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Tokyo and its surrounding areas may seem like a concrete jungle to the unfamiliar, but there's plenty for nature lovers to experience if you know where to look (vegetable picking, anyone?). This farm tour located in Machida about an hour from the city centre lets you feed sheep, spin wool, hike through a bamboo grove and try your hand at bamboo weaving, all in one.
You'll start the day by meeting your bilingual tour guide – at 8.40am at a designated meeting point in Shinjuku Station – who will then accompany you to Tama-Center Station. (Alternatively, if you're already familiar with the Tokyo metro system, you can choose to meet your guide directly at Tama-Center Station.)
From there, you'll be transported to your first stop, about 10 minutes' drive from the station: the Yoridoko Community Center. Just beyond this building lies the bamboo grove where you'll visit the sheep farm, but for now you'll meet your bilingual bamboo workshop instructor, Yukino.
Yukino Enjoji is a skilled craftsperson with several years of experience working with bamboo. She's been running workshops for locals and international guests alike since 2023, teaching them how to work the versatile material into useful household items. 'It's nice to make something with your hands,' she says. 'You don't have to buy everything.'
For this tour, you have the option of creating a basket, a lantern or a pair of knitting needles.
Yukino's workshops take around two hours and are suitable even for complete beginners. For the basket-weaving workshop, follow along with her instructions to weave strips of bamboo into a receptacle that's beautifully intricate yet surprisingly simple in its design.
The lantern-making workshop is a bit more intense, as power tools are involved. Pick from nearly a dozen different designs – think flower motifs, waves and other simple patterns – and get to drilling. Sand your lantern down with sandpaper to make it nice and smooth, and voilà. Stick a light in the finished product and you've got yourself a lovely lantern.
Whether you choose to make a basket or lantern, the finished products are equal parts beauty and function, making for the perfect souvenir. A third workshop allows you to carve knitting needles from bamboo stalks, though this experience requires a group of three or more.
All that crafting can work up an appetite, so your next stop is lunch at a traditional Japanese restaurant nearby. Bring extra cash for a bit of shopping, as the eatery also sells fresh local veg, snacks and souvenirs.
The restaurant's menu changes depending on the season and what's available, as local ingredients are featured heavily; even the flour used to make the noodles is local. There's a small café nearby that also offers light meal options, though the restaurant is truly something special.
Vegetarian-friendly options can be arranged, so feel free to inquire about what's possible. After your meal, it's off to the farm to visit the sheep – enter your next workshop instructor, Nana.
Nana Osawada has over a decade of farm experience. She not only sells wool, but travels all over the country to provide her shearing services, having apprenticed in New Zealand to hone her skills in both sheep and alpaca shearing. Her farm in Machida is home to half a dozen Corriedale sheep and lambs, all of whom you'll meet on this tour.
To get to the farm, Nana will escort you through a breathtaking bamboo grove. It's about a 15-minute hike, but if you prefer, you can be driven to the sheep via an alternate route.
Once you've reached the farm, Nana will introduce you to her sheep and their lambs, letting you hold them, feed them treats and take plenty of photos. This is easily the highlight of the day for any animal lover. You'll spend about an hour here before heading back down to the community centre for the second workshop.
Time Out tip: Wear close-toed shoes and comfortable clothes that you don't mind potentially getting dirty. It's a farm tour after all; things could get messy.
With this workshop you can try your hand at spinning wool with either a spinning wheel or drop spindle. (Hint: The spinning wheel is better for beginners.) Just like the bamboo workshops, the wool-spinning activities last about two hours, with Nana patiently guiding you throughout the process.
Regardless of your spinning method, the end result is the same: a bundle of spun wool you can take home with you. Alternatively, there's a knitting workshop where you can learn the basics of knitting, though the spinning options are much more popular.
Once you've finished the wool workshop, you'll be transported back to Tama-Center Station, where you can either go your own way or ask your tour guide to accompany you back to Shinjuku Station. The whole experience is chock full of memorable activities that let you take tangible, handmade keepsakes away with you to remind you of your time in Machida.
Pricing and booking procedures differ depending on whether you're signing up from outside or inside Japan, but either method requires at least two weeks' advance notice. Take a look at the registration forms or contact Rachel Bedolla on Instagram @veggie_crochet for more information.
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