Japan is known for its careful, almost obsessive approach to agriculture, resulting in fresh, quality ingredients that go on to produce some of the most delicious food in the world. Frequently there are stories of Japanese produce selling for unbelievable prices, from square watermelons to individually-wrapped peaches that are supposed to be sweeter and more fragrant than the usual varieties.
The both of us at TwinSpeak love our fruit, so it went without saying that one of the activities on our Japan checklist was to sample the best of Japanese produce through a particular interactive activity. Despite the number of tourists that visit Japan annually, not many think to do fruit-picking, despite it being a common activity around the world to get to the best fruits and vegetables at their very peak.
In true Japanese tourism fashion, there’s a handy website called The Way of Japan (English available) that collates the information of a number of produce farms around the country to make the hunt for fruit-picking experiences a thousand times easier. Peaches? Apples? Even potatoes and tomatoes! Searches can be filtered by city or produce you’re looking to pick, with a handy Harvest Calendar graphic that highlights what’s seasonal to the month of your visit.
The fruit we had our eyes set on was a no-brainer – strawberries. Despite its association with summer in most countries, strawberries in Japan are grown in elevated beds in greenhouses, allowing them to be harvested from winter and throughout spring, ideal for our arrival in May. Better yet, our first city in Japan was Fukuoka, recognised as one of Japan’s top producer of strawberries, second only to the Tochigi Prefecture just 50km north of Tokyo.
The Fukuoka Prefecture is famous for the varietal called the Amao (“Red King”), known for its large, red fruit. Strawberry-picking is a famous pastime in the area, and there are plenty of opportunities to visit farms for this experience. We recommend checking out Fukuoka Now’s annually-updated guide on strawberry picking (English), which outlines information on the farms you can visit including the dates of availability. Our end-of-season visit in late-May (2019) meant we had fewer options, but there are plenty to choose from if you’re there during the peak.
Chikushino Strawberry Fields (ストロベリーフィールズ筑紫野いちご農園)
Chikushino Strawberry Fields is the biggest strawberry farm in the Kyushu mainland, boasting 23 rows of greenhouses and an on-site café (closed Tuesdays) with strawberry desserts to refresh yourself after a long day of picking. There are also facilities for wheelchair and stroller access, making it a popular farm to visit for strawberry picking amongst both Japanese tourists and international visitors.
When arriving, you must first make your way to the reception building, where all the materials are provided and instructions for housekeeping are explained. Thanks to a large number of foreign tourists, the staff accommodate as best as they can to non-Japanese speakers, though we still recommend that are patient during exchanges.
Chikushino Strawberry Fields is open for picking from December up until early June, and requires booking in advance. Reservations can be made on their website, which is in Japanese only, though it is easy enough using the browser translator. If you don’t have a Japanese phone number to input into the system, we recommend entering “00-0000-0000”, and entering your international mobile number in the box for additional comments.
Strawberry Picking
A popular option amongst tourists for strawberry picking is the 40-minute all-you-can-eat course, where you can rampage the greenhouses and chomp on all the berries you can get your hands on at your leisure. This way, you can enjoy the freshness of the strawberries without worrying about how to take them on your travels. Alternatively, you can pick fruit to take home where the strawberries are charged by weight. The farm provides carry-home boxes to keep your picked fruit or bags to discard the leaves if you’re doing the eating course, as well as scissors to snip the strawberry stems.
The greenhouses are spacious, with a few levels of elevated beds from which the strawberries are grown. It fills the space with the smell of sugar and strawberries, which is absolutely delightful. We noticed that some lanes were closed off, and because of the number of greenhouses the farm appears to stagger the number open so that each day has plenty of fresh strawberries for picking.
Prices of each activity varies depending on the time of year. It costs generally less to visit at the end of the season, where the quality of the harvest may start to wane. Even so, during our visit at the very end of May we still encountered plenty of fresh strawberries that were large, bright red and evenly-coloured, and plenty delicious to eat. They may not be at the same level as luxury fruit from Japanese department store basements, but eating strawberries fresh is still an experience in itself.
Jam-Making
Chikushino Strawberry Fields also offer courses in jam-making, which we leaped at the opportunity to sign up for – nothing makes for a better souvenir than bottling the taste of Japanese strawberries! This 40-minute session runs you through the process of making strawberry jam from scratch, and yields just over 2 jars each containing 200g of jam. The extra can be enjoyed on the spot, or you can purchase an extra jar for ¥100 (~US$1). One session costs ¥2,500 (US$24), which the two of us attended together.
If you’ve never made jam before, this is an incredibly fun experience. Though the instructor only spoke Japanese, she was patient and easy to understand, thanks to her demonstrations and the visual cues of her gestures. The jam uses frozen strawberries, but don’t think this will affect the quality of the jam – freezing ruptures the cells of the fruit, which decreases the cooking time. Besides, there’s no reason to assume it’s not from the farm, picked at its ripest.
We had a lovely time in the greenhouse kitchen, which was soon filled with the sweet aroma of cooking strawberries. When finished, you can chose to either use the Chikushino Farm label or create your own with a number of coloured markers. The jam is suggested to last indefinitely, but as it doesn’t undergo a canning process, we suggest keeping it refrigerated when you can and consuming as soon as possible. Once opened, store in the fridge and consume within 2-3 weeks.
Chikushino Strawberry Fields (ストロベリーフィールズ筑紫野いちご農園)
1278 Chikushi, Chikushino, Fukuoka 818-0025, Japan
Tuesday-Sunday 9am-5pm (Closed Monday; may change by season)
Website (Japanese only)
In combination with strawberry picking and gorging on strawberry desserts, this makes for a fantastic half- or even full-day trip out of the main Fukuoka City. This was one of our favourite experiences in Japan because of how we were able to catch a glimpse of fantastic Japanese agriculture, sample some of their delicious fruit, and have something to take home, too! Even if you’re not in Fukuoka, there are plenty of fruit-picking experiences throughout the country if you have a day to spare.
Other Resources Mentioned (English)
The Way of Japan – A comprehensive site of farms that offer fruit-picking experiences in Japan.
Fukuoka Now – A list of farms in Fukuoka Prefecture that offer strawberry-picking experiences, including the months of availability.
If you’re thinking of visiting Japan we highly recommend getting a Japan Rail Pass and pocket WiFi for stress-free travel! You can check out our post on choosing the best JR Pass for you, or click here to purchase a pass on the JRPass.com website. Purchases made using our affiliate link won’t cost extra, but we earn commissions which help to support us as small creators.
