Kembuchi, Hokkaido

Along the Kenbuchi River, a tributary of the Teshio, the fields stretch wide and flat in the way that northern Hokkaido farmland does — unhurried, deliberate. Kenbuchi-cho sits inland here, its name carrying an Ainu root meaning "mouth of the alder river," and the agricultural rhythm is still the town's spine: cabbage that overwinters in the cold, dairy cattle, the slow rotation of field crops through the seasons.

What sits alongside that agriculture, unexpectedly, is a serious engagement with picture books. In 1989, an international exhibition of picture book original artwork was held here, and the town took that event as a foundation rather than a footnote. The 絵本の館 — a dedicated picture book library that opened in 1991 — now holds a substantial collection and runs the けんぶち絵本の里大賞 each year, a prize that draws submissions and attention well beyond the town's modest size. The building itself received a public architecture award. None of this feels grafted on; it has had decades to become ordinary, to become simply what Kenbuchi does.

On a former ski slope, the ビバアルパカ牧場 occupies the hill with alpacas and goats, mountain bikes, and airboards — the kind of low-key facility that serves local families on weekends as much as any passing visitor. The 道の駅絵本の里けんぶち anchors the roadside with local produce and information. Between the fields, the library, and the animals on the hill, Kenbuchi holds its two identities — farming town, book town — without apparent tension.