Koiwai Farms- a cultural experience

Yesterday we went to Koiwai Farms. Koiwai Farms is reportedly the largest private farm in Japan. We buy their milk and butter at the grocery store and their tourist center is just outside of Morioka.

I’m not sure exactly what I expected- maybe a petting zoo, maybe a farm museum, watching cows being milked? Unfortunately, Koiwai did not live up to my expectations. As Andy said, it was like the worst parts of a county fair. Lots of weird amusements (e.g. rolling in a giant ball down a hill, putting your kid into a clear plastic ball in a wading pool, bumper boats in a wading pool, bungee bouncing, an annoying mini train that quacks constantly, etc). Yes, it provided big open space and a nice pastoral landscape in the shadow of Mt. Iwate, but that was about it. Unless you paid for a pony ride, the only animals we could touch were 2 sad little ponies in tiny little pens. There was a herd of sheep, but they were kept away from the tourists by an electric fence separated from the people fence by 20 feet! There were no little animals at all and if you wanted to do anything other than take in the landscape, you had to pay extra. Somehow, I thought that the 500 yen entrance fee would provide more. We paid another 200 yen just for Catie to go in a bounce house for 5 MINUTES- they had a timer. Maybe we are just spoiled by living on our 3 acres in Indiana, maybe it was simply too hot and too crowded, but Koiwai Farms was not for us.

not what I was expecting to see at a farm

drawing on hay bales, note the crazy ball things in the background

there was a free playground. Here Andy & Catie are descending a rope mountain

I've never seen a baby basket on a see-saw before

Walking through a sunflower maze was actually kind of cool.