- Sotetsu Group announced on 8 October 2026 that it will hold a dairy experience day on Saturday 7 November, part of its “Sotetsu Line Manabi Club with EXPO” series. The venue is Augusta Milk Farm (Aizawa Ryo Farm) in Akuwa, Seya Ward, Yokohama. This is the second year. (The English names of the series and the farm are our own renderings.)
- There are two sessions, 10:00–12:00 and 13:00–15:00, with reception opening 30 minutes before each. Up to 50 people per session, in groups of up to four.
- Participants milk a cow, brush and feed the cows, and make butter from fresh milk. Afterwards they can try the farm’s milk and soft-serve ice cream.
- New this year is a sketching session: children observe the farm animals and draw them, and the drawings will be shown on the SOTETSU PARK website and elsewhere.
- The fee is ¥1,000 per person, tax included, paid in cash at reception on the day.
- It is for children of primary-school age and older with a parent or guardian; minors cannot attend alone. To protect the cows’ health, anyone who has travelled abroad on or after Saturday 24 October cannot take part.
- Applications run from 10:00 on Saturday 10 October to 23:59 on Sunday 25 October, by lottery, through Sotetsu’s area information site Kotokoto. Results are announced on Wednesday 28 October.
- Participants are asked to add the Manabi Club’s official LINE account, show the screen on the day, and answer a questionnaire.
- Sotetsu Group is the organiser, with support from the City of Yokohama’s Housing and Architecture Bureau and the Seya Ward office. The programme may change with the weather.
- Sotetsu Group describes the day as a lead-up event to GREEN×EXPO 2027, where it will exhibit SOTETSU PARK in the Kids Village.
Our take
The Japanese name of the new sketching session uses the word tomodachi, “friends”, and that word comes from SOTETSU PARK. The exhibit’s concept is “Friends and Habitats”, and “friends” there means the living things around us, people included. A cow drawn by a child at the farm on 7 November will go onto the exhibit’s website as one of those friends.
The farm is in Seya Ward, the same ward as the Expo site. Mitsukyo Station, where the bus to the farm leaves from, is one of the four stations that will have shuttle buses to the Expo once it opens. We think the day gives families a chance to visit, four months early, a station they may get off at with their children during the Expo.
The date to check before applying is 24 October. Anyone who travels abroad on or after that day cannot take part. Applications close on the 25th and results come out on the 28th, so a family with an overseas trip planned between the results and the event would not be able to attend even if selected.
Tips for visitors
- Apply by 23:59 on Sunday 25 October on the Kotokoto application page (in Japanese). Groups of up to four; results on Wednesday 28 October.
- To reach the farm, take the bus bound for Izumino Station from the south exit of Mitsukyo Station on the Sotetsu Main Line, or the bus bound for Mitsukyo Station from the north exit of Izumino Station on the Sotetsu Izumino Line. Get off at Sannozuka; the farm is a five-minute walk. Sotetsu asks visitors to come by public transport.
- Reception opens 30 minutes before each session: 9:30 for the morning, 12:30 for the afternoon.
- Bring cash for the fee, and wear clothes that are easy to move in and can get dirty.
- The 13000 series train car placed at SOTETSU PARK and Sotetsu’s other lead-up events are covered in our SOTETSU PARK article.
Our take
At most 100 people can take part across the two sessions, in groups of up to four, chosen by lottery. To protect the cows, anyone who has travelled abroad on or after 24 October cannot join. The animal sketches children draw at the farm will be shown on the website for SOTETSU PARK, the group's exhibit at the Expo.