Category: LOVE Iruma

The Blueberry Kakigori

Kakigori, which is what we call shaved ice, is my favorite summer dessert. Cold and refreshing, it just hits the spot during our hot and humid summers in Tokyo. I could eat this morning, noon, and night.
Well, if the blueberry picking didn’t tempt you enough to go to the blueberry farm Myrtille Moriyama (ミルティーユ毛呂山), I’m pretty sure this will.
There was a little cafe/shop on the side of the farm called Hatofura (はとふら). They have a lovely terrace outside under a roof of grape vines. Perfect spot to enjoy the ice cream and kakigori we ordered while taking a break from blueberry picking!
The shop sold various jam, tea, and even fresh vegetables. It was one of the sweetest shops I’ve ever been inside and reminded me of the shops you see in the Anne of Green Gables movie (which, of couse, I love!).
Don’t you wish you were eating kakigori here right now? 😀
The entrance to the farm and cafe.

Handwritten menu.

Fresh vegetables for sale, too!

Couldn’t resist buying homemade jam!

Jars of herbal tea.

I love how this little shop is set up…everything looks lovely.

Blueberry Ice Cream

Blueberry Kakigori (it was delicious!!!)
Isn’t this an amazing place? 😀

The Afternoon at the Blueberry Farm

Have I ever mentioned how much I love blueberries?
I really do. I actually love any type of berry. But blueberries are my favorite. Which is why I always long for summers back in Michigan (where I grew up) because we had every kind of berry sold in farms and supermarkets for unbelievably low prices. The joys of living on the agricultural side of Michigan.
If you live in Tokyo, you know how expensive berries are. My eyeballs nearly fell out when I first saw the price. This teeny tiny plastic package filled with 15 or so blueberries can cost almost 600 yen. Isn’t that the craziest thing?
Anyways, I’d heard that there were blueberry farms around the Greater Tokyo Area so I looked into it and found a lot of farms. Some were even as close as the next ward over for me. But my friend wanted to take the car somewhere so a couple of us headed out to the further side of Saitama to go blueberry picking last weekend.
And let me tell you…it has heaven! 😀

The farm was called Myrtille Moroyama (Japanese website here).
The farmer said that the blueberry season this year was just starting.
We were all pretty serious about finding the best blueberry bush…so many to choose from!
I cannot tell you how excited I was to see so many blueberries within reach!
The first half hour I only had this much in my basket because I kept on eating it all!
So interesting how even on the same branch, some are already ripe and others still young.

There were 3 types of blueberries on this farm; Tifblue, Brightwell, and Powderblue.

I specifically tried to pick bigger blueberries to take home with me.

Found out that this farm has been growing blueberries organically since 1998…how awesome.
I love how they gave us these little baskets to put the blueberries in!
It was so much fun! Definitely going to try to come back again this summer!

Myrtille Moroyama
258-2 Takinoiri
Moroyama-cho, Iruma-gun
Saitama 350-0456
JAPAN
Blueberry Picking Hours:
(Open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays,
Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays)
8:00am-12:00pm
1:00pm-5:30pm
Entrance Fee: 300 yen (includes all the blueberries you eat)
Blueberry Fee: 130 yen/100g (the ones you take home)