Envisioning a sacred relationship among farmers, the soil, the food being produced from the soil, and the people who eat the food, Mokichi Okada, founder of Shumei, initiated a quiet revolution by developing Natural Agriculture. In the decades before World War II, long before the organic agriculture and environmental movements gained their present level of acceptance, he warned against the damage to the health of people and the environment that was being incurred by the rampant use of pesticides and chemicals to produce food.

Today, the Natural Agriculture method is employed on farms throughout Japan and extensively practiced and researched at Shumei's retreat, Kishima Island, and throughout other parts of the world.

In recent years Shumei has begun work with other organizations concerned with healthy and sustainable food production. A partnership has been formed with The Rodale Institute to expand the reach of Shumei’s Natural Agriculture efforts. A similar partnership exists with the College of Agriculture at California State Polytechnic University in Pomona and with that university’s John T. Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies to aid Shumei’s efforts to research Natural Agriculture. And recently, two members of the Shumei family began working as interns with the Manitou Institute in Crestone, Colorado to aid in that organization’s seed-preservation project.

We believe that the promotion of Natural Agriculture is vital to everyone’s future. Through its practice, all of us will assume a more harmonious relationship with Nature and help restore both our physical and spiritual health and that of the earth.

Chronology of Natural Agriculture’s Development and Shumei’s involvement with Natural Agriculture:

July 1935

Mokichi Okada, founder of Shumei, first spoke of his ideas concerning agriculture.

February 1936

Mr. Mokichi Okada started growing vegetables and raising chickens at his Tokyo residence.

1939

Fertilizer-free cultivation of vegetables was first used by Mokichi Okada. Later, in 1942, Mr. Okada cultivated rice without the use of fertilizers.

December 1948

Mr. Okada’s first thesis on "Fertilizer-free Agriculture" was released.

Please see Meishusama’s Writings, "A Great Agricultural Revolution".

October 1950

The name "Fertilizer-free Agriculture" was changed to "Natural Agriculture".

1951

Mokichi Okada began a correspondence with the famed American naturalist J. I. Rodale.

December 1953

The Association for the Promotion of Natural Agriculture was established.

February 10, 1955

Mokichi Okada, known as Meishusama by Shumei members, died.

July 1962

The Shumei organization bought Kishima Island for its youth activities and began growing vegetables using the Natural Agricultural method there.

March 1, 1970

Shumei and World Messianity, both established by Mokichi Okada, became independent organizations. Shumei’s official name was changed from "Shumeikai" to "Shinji Shumeikai".

1972

Tadashi Kobayashi started to grow Mandarin oranges, vegetables, and rice by the Natural Agricultural method.

1984

Kenichi Nagasawa started growing rice using the Natural Agriculture method in Niigata, Japan.

November 17, 1991

Mihoko Koyama, a disciple of Mokichi Okada and Shumei’s spiritual leader, strongly encouraged the promotion of Natural Agriculture at Shumei’s Youth Grand Ceremony.

February 1992

Shinji Shumeikai’s Natural Agriculture Committee was established and the first Natural Agriculture Roundtable Conference was held at Misono, Shinji Shumeikai's Headquarters in Shiga, Japan.

March 5, 1992

Shinji Shumeikai’s Director of Natural Agriculture, Satoshi Togo started an inspection tour of Natural Agriculture farms in Fukuyama and Okayama, Japan.

August 1992

The first Natural Agriculture Study Meeting was held at Misono. The first issue of "Natural Agriculture News", a publication produced by Shinji Shumeikai, was published.

July 1996

Shumei sent a group headed by the Director of Natural Agriculture, Satoshi Togo, to visit The Rodale Institute in Kutztown, Pennsylvania. The two organizations founded by Mokichi Okada and J. I. Rodale came into contact with each other. This initial meeting was followed by two more in 1997.

Please see "Natural Agriculture Report" by Alan Imai. SHUMEI Magazine, vol. 206, October 1997

March 1997

Shumei sent its first intern to work with the Rodale Institute.

July 1997

Shumei sent its first intern to the Center for Regenerative Studies, later renamed the John T. Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies, at the California State Polytechnic University in Pomona.

Please see:

"An Interview with Joan Safford" from SHUMEI Magazine, vol. 222, July/August 1999

"The Spirit of Regenerative Studies" by John T. Lyle, from SHUMEI Magazine, vol. 207, November 1997

September 1997

Shumei sent a representative to Senegal to study Rodale's organic agricultural activities in that country.

December 1997

Mr. John Haberern, President of Rodale Institute, Dr. Amadou Diop, and Dr. Lorie Drinkwater from Rodale and Dr. Diana Jerkins, Director of the Center for Regenerative Studies (later renamed the John T. Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies) visited Misono. An informal friendship meeting with Shumei members was held on Kishima Island.

January 1998

While on a tour in the United States, Hiroko Koyama, President of Shinji Shumeikai, visited The Rodale Institute.

Please see "Partnership: An Opportunity for Growth" by Eugene Imai from SHUMEI Magazine, vol. 211, March 1998.

March 1998

Shumei sent Mitsuhiro Oketani, as an intern, to live in Senegal to do agricultural research in connection with the Rodale Institute.

Please see:

"Natural Agriculture: A Lifetime Commitment" an interview with Mitsuhiro Oketani from SHUMEI Magazine, vol. 211, March 1998.

"Mitsuhiro in Senegal" by Alan Imai from SHUMEI Magazine, vol. 219 January/February 1999.

"Senegal: Images and Landscape" by Chisako Fukushima from SHUMEI Magazine, vol. 219, January/February 1999.

April 1998

Shinji Shumeikai and The Rodale Institute signed formal documents to establish a partnership. In June of that year, the first Advisory Committee Meeting was held at The Rodale Institute in Pennsylvania.

Please see:

"Planting Seeds for World Peace: The Shinji Shumeikai & Rodale Institute Partnership" by John Haberern from SHUMEI Magazine, vol. 226, March/April 2000.

"Regeneration: A Mater of the Spirit" by John Haberern from SHUMEI Magazine, vol. 220, March/April 1999

"Working Together to Build Paradise on Earth" by John Haberern from SHUMEI Magazine, vol. 216, September 1998

June 1998

A workshop for program directors was held at The Rodale Institute in Pennsylvania. Representatives of Shumei toured Organic Agricultural farms in Iowa.

August 1998

Dr. Linda Sanders, Dean of the College of Environmental Studies at the California State Polytechnic University in Pomona visited Misono and Kishima Island.

September 1998

A Natural Agriculture research project was begun at the College of Agriculture, California State Polytechnic University in Pomona.

September 1998

The first workshop involving Shinji Shumeikai was held at The Rodale Institute, Pennsylvania.

September 1998

Hiroko Koyama, President of Shinji Shumeikai, visited The Rodale Institute.

June 1999
The first intern from Shumei was sent to the Manitou Institute in Crestone, Colorado to participate in a seed-preservation project. In February 2000, two other Shumei members also were sent to the Manitou Institute.

Please see "Earth Origins Seeds" from SHUMEI Magazine, vol. 222, July/August 1999.

June 1999

Members of Shumei’s Natural Agriculture Department and the Rodale Institute toured organic facilities in California.

Please see "The California Organic Agriculture Movement" by Alan Imai from SHUMEI Magazine, vol. 223, September/October 1999

August 1999

Dr. Diana Jerkins of the College of Agriculture, California State Polytechnic University in Pomona visited Natural Agriculture farmers in Japan.

Please see "An International Experiment: Comparing Western and Eastern Agriculture" by Diana Jerkins from SHUMEI Magazine, vol. 224, November/December 1999

March 2000

Natural Agriculture Study Meeting for Senseis and Assistant Senseis, with Mr. Anthony Rodale, Chairman of The Rodale Institute, and Mr. John Haberern, President of The Rodale Institute, took place in Misono. Anthony Rodale and John Haberern visited Shumei Centers in Kyoto, Kobe, Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Nagoya, and Toyonaka.

April 2000

Shumei’s first intern was sent to the College of Agriculture, California State Polytechnic University in Pomona to assist in the College’s Natural Agriculture Research Project.