The child's eyes light up at the warmth of 38℃.
A real-life food education experience at "Egg School"
"Wow! It's warm...!"
The moment a child holds a freshly laid egg in their hands, their eyes light up.
Ark Tategamori's "Egg School" is a food education program where participants can pick up freshly laid eggs from chickens with their own hands and connect with "life" through their warmth.
How are the eggs that end up on our dinner tables produced, and how do they get to us?
The experience of learning by seeing and touching with your own eyes provides an opportunity to think about the meaning behind the daily "Itadakimasu" (thank you for the meal).
This time, we'll introduce the charms of "Egg School" by following the flow of the experience.
Check this before you try it!
• Dates: Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays *Weekdays require reservations
• Reception: Rainbow Hill View Terrace (until 14:00)
・Reservations: Not required
• Experience fee (tax included): Adults ¥200 / Children ¥100 (egg fee separate)
Let's learn about chickens! Explore the chicken coop with a quiz.
The "Rainbow Hill View Terrace," located within the paid area of the ranch, is the starting point for the experience.
After checking in and putting on the special jacket, hat, and gloves, you're ready to go. After reviewing the rules for the experience, you'll finally head to the chicken coop.
The chickens are growing up healthy and strong, freely roaming between the chicken coop and the spacious garden.
At Ark Kangamori, we value experiences where children can see, think, and discover for themselves, rather than simply being given the answers.
Therefore, at "Egg School," staff do not accompany families, and the experience is conducted at each family's own pace. The chicken coop is filled with features designed to make learning fun.
When you open the door to the chicken coop, you're greeted by the lively clucking of the chickens, "Cluck! Cluck! Cluck!", and the rustling sound of their wings being spread.
The children were amazed by the large number of chickens and then found the quiz posted on the door of the egg-laying box.
"What's this?" "There's one over there too!"
As you excitedly open the egg-laying boxes while searching for quizzes, you'll naturally learn about chickens and eggs.
The quiz, consisting of 34 questions, covers a wide range of topics, from the ecology of chickens to the meticulous care taken in raising them. Before you know it, even adults will be engrossed in the answers.
Touching the warmth of 38℃. Gathering freshly laid eggs.
If you gently open the door to the nesting box, you might find a chicken incubating its eggs.
If you gently place your hand under the chicken's belly so as not to startle it, you can feel its fluffy feathers and body heat even through your glove. A freshly laid egg is about 38°C, almost the same warmth as a human body.
If you're even luckier, you might witness the moment they lay their eggs.
"Oh, it looks like she's about to give birth!" "Hang in there!"
Such comments naturally spill out, which is something unique to this experience.
One of the attractions of "Egg School" is the opportunity to witness the moment when a single life—an egg—is born.
"Freshly laid eggs, so warm!"
The children's expressions as they carefully cradled the items in their hands were as if they had found a treasure.
The substantial weight and the warmth of 38°C make you truly feel that food is "life."
If you're lucky, you might find a twin egg called "Fukuju Egg"!
These are eggs that are slightly larger than normal, laid very rarely by young chickens.
Sometimes, one of them contains two egg yolks.
Opportunities to meet them are rare, but you're more likely to find them in the morning.
Polish it yourself and take the egg home.
We return to the "Rainbow Hill View Terrace" with the eggs we carefully collected from the chicken coop.
The experience concludes with carefully wiping off any dirt from the eggs with your own hands.
"It's still a little dirty here." "It's clean now!"
We have such conversations as a family, and we carefully polish each item one by one.
Finally, the staff checks the cleaned eggs to make sure there are no cracks or chips.
Once you've finished checking, you can take home the eggs you've collected.
A dish you'll want to savor especially after the experience: traditional egg-on-rice.
After enjoying the experience, take a break at the "Rainbow Hill View Terrace".
On Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays only, you can enjoy a rice bowl set featuring "Mukashi Tamago," freshly laid fertilized eggs from Ark Tategamori.
The rice used is "Iyasaka Rice," grown by local farmers using organic fertilizer produced from Ark Tategamori's sustainable agriculture system, and milled on the same day. Enjoy the glossy, freshly cooked rice topped with fresh, traditional eggs.
The yolk is rich and creamy, while the egg white is firm and springy. There's little fishy smell, and the rich flavor and natural sweetness fill your mouth.
After seeing the chickens' lives and feeling the warmth of freshly laid eggs, they will surely taste even better and you will appreciate them even more.
When paired with "Old Egg Drops," a special sauce created to complement the eggs, the umami of the bonito flakes enhances the original flavor of the eggs.
Rainbow Hill View Terrace "Traditional Egg Rice Set" (Available only on Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays) Comes with miso soup, seasonal side dish, and potato salad: ¥700 *For those who don't like raw eggs, we can also prepare "Scrambled Egg Rice."
Eggs you've collected yourself and carefully polished might look a little different from the usual eggs on your table. When you see the eggs on the table, you'll vividly remember the temperature of the eggs you touched in the chicken coop. Your perspective on familiar foods will change before and after the experience. At "Egg School," experience firsthand the "food is life" philosophy that Ark Tategamori cherishes.
