Owa Hutterite Colony, Hutterite colony in Nasu District, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan.
The Owa Hutterite Colony was an agricultural settlement in the Nasu area with about six acres of cultivated land. The community grew twenty different types of crops and relied on a natural spring that provided fresh water year-round.
The settlement was founded in 1972 with support from Wilson Colony in Alberta, Canada. It operated under the Dariusleut branch of the Hutterite movement until it closed in December 2019.
The settlement blended Japanese and North American Hutterite ways of life, living together while making traditional items like bread and plum wine. Visitors could observe this mix of two cultures in the daily work and the products created here.
The site is located near Owa village in Tochigi Prefecture and can be reached through the address 1807 Owa Kurobane-Machi. Visitors should note that the settlement is no longer active and should gather local information before visiting the area.
This community was the only Hutterite settlement in Asia, representing a rare case of this Christian movement existing outside North America. The settlement demonstrated how religious communities could adapt their principles in completely different cultural and geographic settings.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
