2012.3.9

It was a cold rainy day.
We visited another roadside station, michi no eki (道の駅) where we could try strawberry picking. Strawberry picking is ichigo gari (イチゴ狩り) in Japanese.
They say because of the cold weather this winter made the strawberry grow slow. At that place strawberries were raised by water, I mean hydroculture.
We visited another strawberry farm where is the most popular around this area because you can try 5 different kinds of strawberries. There they are raise by soil. The size of the strawberries were quite different and tastes also different. I liked the latter one.

2012.3.8

Today I visited 2 roadside stations, michi no eki (道の駅).
One looked very popular and there were so many people shopping there. The other was rather small and there were few people. There is a museum of the famous ukiyo-e (浮世絵) artist nearby. Ukiyo-e is a style of mostly woodblock pictures established in the Edo period in Japan.
The process of making woodblock print is very complicated. It is a cooperative work of designer, engraver, and printer.

2012.3.7

It was cloudy and slightly raining in the morning.
I came to Minamiboso, Chiba (千葉県南房総市：chiba ken minami boso shi) again.
Here is famous for its warm climate and there are rape blossoms in the field. Rape blossoms in Japanese is na no hana "菜の花". At lunch time we had a chance to eat cooked nanohana.
In the afternoon we had a lecture about Roadside Station. Roadside station in Japanese is michi no eki　"道の駅". Station is usually for trains, but this place is for cars or buses. It has 20 years history in Japan. And there are many roadside stations in this area.
Do you have such facilities?