I-waRP: The Iwate Innovation Promotion Research Park

The Iwate Innovation Promotion Research Park (commonly known as I-waRP)

The Iwate Innovation Promotion Research Park is a network-type innovation hub established through strong collaboration among Iwate University, Iwate Prefecture, Morioka City, the Iwate Industrial Promotion Center, and the Iwate Industrial Technology Center. It provides seamless support from the initial stages of research and development through to social implementation and regional industrial development.

By integrating cutting-edge research facilities concentrated in the region, over 300 shared-use instruments, and expert support personnel, I-waRP strongly empowers businesses in creating new products and services and in nurturing startups. It fosters an innovation ecosystem that creates new value, helping ventures from Iwate accelerate their path toward shaping the future and expanding globally.

Creating the future together with the region—The challenge of Iwate University

National University Corporation Iwate University traces its origins to Morioka Normal School (1876), Morioka Higher School of Agriculture and Forestry (1902), Iwate Prefectural Practical Supplementary School Teachers Training Institute (1921), and Morioka Higher Technical School (1939). Established as a new system university in 1949 through Japan's postwar educational reform, it has supported the development of Tohoku and Iwate for approximately 150 years.

Since its founding as a new system university, Iwate University has advanced education, research, and social contributions under the mission of being a university “rooted in the region and connected to the world,” sending numerous talents into society.

Headquartered in Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture, the university currently comprises five faculties: Humanities and Social Sciences, Education, Science and Engineering, Agriculture, and Veterinary Medicine. It creates a distinctive educational environment nationwide by consolidating a wide range of academic disciplines on a single campus.

A history as the “intellectual hub of the region”

Iwate University’s origins trace back to Meiji-era normal schools and agricultural education institutions. Since then, it has continuously developed with the mission of solving regional societal challenges and cultivating talent.

On its lush green campus located in central Morioka, diverse academic fields converge, enabling daily interdisciplinary learning and research that transcends the boundaries between humanities and sciences.

Among its notable alumni is Kenji Miyazawa, renowned as a poet and children’s story writer, whose spirit continues to be inherited in the university’s educational philosophy. Iwate University modernizes Kenji Miyazawa’s belief that “no individual can be truly happy until the entire world is happy,” aiming to realize a sustainable and inclusive society where no one is left behind.

Iwate University Vision 2030

As the “intellectual hub of the region” and a “place for knowledge creation,” Iwate University aims to become a university that is relied upon, respected, and loved by the local community.

To achieve this vision, the university has adopted “co-thinking and co-creation (thinking and creating together)” as its guiding principle, striving for further advancement in education, research, and social contribution.

By prioritizing dialogue with local communities and through initiatives such as creating new research fields, promoting university-industry-government collaboration, enhancing recurrent education, and implementing research outcomes into society, the university contributes not only to Iwate’s sustainable development but also to that of Japan as a whole.

A new challenge connecting the region and the world—Establishment of I-waRP

To further develop its long-standing achievements in region-focused problem-solving education and research, Iwate University, together with Iwate Prefecture, Morioka City, the Iwate Industrial Promotion Center, and the Iwate Industrial Technology Center, has established the “I-waRP Iwate Innovation Promotion Research Park” as a new hub for university-industry-government collaboration and regional co-creation.

I-waRP serves as a platform that organically connects the intellectual resources of the university with local communities, municipalities, businesses, and various organizations, aiming to solve diverse regional challenges such as population decline, industrial structural changes, digital transformation, and sustainable regional development.

As an organization that embodies the “co-thinking and co-creation” philosophy that Iwate University has promoted, I-waRP accelerates the social implementation of university key technologies based on educational and research outcomes. It also serves as a space where diverse regional stakeholders can collaboratively envision the future and create new value.

Through I-waRP, Iwate University will fulfill its mission as a regional knowledge hub while challenging the creation of new innovations that connect Iwate to the entire nation and the world.

Next time, we will provide an in-depth report on I-waRP’s initiatives.

I-waRP Official Website

I-waRP YouTube Channel