Kodomo no Kuni, a farm located in Yokohama, 30 minutes from the city center

I never thought I'd see cows and mules in Yokohama. This is the last stop on the Tokyu Kodomonokuni Line, which departs from Nagatsuta on the Den-en-toshi Line. It's called "Kodomo-no-kuni" (Children's Land).

Kodomo-no-Kuni (Children's Land) is located just 30 kilometers from central Tokyo. It was opened on Children's Day, May 5, 1965, based on congratulatory donations from all over Japan to commemorate the marriage of the then Crown Prince (now Emperor Emeritus) in April 1959.

Spanning approximately 100 hectares (about 300,000 tsubo), the park has a 4-kilometer outer perimeter road and a 2.4-kilometer inner perimeter road, with walking paths crisscrossing through the woods. The park features a "Play Area," a "Free Play Area," a mini steam locomotive "Taiyo-go," and a park bus "Akapoppo-go," as well as various play areas including Yokohama's longest "110-meter roller slide," a "babbling brook," a "suspension bridge," a "cycling course," and a "boat dock."

The farm within the park isSnow Brand Children's Farm Co., Ltd.It is run by [company name] and includes a "cow and sheep farm" where you can feed the animals, a "children's zoo" where you can interact with animals, and a pony farm. I never imagined that I could feel so much like I was on a real farm in Yokohama.

The Mandarin Duck, a wild bird of Japan

There's a space in the pasture where wild birds roam freely, and you can interact with them. I found this beautiful bird there.

With such vibrant colors, I couldn't possibly believe it was a bird from Japan, a country that values ​​wabi-sabi. But when I looked it up with Google Lens, it turned out to be a Japanese wild bird, the mandarin duck!

They inhabit a relatively wide area from Hokkaido to Honshu, and appear to be migratory birds that move to the southern part of Japan during the colder seasons.