For all the farm animal lovers, you will have a lot of fun at Rokkōsan Pasture (神戸市立 六甲山牧場), meeting their sheep, goats, horses, rabbits, and even guinea pigs! Especially the sheep: although they graze on grassland, they are used to being around humans. So unlike some sheep in other pastures that will start escaping from you when there is still a long distance between you and them, some sheep at Rokkosan Pasture will run towards you suddenly (≧▽≦).
Things to Do at Rokkosan Pasture
Although only in Japanese, you can refer to Rokkosan Farm’s map HERE.
Important: According to the Japanese legislation to prevent infectious diseases in animals. Please refrain from entering Rokkosan Farm if you have been in Japan for less than 7 days. Note that even if you have satisfied this condition, clothes, shoes, and accessories worn overseas in the past 4 months cannot be worn in the pasture.
There are coin lockers at the north entrance if needed.
- Small: W 41.5cm x D 4.25 cm x H 3.20 cm costing 100 yen
- Medium: W 41.5cm x D 4.25 cm x H 5.40 cm costing 200 yen
Tip: If your belongings can’t fit into the medium locker, you can check them in at the north ticket gate for 200 yen.
Meeting the Animals at Rokkōsan Pasture
- Sheep’s grazing hours: 9:30 am to 3:30 pm daily except on rainy days (please don’t feed them).
- Meeting the goats: 9:30 am to 4:30 pm daily except on rainy days.
- Feeding is possible between 9:30 am to 3 pm.
- Feeds can be purchased at 200 yen per pack.
- Sheep dog show at Sheepdog Showground (シープドッグショー会場) in the south area.
- 1 pm to 1:20 pm on weekends and public holidays.
- This event is canceled from August 1st to November 30th, 2024.
- Feeding the calf with milk: at 11:30 am and 2:30 pm in front of the dairy cow barn (乳牛舎前).
- The cost is 300 yen.
- Guinea pig-feeding at the guinea pig hutch (モルモットの小屋) in front of the goat house (ヤギ舎) in the south area.
- The session is held between 1 pm and 1:30 pm daily.
- The feed costs 100 yen.
- Horse-feeding at the Stable (馬舎) in the north area.
- The session is held at 11 am and 2:45 pm on weekends and 10:30 am on weekdays.
- The feed costs 300 yen.
Horse riding is also available, but you won’t be allowed to wander off on your own; it must be led by staff.
Rokkōsan Pasture’s Restaurant and Cheese Factory
The one thing that you have to try at Rokkosan Pasture is the soft-serve ice cream because this locally-made ice cream is just divine! Made from freshly squeezed milk from the pasture cow, with creamy Camembert cheese added, it just can’t get any fresher or tastier!
For lunch, drop by Rokkosan Farm’s restaurant Sheep Bell (シープベル). Although limited, they have menus that don’t contain meat or seafood. You can refer to their menu HERE.
If you still have doubts or are wondering whether they can replace the meat/seafood in a certain dish with vegetables or tofu/mushrooms, use the phrases in our Essential Japanese Travel Phrases for Vegetarians and Vegans article to check with the staff when you get there (=ﾟωﾟ)ﾉ.
If you love cheese, Restaurant Kobe Cheese (レストラン 神戸チーズ) has many cheese fondue menu (but all include meat/seafood items as part of the set menu, unfortunately)…
Make Your Butter and Dairy Products
At B1 of Rokkosan Pasture’s Makiba Yume Kōbō’s (まきば夢工房) Trail Classroom (Taiken kyōshitsu, 体験教室), you get to make a range of dairy products such as ice cream and butter (note some aren’t from scratch). Each dairy-making experience takes about 20 to 30 minutes and costs about 2,000 yen per person.
If interested, drop by between 10 am and 4 pm and apply!
Note that most of the experiences require two people to participate. Apart from cheese making, which requires participants to be middle school students and above, the rest require participants to be in fourth grade or higher in elementary school.
Making Handicrafts With Wool
Besides dairy products, you can make your craft with the wool from the Rokkosan Farm’s sheep! The activity takes around 30 to 40 minutes and costs from 1,500 yen, depending on which craft you choose to make.
The venue is Cheese House’s (チーズ館, Chīzu-kan) ground-level’s Exhibition Hall (展示ホール).
Rokkōsan Pasture’s Opening Hours, Admission Fee, and Access Information
- Rokkosan Pasture is open from 9 am to 5 pm except for Tuesdays
- The last admission is at 4:30 pm.
- The admission fees are
- 600 yen for adults from March to November
- 400 yen for adults from December to February
- 200 yen for elementary and junior high school students
- From Rokkō Cable Line’s Rokkō Cable Sanjō Station (六甲ケーブル山上駅) or from Maya Ropeway Sanjō Station (摩耶ロープウェー山上駅), take RRokko Sanjo Bus Route 2 (六甲山上バス2系統) and get off at Rokkōzan Bokujō (六甲山牧場).
- Refer to our How to Get to and Travel Between Mt. Rokkō and Mt. Maya article for the mountain’s access information.
Tip: For those who plan to drive, keep your receipt after paying for parking. With the receipt, you should be able to park at the other car parks in the pasture.
Discover Other Attractions in Mt. Rokkō and Mt. Maya
Rokkosan Pasture is just one of the many awesome attractions in Mt. Maya. To find out where else you can visit during your time on the mountain, check out our article about Mt. Rokkō and Mt. Maya for more information (=ﾟωﾟ)ﾉ!
