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Green Farm
In Ina City, on a country road surrounded by rice fields and farm land is a rather plain, inconspicuous bunch of buildings called Green Farm. Take a look inside and you’ll find a genuine treasure trove of stuff. Yes, looks can be deceiving. This food market/second hand store/petting zoo is such a bizarre, eclectic mix local produce, amazing antiques and delicious food that you’ll learn more here than in most museums!
A long time ago Japan was full of bustling markets. This culture has been almost completely lost and replaced with sterile shopping malls and shuttered down shopfronts where the action used to happen. Green Farm, though only started in 1994, conjures to mind how a bustling market might have once felt. It is cheap, cluttered, busy and disorganized. And pretty much everything is local.
Let’s break down the facility into its separate parts:
The food market
The food market is at the front. Local farmers sell their fruit and veg, whatever is in season is available. This time I visited in autumn so there were lots of grapes and the famously expensive matsutake mushrooms on sale.
It also just so happened to be bee hive season. Yes, you can buy a slice of bee hive with live bees inside. This local food culture is rare and exotic even in Japan. The fresh larvae are the most delicious part and they fetch a fair price. But if living bees are too much for you, and you can’t find a good recipe online. You can always buy them pre-cooked. And if bee larvae aren’t your thing, surely a packet of locusts will suffice.
Outside a Bangladeshi Curry Shop sells curry and rice at bargain prices, (I got the dahl and it was fantastic!) and a food truck often sits outside.
The second-hand store
I think of myself as a connoisseur of Japanese second-hand stores. But honestly, this is the best I have ever seen. Maybe it is because this area used to make a lot of stuff. Especially in silk and agriculture. As a result, you can find all kinds of antique tools and traditional farm goods. For souvenirs from your trip to Japan, look no further than Green Farm.
What friend of yours wouldn’t want an enormous weaving machine or a life size horse figure? Seriously, this a collector’s dream and not for minimalists. Your treasure trove awaits.
The petting zoo
Finally, for the kids, some goats, rabbits peacocks etc. One adorable little sidenote, the goats are available to rent. Got long grass but no time to cut it? Get yourself to Green Farm, Ina!
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