Sapporo Agricultural College Farm No.2

The birthplace of Hokkaido dairy farming and Western style agriculture conceptualized by Dr. William Smith Clark and designed by his pupils.

Sapporo Agricultural College Farm No.2 started as the college farm, which opened almost simultaneously with Sapporo Agricultural College in 1876. It was built under supervision from the College’s first principal Dr. William Smith Clark. It was built to introduce modern, large-scale western style stock-holding agriculture to Japan. Farm No.2 preserves the model of a dairy farm suited to the Hokkaido climate, and developed at the end of the 19th century. The model barn for livestock, the central structure of Farm No.2 was designed by the College’s second principal W. M. Wheeler, who based it on a barn on Massachusetts Agricultural College Farm. The barn as what is called a balloon structure and has no supporting beams. In 1969, Farm No.2 was registered as an Important Cultural Property of Japan.