Tsukinukizawa 442-1
Tochigi, Nasushiobara
329-2703 JAPAN
Campus & Facilities
Administration
First time at ARI? Come here to find the reception, talk with staff or buy our products.
(A1) Admin Building
Find the reception, offices, and the director’s room in the Admin Building and the 2nd floor of the Farm Shop.
(A2) ARI Shop
We sell our farm products, books, and handicrafts from graduates’ countries.
(A3) Parking
You can park your car in front of the Admin Building and the Koinonia House.
Class & Community
ARI's campus is designed with openness so that members can meet and share experiences, meals, and work. For long-term community members, it is also a home. Around the Koinonia House facilities, you can access free wifi.
(C1) Koinonia House
All members come together in Koinonia House to celebrate meals and fellowship.
(C2) Classroom & Library
Participants gather in the main classroom for lectures. The ARI library has media about agriculture, society, and other topics in both English and Japanese.
(C3) Oikos Chapel
The chapel was up-cycled from a 100 years old Japanese farmhouse and serves the community as a place for prayer, worship, counseling, and meditation.
Need space for your meeting or event? Click the button to check fees and conditions for these facilities.
Farm & Foodlife
The ARI farm is a self-sufficient system that circulates and integrates all resources. This system of giving, growing and taking life supports what we call 'Foodlife.' The farm, therefore, is not only a place for work but a place to learn all about Foodlife.
We use organic farming methods free of artificial pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers. Strict animal hygiene regulations require us to put several measures in place throughout the year, such as fences, lime, and roofing to prevent the spread of diseases from wild animals.
(F1) Kitchen
ARI’s kitchen caters for up to 100 people at a time. Students, staff, and volunteers are involved in preparing meals, making the kitchen a space to study, build relationships, and serve others.
(F2) Manna House
A food processing facility for preserving, cooking, and storing food products such as cookies and jam. There is also space and equipment for butchering small animals.
(F3) Farm Shop
With its own classroom and tool shed, the Farm Shop is the hub to plan farm work. It is also used to store and process the harvest. Heavy farm machinery is stored in and around.
(F4) Vegetable Fields
ARI has 2.5ha of chemical-free farm land for almost 100 types of crops and vegetables. Community members manage these fields together to learn and to grow their daily food for self-sufficiency.
(F5) Paddy Fields
Inside and outside the campus, we grow Japanese rice. We research various methods to improve our practice of organic cultivation, for example using small animals for weeding and fertilizing.
(F6) Fish Ponds
Like other elements of the ARI campus, the fish ponds integrate landscape, natural resources and recycling for a multifunctional and waste-free system. We raise fish for eating and farming.
(F7) Pig Pens
This is where our pigs live and grow up! Participants practice pig-rearing with different methods, as well as production of pig manure-based biogas and fertilizer.
(F8) Poultry Houses
The poultry facilities include soft-floor pens and brooding houses for chicks. We keep over 400 chickens, producing over 80,000 eggs and 1t of meat every year.
(F9) Goat Shed
Goats are raised for training and for milk—more than 200l each year—, meat, and manure. They graze outside in the grass during the day.
(F10) Work Shop
A recycle and building center with machinery, materials, and tools for welding and carpentry, open to all community members.
(F11) Mixing Room
We prepare livestock feed by hand and machine, always striving to improve the quality and sustainability of the feed.
(F12) Forest
The forest surrounding ARI produces firewood, charcoal, young shoots and buds for food, as well as organic matter for agriculture.
Accommodation
On and near the campus, we have accommodation facilities for guests and regular community members. Most of them were renovated or rebuilt after the 2011 earthquake disaster.
(S1) Dorms & Guest House
Participants and volunteers live in separate men and women’s dormitories. They have common community spaces, kitchens, shower rooms, and washing machines. The dormitories are wifi-free zones.
(S2) Nasu Seminar House
Nasu Seminar House hosts large groups as well as visiting individuals and families in a variety of Japanese and Western-style rooms. It has a large meeting room, foyer, garden, and kitchen. The NSH is located near the campus and owned by the Student Christian Fellowship.
(F3) Staff Houses
Several staff members and their families live on campus. There is one shared house and three family houses.