Chapter 2 — The Paradise on Earth: Niikura Farm
A Heritage Farm Since the Muromachi EraWorld-Class Quality
The site of the first “Herb Farm Tour and Harvest Experience” I attended was Niikura Farm, a long-established herb farm located in Tokyo. Its history is astonishing — the farm has been handed down for several centuries, dating back to the Muromachi period. Cultivation methods rooted in the land, soil management in tune with the seasons, and the cycles of natural renewal — all of these have been preserved through generations of wisdom, continuing unbroken to this day.
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World-Class Quality
The herbs nurtured at Niikura Farm are highly esteemed on the world stage. They are supplied to top-class hotels and world-renowned restaurants, chosen by celebrated chefs for their dishes. Moreover, Niikura’s edible herbs have even been used at the international stage of Formula One Grand Prix venues — a testament to their unwavering global reputation for quality. From soil preparation to harvest and shipment, every process reflects accumulated skill and devotion. In other words, their value already meets “world standards.” Built on absolute safety and reliability, Niikura Farm’s herbs continue to earn the trust of professionals across the globe.
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The Scenery of Paradise on Earth
The moment I stepped into one of the greenhouses, I gasped. Before me stretched countless herbs — among them, rosemary trees more than 20 years old. The air was filled with fragrance — the scent of herbs mingling with the aroma of the soil, wrapping my body and soul in a sense of wholeness. It was, indeed, a paradise on earth — a sanctuary where humans and nature coexisted in harmony, and where history and the future seemed to intertwine. I was deeply drawn in, returning to the farm again and again to harvest herbs, to experience distillation — to immerse myself completely.
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From Coincidence to Inevitability
At first, it was only curiosity and the search for healing. Business was the farthest thing from my mind. Yet with every encounter — every time I touched the living energy of herbs — I felt, deep within my body, that human beings are profoundly connected to nature. The refreshing scent of rosemary, the strength of plants rooting firmly in the earth — these sensations were not rational but intuitive, a truth that resonated wordlessly through my senses.
Then quietly, a feeling began to sprout within me: “Perhaps there lies a great potential here.” That faint premonition — gentle yet certain — was the seed of destiny to come.