Mother Farm in Chiba, Japan: Not just another Commercial Tourism Farm (Part 1)

Anyone who knows me relatively well would know that I have developed this crazy love for alpacas. I guess you can say that it is love at first sight when I saw the Alpacasso series:

Image from otakumode.com

Just look at them... I mean, seriously... look at them. How can anyone not fall in love with these fluffy little dearies?!

So that aside, the man decided to plan a day at Mother Farm when we were in Tokyo (<3), because that's the closest we urban dwellers can get to nature and a real Alpaca (in Asia).

Entrance of Mother Farm

Mother Farm, opened in 1962, is a 250-hectare theme park on Mountain Kinada, located in Chiba Prefecture. According to the website, there are eight main activities for farm-goers to enjoy themselves: Farm animals events, seasonal fauna appreciation, fruits picking (strawberries and blueberries), hands-on workshops, amusement rides, restaurants and foodstuff, shopping, camping.

Image from Mother Farm official Webpage

The English section of the Mother Farm official website is rather brief, so it may be rather difficult for tourists to get full information on how to get there and how to buy tickets to the farm.

Ticketing

Option 1:

For us, because we have our JR pass, we decided to purchase the tickets from convenience stores (7-Eleven, Lawson, Family Mart) at JPY1480 (~SGD18) for adults. Pre-purchase of tickets came with a soft serve coupon redeemable at the farm itself. If you experience difficulties in purchasing tickets at the convenience store (self service with the ticketing machine), try getting the attention of the service staff and tell them that you want to buy tickets for Mother Farm (マザー牧場 pronounced as maa-zer- bo-ku-joe) or perhaps try showing them a photo of this ticket:

Tickets purchased from Family Mart self-service ticketing machine

But seriously, you may wish to just skip all these hassles and get the tickets from the farm on the day itself.

[Note] I did a check on the official website and the purchase of tickets at convenience stores no longer include a free soft serve. Instead, they are providing a JPY150 discount at JPY1350 (~SGD16) for adults and JPY700 (~SGD8) for children.

Option 2:

For tickets purchased on the day of the visit, it costs JPY1500 (~SGD18) for adults and JPY800 (~SGD10) for children.

Ticketing Counter at Mother Farm Entrance

Option 3:

If you do not have a JR pass, there is also the option of purchasing a JR + farm entry ticket set at JPY5500 (~SGD66) for adults and JPY3800 (~SGD45) for children. You can check out the details at the JR View Plaza (located at Haneda, Narita, and Tokyo Station).

View Plaza, Image taken from JR official website

If you purchase a JR ticket to commute from Tokyo station to Kimitsu station, it will cost you JPY 1490 (according to Hyperdia.com). That means if you purchase the JR ticket and farm entry separately, it would have cost you just JPY2990.

However, what the English webpage didn't mention, was that option 3(ソフトクリーム付きコース) comes with the following items:

- JR (free seating green car!) from either Tokyo, Shinjuku, Kinshicho station
- Transfer bus service from Kimitsu JR station to Mother Farm
- Mother Farm entrance ticket
- Mother Farm tour ticket (bus tour within the farm)
- One Soft Serve

If you top up another JPY1000 (昼食付きコース), it comes with lunch set of half steak and sausages (without soft serve).

Soft Serve coupons

How to get to Mother Farm

Perhaps the easiest way to get to Mother Farm will be to hail a cab or rent a car, but being a sane tourist travelling on a budget (and trying to reach there without having to seek SOS), we decided to do it the locals' way.

You can take the JR to Kimitsu station (takes about 100minutes from Tokyo Station) to transfer to the free shuttle bus service. Do note that there is only one timing to catch the shuttle bus (10.40am), and you have to make reservations before 4pm on the previous day.

What we did then, was to ask the concierge to call them (+81-439-37-3211) once we checked in to the hotel and purchased the tickets from the nearest convenience store.

You can expect to have approximately 4 hours in the farm if you are taking the shuttle bus services to and fro (11.20am - 3.30pm).

Here are some photos from the journey there:

Alighting at Kimitsu JR Station

Following the signboard right outside the station

While waiting for the bus, there is this little shop at the waiting bay that sells these nolstagic little snacks at JPY11 each. That's about SGD 15 cents!

When the bus reached, the bus marshall promptly took out a namelist and started taking attendance. If you decided to cancel the shuttle bus reservation, please remember to contact them so that the other farm-goers will not be stuck waiting for you.

Once we boarded the bus, we took the farm guide:

If I recall correctly, there is an English version of the map:

All that's left then, was to sit back, relax, and wait for the bus to reach the farm! Just remember to report back at the same spot to take the bus back to Kimitsu JR station again!


For part 2 of the Mother Farm experience, please check out our next post! :)

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