Sasagamine Farm

Sasagamine Farm sits at 1,300 meters elevation in Niigata Prefecture, covering around 600 hectares of highland meadow scattered with elm, beech, and white birch. Snow melts by late May, and meadow buttercups carpet the fields yellow through spring and summer. From July through August, about 100 cattle graze the fields: Holstein Friesian dairy cows and Japanese black and shorthorn wagyu, marketed locally as Kubiki beef. Temperature swings here are extreme, from 28 degrees in summer to minus 28 in winter, when snow accumulation can exceed five meters. The quiet landscape makes it worth visiting outside peak cattle season too.