About Tokachi Millennium Forest
Cultivated to Last a Thousand Years
Tokachi Millennium Forest exemplifies a naturalistic approach to gardening that challenges us to consider what a garden is and could be. It also offers the greater gardening community a model of ways to nurture nature instead of subduing and controlling it. The award-winning concept here is to create a harmonious natural forest environment that can last a thousand years.
Dan Pearson, one of the world’s most influential garden and landscape designers naturalistic gardening designed the garden’s conceptual framework more than two decades ago with Fumiaki Takano, one of the foremost landscape designers in Japan. Their concept was first shown to the public at the 2012 Hokkaido Garden Show.
The Expanse
There are several distinct ecosystems within the 400 hectares Tokachi Millennium Forest covers. These include flower gardens, a farm, meadows, rolling hills, and a forest. There are five gardens: The Earth Garden, Meadow Garden, Forest Garden, Farm Garden, and HGS Designer’s Garden. The massive size of the place and the difference in elevation between the flat expanses around the entrance and the meadows and forest higher up make this environmental range possible.
It is impossible to walk the vast expanse of this garden in one day. Guided tours on Segways and horseback do allow visitors to see areas that would otherwise take days to explore. In that respect, Tokachi Millennium Forest does resemble an adventure park.
Keep It Wild
The naturalistic gardening style followed at Tokachi Millennium Forest is meant to retain a wild feel, creating a space that reflects the natural geography, raises indigenous flora and fauna, and nurtures the whole ecosystem. It is also designed to provide essential food and cover for insects, birds, mammals, and other animals in a sustainable manner.
Much of the care involves thinking at length about the entire life cycle of the garden’s flora. Many of the plants are perennials, so they do not need to be replanted each year. While they do grow old and die, the environment itself revolves around indigenous plants and those that adapt well to its specific climate and geography. They require little or no direct care, such as chemicals, fertilizer, or irrigation.
Goats and Making Cheese
Goats are part of this pastoral scene. The herd supplies milk used to make cheese that has won national awards. There is a cheese-making workshop where you can make your own and eat it as well. Many of the fruits, vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers the café serves come from the farm here.
When to Visit
Tokachi Millennium Forest is open every day between late April and mid-October during daylight hours. Please follow this link [link to What to Do page] to find out what you can do at Tokachi Millennium Forest.