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Tondabayashi has developed as the center of the Minami Kawachi region. Urban suburban agriculture is thriving, and there are many facilities where you can experience farming and harvesting. This time, a family living in Chihayaakasaka Village, near Tondabayashi, will enjoy grape picking and the bounty of nature at Savor Farm, which is scheduled to reopen in August 2025. We will also introduce other tourist farms that the whole family can enjoy.
Blessed with abundant nature, Tondabayashi City has developed as the center of the Minamikawachi region. It is famous for its "Jinanimachi, which retains the landscape of the Edo period, but it is also an area where "urban suburban agriculture" is thriving.
In particular, the Tojo district* has taken advantage of its location near Osaka City, a major consumer market, to produce highly profitable agricultural products. Due to this regional characteristic, there are also many popular tourist farms where you can experience growing and harvesting produce.
*Tojo District: The area around the former Tojo Village. Tondabayashi City incorporated the former Tojo Village located in the southeast, forming the current city limits.
This time we will introduce Tondabayashi City Agricultural Park Savor Farm, which reopened in August 2025 after being closed for about a year. Located on a vast site the size of five Koshien Stadiums, the park offers a wide variety of programs where you can experience seasonal flavors, such as grape picking, strawberry picking, and vegetable harvesting, as well as gourmet food made with an abundance of locally produced ingredients.
This time, a family (Tomo, a plasterer, his wife Tsuyu, a creator, and their three sisters Midori, Akari, and Matsuri) who recently moved to Chihayaakasaka Village, which has easy access to Suba Farm, will tour the farm and enjoy the blessings of nature.
Guide
A plasterer. He moved to Chihayaakasaka Village, the only village in Osaka Prefecture, in 2025 and is currently renovating his house in pursuit of his dream home. He currently posts about his daily life in the countryside and DIY projects on YouTube.
Savor Farm is back and better than ever! A parade of locally produced ingredients is on display even before you enter the park.
The free parking lot, which can accommodate approximately 300 cars, is already filled with family cars, showing how popular it is despite only just being renovated.
The entrance, marked by a large logo, has been given a modern makeover with new plants and other improvements. Go through the gate and into the park!
But before that, there's a treat to enjoy. The newly opened Tontamabiyori restaurant, which specializes in raw egg rice, and the farm bread bakery Koppe, can be accessed without entering the facility.
The newly reborn Saba Farm has a new management structure. A company that has been involved in the food industry for over 120 years has joined the management, and the farm is also focusing on the food and beverage sector, with the aim of "making it easier for people to enjoy the bountiful produce of Tondabayashi." Eggs are known to local residents as a local specialty, but until now there has not been a restaurant where you can taste and compare different locally produced raw eggs, and the farm has already been well received by visitors.
The "Tamago Kake Teishoku (Three Eggs)" that I ordered comes with three types of eggs from Tontamabiyori, as well as pork miso soup and other dishes, and rice is free to refill. It's the perfect breakfast before an activity.
Each of the three egg varieties has its own unique flavor, yet is light and delicious. I enjoyed it to the last bite. They also offer set meals with one or two eggs, so you can choose according to how hungry you are. It's also fun to choose the soy sauce.
The neighboring shop, Koppe, serves bread made with natural yeast. We recommend the savory and sweet breads filled with locally grown vegetables and fruits, with over 20 varieties always available. Their white bread, which also uses natural yeast, is said to be very popular.
The fig koppe has a sophisticated taste. It goes perfectly with the moist koppepan! It would be a good idea to buy some tomorrow's bread or a souvenir to take home.
Find the big grapes and eat them freshly picked! Harvesting experience with everyone working together
Once they had completed the entrance procedures and entered the farm, a beautiful natural landscape unfolded before their eyes. The family headed for their main goal of the day: grape picking. They strolled along the road, admiring the flower fields along the way, before heading to the vineyard in the center of the farm.
The flower garden welcomes visitors with vibrant flowers blooming throughout the seasons. At the time of the visit, zinnias were planted.
"Thanks to the surrounding mountains, the view is wide and the park feels even larger! It's a pleasant place to walk," says Tsuyu.
The vineyard grows four varieties of grapes, each with a different flavor and harvest time. On this day, towards the end of the season, the area for "Muscat Bailey A," which is used for both food and wine, was open to the public, and the area was bustling with families. The grape-picking season runs from early August to late September.
The staff also gave us advice, saying, "Feel the bag protecting the fruit and aim for the biggest ones." Carefully check the texture before cutting with scissors. The harvested grapes are ready to eat after being lightly washed with water. It's an all-you-can-eat system, where once you've finished one bunch, you can pick the next one. You can even take home one bunch as a souvenir.
When the grape season ends, you can pick sweet potatoes, and then strawberries, and other seasonal fruit picking is available. A reservation system was introduced with the renovation, and it has been well received, with people saying, "Now we can see when the fruit is ripe and how busy it will be, so it's easier to come."
I was surprised to be able to experience something like this without bringing anything with me. I thought it would be a bit more difficult. What's more, the roads are clean, so I'm happy that I can get very close even with a stroller!
Hours: 9:30-17:00 (last admission 16:00)
Price: Adults (junior high school students and above) ¥1,800 / Children (ages 4 to elementary school) ¥1,200
*A separate admission fee is required. *Re-entry is not permitted once you leave the experience venue. The event will be held rain or shine.
For details and reservations, click here
Next, we head further in to the vegetable area. Here too, various vegetables are grown in greenhouses and you can experience harvesting. On the day we visited, the green pepper greenhouse was open.
Here too, they listened to the staff's explanations and carefully selected peppers that were ripe for eating. Midori and Akari carefully selected peppers that were bigger than their faces and harvested them.
They both sometimes refuse to eat bell peppers, but I was surprised to see them enjoying them raw. Perhaps the experience of picking them themselves played a big role. I really felt that this is what food education is all about.
Enjoy gourmet food made with local ingredients! Try making a parfait using harvested grapes
Lunch is a teppanyaki meal made with plenty of local vegetables
After the experience, we headed to the interactive grill restaurant "Farm Griddle Tottekiten" for lunch. Their signature menu features dishes made with the multi-griddle, a versatile iron plate that can be used for a variety of cooking methods.
The Tokuda family's choice of ajillo set uses plenty of seasonal vegetables harvested in Tondabayashi. On this day, the vegetables used were locally grown eggplant and cherry tomatoes.
The menu was more stylish than I imagined, but the seasonings were child-friendly, so it was safe. It was also fun to cook together while looking out at the outside.
Freshly harvested grapes transformed into a one-of-a-kind parfait
Now it's time for the fun part: making a parfait using freshly picked grapes. We'll be using the grapes we just harvested!
While looking at the example photo, first make the bottom layer of the parfait using castella cake and cereal.
Decorate with ice cream and waffles and you're done!
While I was making it, my parents kept commenting, "The balance is off!", but it turned out beautifully.
Parfaits are made on weekends and holidays, with the contents changing with the seasons. Reservations are given priority. For more information, please click here .
It turned out surprisingly beautifully (laughs). They both looked happy eating it, which made me happy too.
Dates: Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays Time: 11:00-, 13:00-, 15:00- (each session lasts approximately 60 minutes)
Capacity: 20 people per session Price: Please check the official website *Admission fee is required separately
For details and reservations, click here
There are plenty of facilities for a short break or to choose souvenirs.
As we returned to the gate, we saw families playing in the playground. The nearby Farm Truck was also bustling with activity. They sell snacks like hot dogs, soft serve ice cream, and french fries made with homemade bread.
The popular direct sales store with a wide selection of fresh vegetables from Tondabayashi
On your way back, you'll want to stop by Niko Niko Market, a direct sales store lined with fresh agricultural products. The store mainly stocks freshly picked vegetables and fruits delivered every morning by farmers in Tondabayashi City, as well as handmade processed goods, and many people use it for their daily shopping.
The Tokuda family also bought a pumpkin, eggs, and Shine Muscat grapes as souvenirs. All of these are fresh, locally produced.
The eggs I had this morning were so delicious that I wanted to share some with others. It's so nice to be able to buy something that inspires me so quickly!
Savor Farm, where you can spend the whole day enjoying nature, is getting even more powerful from now on!
Subar Farm has been hugely popular since its reopening, and new content is planned to be added in the future. The currently closed greenhouse is currently being prepared for reopening, and the blueberry farm is aiming to start offering harvesting experiences in 2027, so it's definitely something to keep an eye on.
The air is clean, the scenery is beautiful no matter where you look, and the friendly service from the staff really cheered me up!
Pick up souvenirs at the Honeybee Museum, which has a wide selection of precious domestic honey
There are many other farms and direct sales outlets in the vicinity. We stopped by the Honeybee Museum, about a five-minute drive from Savor Farm. This is a direct sales outlet for Azuma Bee Farm, which has been producing honey for over half a century, and is also famous for its exhibits on beekeeping and honeybees.
Their proud "100% pure honey" is divided according to the place where it is collected and the type of flower, and the recommended way to eat it also varies. Of these, the most recommended is the milk vetch honey. They work with local rice farmers, sowing seeds in the rice fields after the rice harvest and growing the flowers themselves. We picked up some souvenirs here as well before heading home.
Even though it's all called honey, the color varies greatly depending on the type of flower. The beekeeping exhibits were also extensive, and I could really feel Azuma Bee Farm's love for bees.
Photo: Satoru Kitagaga
Edit: Ayumi Minami
Direction: Ningen Henshusha
