others, but the designer of the "club" was unknown. When we looked into the old drawings managed by our company this time, we found that there were 15 drawings related to the club among those related to Koiwai Farm. Among them were drawings titled "Koiwai Farm Club Relocation and Renovation Design Drawings" and "Koiwai Farm Club Relocation and Expansion Design Plans" created in 1914 (Taisho 3), which are believed to be the designs for the current club when it was relocated and expanded. Although the designer's seal could not be found on the drawings, the date of creation and the characteristics of the drawing frame suggest that they were designed by Tsuda Saku, who was a member of the Mitsubishi Limited Partnership Company's Land Department Maintenance Section from 1908 to 1920. Tsuda Saku was an engineer active during the time of Chief Engineer Yasuoka Katsuya (1900-1912), and after going independent, he also designed the Iwasaki Family Suehiro Villa (1927, Nationally Registered Cultural Property). The 15 remaining club drawings consist of two floor plans, seven detailed drawings, and six detailed drafts. Comparing the detailed drawings (drawings: Koiwai Farm Club blueprints) with the interior photographs borrowed from Koiwai Farm, the shapes of the waist-high walls and ceilings, which are characteristic of the interior, match the drawings. By comparing the drawings in our possession with the current building, we will be able to confirm the location of the interior facade parts at the time of the relocation, expansion, and renovation completed in 1914.