Shizukuishi, Iwate Pref. – A paradoxical pleasure of living in Tokyo’s unending metropolis is the minor sense of bliss you get whenever you travel beyond it.

After a two-hour shinkansen from Tokyo Station, I arrive at Iwate Prefecture’s Morioka Station, where I’m whisked into a complimentary shuttle. Despite being the second-largest Japanese prefecture (after Hokkaido), Iwate has the country’s second-lowest population density. The drive out to my accommodation in mid-May passes through verdant forests, flower fields and dairy farms, with the looming, snow-capped Mount Iwate completing the idyllic landscape — it all hits me like a breath of fresh air.

Nestled in this counterpoint to Japan’s urban sprawl is Azuma Farm Koiwai.