"I'm going to die" from the hard work of Japanese companies

After studying at a university in California for five years, Kikuchi worked for a local environmental consulting company for two years, and then at the age of 25, he moved to a Japanese consulting company.

However, because he was used to the American way of working, which values holidays and private time, he experienced a "reverse culture shock" at how hard the work was. He says it was normal to have meetings at 3am and prepare documents at 5am.

"My boss was so sleepy that he couldn't do anything about it and he was stabbing himself in the thigh with a ballpoint pen. In that kind of environment, I thought, 'If I continue on for another year, I will die both physically and mentally.'"

After quitting his job in Tokyo at the age of 27, he devoted himself to equestrianism for two years. Kikuchi loved horses more than any other animal. The reason was that they were beautiful. With the money he had never had time to spend before, he stayed with the coach of a New Zealand equestrian team, where he encountered beautiful scenery.

"The reason I'm interested in the environment is because I originally love beautiful natural landscapes and animals. I want to protect the environment as one way of preserving them. The scenery in New Zealand reminded me of California before it was developed, and it was truly beautiful. Even now I'm doing various things, but at the top of my mind there is always the big theme of 'I want to create beautiful scenery.'"

However, not working could not last long, and before I knew it, my savings were zero. Through connections with people, I got a job as a researcher at Tohoku University and at a consulting company, and now 11 years have passed since then.

The turning point came when he was 38 years old. He met Emiko, whom he had met at university in California but had not had any contact with since, in Tokyo after 20 years. They quickly got married within six months. Emiko was tired of life in Tokyo, and Kikuchi wanted to be more involved in environmental issues as a direct stakeholder and to live with horses, so they decided to leave Tokyo.

America, Tokyo, Iwate... and then to Shiraoi

The place he chose to move to was Tono City, Iwate Prefecture, one of Japan's leading horse-breeding areas. Through social media, Kikuchi was able to adopt two farm horses. He realized that "horses eat grass and use their power to transport people and goods. This is a renewable energy source," and so he began "creating a community where horses and people can coexist" in Tono.

During that time, Tono city was holding a community development event called "Tono Mirai Zukuri College," and Kikuchi participated in this project.

A few years later, Mr. Kikuchi received a request from Shiraoi Town to speak as one of the practitioners of the "Tono Mirai Creation College" at a community development seminar attended by more than 100 people. The opportunity arose when the president of a major Tokyo skincare manufacturer, which was building a new facility for its company in Shiraoi, proposed the "Tono Mirai Creation College" to the town.

"That was my first encounter with Shiraoi. It was also the first time I learned that there was a world-famous horse breeding area called Shadai in Shiraoi. At the time, I wanted to change the environment for horses, and I was still working as a consultant in Tokyo. The travel time to Tokyo from Iwate is three and a half hours by Shinkansen, but from Chitose to Shiraoi it's less than two hours by plane. So I thought, 'Why not Hokkaido?'"

Located in the "Shadai" area, about a 10-minute drive from haku, is a ranch managed by Kikuchi. Two horses live freely grazing on a ranch about the size of two Tokyo Domes. "We can't compete with the beauty of overseas, but the scenery in Shadai has potential. I want to show it," says Kikuchi.

So in 2017, I moved to Shiraoi with my wife, daughter, and two horses. To secure an income base, I applied to become a local revitalization volunteer for Shiraoi.

"It's like a crazy roller coaster (laughs). At one point, my savings were all gone again, and it's scary. It's scary, but I have no choice but to keep going."