Ham-O-Rama

How much do you like ham? Alot? Enough to drive an hour and a half into the mountains? If so, you'll probably like it. But unless you plan on eating pork all day, don't plan on more than a few hours here. Maybe part of the problem was that it was a burning hot July morning, but all but one of the pigs which were supposed to be available for petting (pet 'em, eat 'em, take some home for later) gone, and the one out was lying in a puddle under the drinking trough dying of eat stroke. There was also a playground, but it wasn't any   more than any moderate urban park.

The centerpiece is a large beer hall where you can consume any of a number of forms of pork, all of which is really quite good. Sausage, fillet, cutlet, steak...fresh and delicious. After that you visit a strangely pork-centric supermarket with more cuts of pork than you've ever seen. On the plaza, there are many vendors and ice cream stands (no pork-flavored soft cream, thank goodness!). Again, all good stuff, but quite strange in it's obsessiveness.

There's an onsen there, too but in the heat of summer and after a big pork dinner we just didn't see any appeal.

This is a place to include in a larger trip around North Saitama / Iruma, perhaps for a good lunch after some golf or hiking in the area.