Kenji Miyazawa  

Miyazawa Kenji was born in Hanamaki city, Iwate Prefecture as the eldest son of a wealthy pawnbroker. From an early age, he observed the social disparity between his affluent family and the impoverished farmers in their community who borrowed money from them. During 1926 to 1933, Miyazawa dedicated himself to improving the lives of Iwate's peasants by introducing new farming techniques and seed varieties. He left his position as an instructor at Hanamaki Agriculture School to establish the Rasu Farmers Association. At his family's detached house, he gathered young farmers and taught them agronomy. The association also engaged in cultural activities such as plays and music. Miyazawa's writings from this period emphasized the importance of respect for the land and its people. He was a prolific writer of children's stories that contained moral lessons, some written in prose and others as stage plays for his students. Posthumously, many of his tanka and free verse poems were discovered and published, gaining considerable popularity worldwide. Several of his children's works have been adapted into anime movies in Japan.