Day trip ideas: Blueberry picking in Nishiawakura

28,Aug 2015 Day Trip Ideas

Pick-your-own farm experiences are an extremely popular activity in Japan, amongst locals and tourists alike. For a sum of money, usually about ￥800-￥3000 per person per hour depending on the fruit being picked, one can feast on the very best the season has to offer, right from the source. Today we would like to introduce Dandan Berry, a local farm in nearby Nishiawakura village, which offers pick-your-own experiences for blueberries.

Hidden away in a secluded spot, Dandan berry has about 800 blueberry trees of different varieties growing on approximately one hectare of land, with other types of fruit (such as raspberries, blackberries, currants, and more) growing on its other spaces as well. Currently, though, the pick-your-own experience is restricted to blueberries only, and for ￥700 per adult and ￥500 per child of up to middle-school age, you can pick and eat all the blueberries you want for as long as you like. A small box that can carry about 100g of blueberries is also provided if you wish to bring some home.

The blueberries are all grown naturally, with no chemicals or pesticides, so it is perfectly safe to eat them right off the tree without washing them. Of course, since their development is all left up to nature, it is hit and miss as to which are sweet and which are sour. But without the time limit that pick-your-owns usually subject visitors to, one is left free to graze and slowly work out which plants bear the most delicious fruit.

A good find resulting in the sensation of a ripe, plump, and sweet blueberry bursting flavour in your mouth is impossibly blissful. Calling your friends and family over to share, if they are with you, makes for a good memory. The mischievous could also offer innocuous-looking but actually sour fruit to their picking partners, but we of course do not endorse this course of action.

With 800 trees and several species of blueberry, observing the different textures and tastes and flavours that exist across the blueberry spectrum is also interesting, and there is bound to be a type of blueberry for everyone. And after you have eaten all the blueberries you want, you can rest in the shop area and browse the items for sale – such as fresh vegetables (butternut squash, tomatoes, etc.), homemade jams, woodcraft (fishing nets, spoons, butterknives, etc.) and more.

Dandan Berry is about 1 hour away from Kifu no Sato by car. It is accessed by turning off the Tottori Expressway towards Ougonsen (黄金泉), and then driving straight down the road (for about five minutes) all the way to the back until one sees the sign for the farm and its parking lot. You might feel concerned that you are going the wrong way as there are no signs for a while, but as long as you turn at Ougonsen and keep driving straight, you should reach eventually. It is only open during blueberry season, usually from about late June or early July to late August or early September, from 10am to 5pm.

Why not enjoy picking blueberries straight off the source and savouring the freshness and sweet scents of summer? If you would like more information, Dandan Berry has a website, or you can feel free to contact Kifu no Sato.