There are a lot of places to escape to from just about anywhere in Kumamoto. One that is up the hill past the airport is called something like Milk Farmland. It costs ¥300 to get in, and there are various animals to watch and pet as your heart desires. There are a couple of small petting zoos and friendly people to answer your questions. There are at least three pigs, formerly known as mini-pigs and pot-bellied pigs (someone forgot to tell them that because they’re huge!), roaming around.

There is also a fully working dairy, and you can often see the machines in action, sucking the white stuff out of the cows patiently waiting their turn. Part of this dairy, obviously, is for raising the little ones. The video above shows one of them frolicking around a bit too much. She was in shock after her fall and didn’t move much at all after that.

The dairy goods are on sale in the form of tasty soft-serve and a whole bunch of products such as cream, milk, butter and cheese. Part of that complex also has a good all-you-can-eat restaurant serving locally grown food (when we were there, it was ¥1,500 for adults and ¥840 for kids). There were all kinds of food to choose from, including drinks and desserts.