Coast to coast: Day 2

Another day of beautiful weather today, which meant it was the perfect day to head out to the country side for a visit to the Koiwai Farm.

Koiwai is a big company specializing in dairy products sold all around the country...so for my Oregon friends, this is a little bit like a trip to Tillamook. In addition to the cows and shops selling icecream they also have sheep, several amusement activities (mainly for children) and expansive grounds featuring views of Mt. Iwate.

I started at the dog-and-sheep show, where we watched the two border collies herd sheep in figure-eights around small fences or into various sized enclosures.

Adjoining the sheep pasture is the Makiba Astronomical Observatory.  They only allow visitors to have a look at the telescope during one hour each afternoon, and I got there just in time to be treated to a glimpse of Venus. There were various displays set up on the first floor which looked interesting enough, but only had explanations written in Japanese...

Makiba Astronomical Observatory

From there, I explored the grounds and enjoyed the scenery.  For most Japanese people, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday this week were national holidays and everyone's gone back at work so the crowds weren't too bad.  I watched a few people try their hand with a bow and arrow at the archery range then walked through the (mostly quiet) amusement area before stopping for lunch.

After finishing my nanohana (rapeseed) genovese pasta and most of the over-sized omelette, I took another brief walk around the grounds to take photos and pick up a few souvenirs. (I'm now the proud owner of some cow-patterned chopsticks!)

It's tulip season in Iwate Prefecture

In order to see the cows, you have to actually leave the main grounds and walk a couple hundred meters to the pastures. There you can see the old barns and silos which may have been part of the original farm that was founded in 1891.

After that I took a walk down the two-lane highway that runs past the farm. I was hoping to see a celebrated cherry tree, but it turns out it was way to far to reach on foot, so I settled for some pretty nice views of the mountain instead:

Making my way back to the main entrance to wait for the bus, I made one last stop: it would be a terrible thing to spend a day at a dairy and not have any ice cream!