Ecorin village, Hokkaido, a whimsical and educational walk in the park

A little early in the year, but anyways … for gardening aficionados who live in Hokkaido or visiting it,  Ecorin village is a fairly new attraction – it is a garden theme park named “Ecorin Village.” There are Narnia-like charming spaces for children which were featured recently in a local magazine, you can see a Flicker photo of it here. With overarching themes of agriculture, the environment and culture, and the park has gardening, farming, and ecosystem zones as well as a restaurant zone. The park also includes winter-flooded rice-paddies, which function as an agricultural wetland with a diverse ecosystem. Students from nearby schools collect data on soil bacteria, nitrogen levels, and earthworm populations among other things, which they use in their science classes. Among other things, the new experimental fields aim to revitalize the local farm community and teach children about the connections between life and food.
 

Opened in April 2006. Flower tourism spot with 30 garden, a gardening shop, restaurants.
Address	241-2, Bokujo, Eniwa
Contact	TEL 0123-34-7800
Website	http://www.ecorinvillage.com/

 

You can watch a video of the park at Youtube (see link below) although the quality of the video isn’t great, and I think the video was taken when the park was still new, so the gardens had yet to grow out.
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=JkOP4FYXb70&feature=related

 

Related links:
http://www.gingateien.com/garden1.html;
http://www2.ecorinvillage.com/gingateien/;
http://www.gingateien.com/garden3.html