Mother Farm, Theme park and ranch in Futtsu, Japan.
Mother Farm is a 2.5-million-square-metre farm-themed park near the summit of Mount Oniryozan in Futtsu, Chiba Prefecture, within Minamiboso Quasi-National Park. It is divided into four areas: Makiba, Mountain Top, Mother Farm Tour and Fruit Orchard. The Agrodome, a 36-metre-diameter dome built with imported New Zealand radiata pine, seats about 1,000 for shows.
Hisakichi Maeda, founder of Tokyo Tower and the Fujisankei media group, opened Mother Farm in 1962 on land near the summit of Oniryozan. He named it for his mother, who often said a single cow would have made the family's poor farm life easier. His son Shin Maeda has served as president since 1992.
The name Mother Farm honours founder Hisakichi Maeda's mother, who often said that even one cow would have made life easier on the family's poor farm. The Sheep Show pairs shearing with an introduction to sheep breeds from around the world, and the daily Sheep March drives a flock of about 150 sheep along the hillside with a sheepdog.
Buses run from JR Sanukimachi Station (about 25 minutes) and from Kimitsu Station's south exit (about 40 minutes, direct). A direct bus also links Kanaya Port on the Tokyo Bay Ferry, but only on Saturdays and holidays from March to November. The grounds climb a hillside, so allow time for slopes between the four areas.
The grounds are served by two loop buses: the Wanwan bus, which takes about 15 minutes one way around the whole site, and the Tonton bus, which runs about 3 minutes up and down the slope between Makiba no Hiroba and Wakuwaku Land. The names are not pig sounds: "wanwan" is Japanese for a dog's bark, while "ton ton" describes a light tapping or trotting step.
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