tour four: fruits and flowers and fine craftsmanship

A few weeks ago was our last Chiba-kun Ambassadors tour of the year! It's always sad to think that something is the last, but at least we ended everything on a good note - lots of people were commenting that this was one of the best tours.

Our first stop was strawberry-picking at a place called Koyama Farm in Sammu (Sanmu?)! Last year we did the same thing in Tohnosho, but I'm definitely not complaining about getting another chance to eat as many strawberries as I can in a limited amount of time! This time we even had 40 minutes (rather than 30), which meant even more strawberry goodness. This strawberry garden had several different types of strawberries, including one that had just been developed and didn't have a real name yet (it was labeled something like "experiment #6", haha), and they told us they don't provide condensed milk so that people can focus on the different sweet tastes of the strawberries themselves. Pretty cool, I thought. They also told us which order we should try the first two types of strawberries in, so that we could tell the difference in taste more clearly. It was fun trying all the different types and picking a favorite, though just like last time I got full much faster than expected...


Koyama Farm
Address: 1912 Shimoyokoji, Sanmu, Chiba 289-1314
Hours: 9:30AM - 3:30PM
Cost: 1,100 - 2,000 yen from January to May (varies by month)
Website (Japanese only): http://koyama-farm.jp/

Our next stop was a different kind of picking: Gerbera flowers! Apparently Gerbera is a genus of flowers in the daisy family (says Wikipedia), but anyway they're really beautiful! The owner of the garden gave us a (rather long) talk about the history of their garden and how they actually get their plants (not just seeds) from the Netherlands, and then we were free to pick 8 flowers to take home! I ended up picking them based on how they looked individually so I don't think they made a very good bouquet (somebody else picked ones that went very well together and I was impressed), but they were still very pretty. I'm currently trying to dry them in my apartment, despite the fact that I suspect they may be giving me allergies... but they're just too pretty to throw away!

And then it was time for lunch! The restaurant we went to specialized in (or at least or choices were limited to) iwashi, or sardines. I picked the sashimi option (though the tempura also looked great), which I think was a good choice because I hardly ever have sashimi of that type (I tend to go for things like tuna or salmon) and it was delicious! The rest of the meal also involved different kinds of iwashi dishes, like iwashi with sesame seeds and a fish meatball in the miso soup.

Maruni
Address: 6928-235 Katakai, Kujukuri, Sanbu-gun
Hours: 9:00AM - 9:00PM
Website (Japanese only): http://maru2-99.com/shokuji-maruni/

After lunch we headed to the nearby Sadako Mochizuki Museum, featuring oil paintings by Sadako Mochizuki, who was the current museum director's mother. The paintings were mostly of local scenes by the ocean, and I was really impressed by the colors and textures. Even more impressive though, is that apparently she only started painting after retirement and keep doing it until she passed away.

And then we got to watch a local group perform a dance for us! Apparently it was a dance from the area, but they used naruko and it was very like yosakoi (actually maybe it was, I don't even know), so I really enjoyed watching it. :D

Sadako Mochizuki Museum
Address: 6928-235 Katakai, Kujukuri, Sanbu-gun
Hours: 10:00AM - 7:00PM, Thursdays - Sundays
Cost: 300 yen
Access: 5-minute walk from Katakai Station Iriguchi bus stop, on the bus headed for Motosuka from JR Togane Station (Kujukuri Bus, west exit bus stop 1)
Website (Japanese only): http://www.mochi-museum.com/

Next, we went to what was the highlight of the day for me: a glass-making experience! We got to pick a color and shape, so I chose a plate, as it seemed most useful. Because we could only go one at a time, there was a lot of time for us to watch the artisans at work. Apparently on Sundays they don't make things to sell, but rather spend the day trying new things and practicing their skills, and watching them work was pretty mesmerizing. My favorite was watching the guy blowing glass balls, which I realized much later became the bases for the vases everybody else was making. Pretty cool.

And then it was my turn to make my plate! They brought over a giant hunk of glowing red glass, and I worked with one of the workers to spread it out and shape the sides. I was surprised at how much heat it was giving off, though I guess it should have been obvious since it was literally molten glass. Anyway it was all over very quickly, but I made a plate! :)

Sugahara Glass Mini School
Address: 797 Fujishita, Kujukuri-machi, Sanbu-gun 283-0112
Hours: 9:00-18:00, closed only during year-end and New Year holidays
Cost: 2500 - 4000 yen for adults
Website: http://www.sugahara.com/english/

Our final stop for the day was Minori no Sato, a little market by the road where they sold local vegetables and souvenirs. I think the intent was for us to get souvenirs, but I was amused by how many people just bought groceries, because they were so cheap! I had a good time looking around at everything they had (no giant plushies to tempt me this time, luckily), and then it was time to go home.

Minori no Sato Togane
Address: 1300-3 Tama, Togane
Hours: 9:00AM - 6:00PM
Access: 1 5-minute walk from JR Gumyo Station
Website (Japanese only): http://minorinosato-togane.com/

All in all, it was a fun day and a good wrap-up to this year's tours. Lots of good pictures and memories and experiences! :)