Strawberry Picking

During the winter and spring months (late December to May), Ichigo-gari, or "strawberry picking" is a fun activity for anyone who loves strawberries. Following me on my 

Here a couple standard points to keep in mind:

• Most places charge more at the beginning of the picking season- probably because they are at their prime during this time. 
• Usually children will pay less-nothing depending on their age. 
• Almost all places will offer you condensed milk to dip your strawberries in 
• The normal picking time is 30 minutes...but there are some places that offer hour long picking sessions, and I've even heard of other places where it is unlimited. 
• If your driving, especially during the busier months - don't be surprised if parking is an issue.
• It's always good to call in advanced (especially if your traveling farther away for a couple of reason:
• Some places may require reservations
• They may close unexpectedly or for a holiday - we all know how random these can be at times
• They had a busy day and the pickings may not be that great

Follow me on my short journey through a local green-house in Ayase called Yamadai ! 

Finding the place/Parking

 Sometimes the place your looking for may be in a obscure location-like a residential neighborhood 

I'm sure these signs are pretty standard, so when looking for your strawberry picking locations you may want to look for the red and green flags. 

We actually found the parking lot before we found the green house. The green house was around the corner from the parking lot. There was a sign with strawberries on it that had numbers on it. I assumed these were the only spots we were allowed to park in, since the parking lot was labeled with numbers. So remember, if your strawberry picking location is in a residential neighborhood, you may want to keep in mind that those other parking spaces could be for people living in the immediate area. 

Upon arrival...

You will find a small building/storefront. This is where you will pay your entrance fee. 

Below is an example of the pricing for the place I visited: 

Once you pay, you will receive a small container. The bigger side is for holding/discarding the tops of your strawberries. The other side holds the condensed milk for you to dip your strawberries in. 

Once inside the greenhouse...

Your guide will fill your container with condensed milk. My guide demonstrated the best way to spot the strawberries, which is by crouching down. 

You will notice there are several rows. In this case, there were 10. You may or may not be assigned to a row to pick from. In my case, we were assigned to row 3. 

Times up...

Once your finished, make sure to discard your scraps in the trash cans provided! Your hands will probably be sticky, and if your lucky your location might have a bathroom and/or sink. Yamadai did!

Tips: 

1. Savor your condensed milk by dipping the least red strawberries in the milk. If you find big red juicy ones, you may want to eat those without the sweet milk. 
2. Sometimes the lowest hanging strawberries tend to be the sweetest! Or just look for the redest  and sometimes the softest. 
3. Use your 30 minutes wisely! Save picture taking for the last 5 minutes of your time inside. Don't try and count the number of strawberries you've eaten while picking...you will have plenty of time to do that once your finished. 
4. While picking I developed a little technique to get dust/dirt/flies off your strawberry...simply blow on it! 
5. Bring yen..you can purchase packs of strawberries as a "souvenir". I got 1 pack for only 150yen, but the strawberries were pretty small. 

Happy Picking!