Exchange with China

	In 2003, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of its founding, the　Iwamizawa China-Japan Friendship Association planted 40 lilacs and 3 peach trees in Higashiyama Park, and 3 lilacs and 2 peach trees at Iwamizawa Agricultural High School, near the bust of Mr. Hara. Mr. Hara (deceased) brought these indigenous Chinese plants back to Iwamizawa as gifts from China’s Tianjin Agricultural University.
	A native resident of Iwamizawa, Mr. Hara worked for the Hokkaido Prefectural government and the Central Hokkaido Agricultural Association until he retired at 64, from which age he dedicated his life to introducing to China techniques for rice cultivation. He pursued these efforts until his death in 2002 at 85 years old. Mr. Hara spent a total of over 1,800 days in China over the course of 63 visits to the country in which, over 21 years, he visited Kokuryuko and 29 other of China’s 33 provinces.

Transplanting seedlings into wet rice paddies and introducing methods for efficient use of nitrogen-rich fertilizer, Mr. Hara saw a rapid increase in the volume of the rice crop. Using Kokuryuko as an example, paddy field area increased from 200,000 hectares (ha) to 1,400,000 ha, the harvest yield-per-area doubled, and the overall production amount increased fourteen fold. Mr. Hara’s guidance led to a 2,000,000-ton increase in overall Chinese rice production. Thanks to these achievements--and the image of him even wading barefoot in rice paddies to give guidance, Mr. Hara was adoringly called ‘Yansaishen’ by the Chinese (the name means ‘Foreign Prosperity God’). In recognition of his meritorious service, the People’s Republic of China as well as local Chinese governments presented him with many awards. The bust (pictured here), the first ever received by a foreign individual as a present from the Chinese national government, is installed at Mr. Hara’s alma mater, Iwamizawa Agricultural High School.

With Mr. Hara’s guidance in rice cultivation as the connecting link, various exchanges have been held with various places throughout China. In 2000-01, 120 three-meter willow trees given by the Beijing Forestry University in 1997-98 were hand-planted by local residents in Higashiyama Park. 　An irrigation point in Higashiyama Park, Iwamizawa.

	Of the lilacs and peach trees that Mr. Hara brought back as gifts from Tianjin Agricultural University in April 2002, 5 peach trees were planted on October 19th of that year on the 30th anniversary of the normalization of Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations. It was on that day that Mr. Hara passed away, as if waiting to confirm that the trees had been planted.
	This peach tree blossomed beautifully in 2003, the following spring.

	Then, lilacs and peach trees that had spent the winter growing in the Conservatory were planted on June 7, 2003, right on schedule.
On July 3, 2003, Professor Cui of Tianjin Agricultural University came to Iwamizawa to inspect and water the lilacs and peach trees that his university had presented to the city.

June 21, 2004 Mr. Chen Yang Jin, current deputy director-general of the State Administrarion of Foreign Experts Affairs, PRC. together with his visiting delegation, decks with flowers the bust of Shoichi Hara at Iwamizawa Agricultural High School. The bust is a present from the Chinese government.

September 22-29, 2004 The mayor of Iwamizawa joined the Iwamizawa China-Japan Friendship Association on the 40th anniversary of its establishment, for a trip to China honoring the great achievements of Mr. Hara (deceased). The group’s visit recalled Mr. Hara’s auspicious earlier travels there, including the cities of Jin Nan District, Tianjin; Chengde, and Shenyang. 　Click here for more information

December 2-3, 2004 Mr. Yang Shu and the Shenyang New and High-Tech Agricultural Development Zone Administrative Committee. The Iwamizawa delegation met them in September and again in December, the latter time when they visited Hokkaido. The group toured Iwamizawa and the greater Sorachi area, including visits as observers to plants for food manufacture and processing.

March 28-29, 2005 After a visit to Japan the previous December, the Chinese delegation returned again in March, led by Li Baoquan, Deputy Mayor of Shenyang. While in Iwamizawa,they spent time again with the mayor of Iwamizawa and the director general (head) of the Sorachi Subprefectural Office.  The delegation toured a food processing plant, spoke with agricultural cooperative members, and went to the Naganuma Hokkaido Central Agricultural Experiment Station.  They also enjoyed such local food specialties as sanjozuke. Deputy Mayor Li presented as a memento to Mayor Watanabe his own handwritten Chinese calligraphy, encouraging the mayor in his future endeavors.

June 16-17, 2005 Continuing exchange between Iwamizawa and Tianjin, Tianjin Vice Mayor Sun Hai Lin and Professor Cui of Tianjin Agricultural University were joined by twelve others in their visit to Iwamizawa. The group viewed a bust of Hara Shoichi, and saw peach trees and lilacs. They also visited the Hokkaido Central Agricultural Experiment Station, and proposed borrowing the expertise of Hokkaido rice-cultivation experts working to improve the taste of cultivated rice.

August 22, 2005 After a visit in March, a new delegation of five people from the Shenyang Academy of Agricultural Sciences led by Director Wenjing Lu arrived in Iwamizawa to investigate the local agricultural system. They visited a number of places including Iwamizawa Park, Rose Park, and the Hokkaido Central Agricultural Experiment Station, where they learned about the agricultural cooperative system.

September 9, 2005 Mr. Li Tiemin, the former Chinese Consul General in Sapporo, and currently the Advisor to the Director of the Chinese Overseas Friendship Collaboration Service Center, visited Iwamizawa with two other people. They exchanged information with the local agricultural cooperative, and rekindled old friendships with Mayor Watanabe and the Sino-Japanese Friendship Committee.

May 17-18, 2006 After a visit to China by Mayor Watanabe in September 2004, a reciprocal delegation from China came to Iwamizawa in 2005, and again in May of this year.  The delegation of twelve was led by Mr. Li Baoquan, Deputy Mayor of the city of Shenyang.  They toured a food processing plant and met with agricultural cooperative members to discuss agricultural cooperation and development.

August 28, 2006 A group of four local government officials from Shenyang visited Iwamizawa in August and inspected some local food processing plants.