Parks & Gardens
Landscaped gardens, national parks, and green spaces
17 spots
Hitachi Seaside Park — Blue Nemophila Hills
Hitachi Seaside Park transforms twice a year into one of Japan's most photographed landscapes. In late April through mid…
Kairakuen Garden — Plum Blossom Poetry
Kairakuen is one of Japan's Three Great Gardens, but unlike the meticulous aristocratic gardens of Kanazawa and Okayama,…
Mount Tsukuba — Sacred Twin Peaks Cable Car
Mount Tsukuba is a twin-peaked mountain rising 877 meters from rice fields and suburban sprawl, visible from Tokyo on cl…
Oarai Aquarium — Shark & Jellyfish Wonderland
Aqua World Oarai is one of Japan's largest aquariums, specializing in sharks (54 species, the most of any aquarium in Ja…
Oarai Beach — Pacific Coast Sandscape
Oarai Sun Beach is a 1.5-kilometer crescent of pale sand facing the Pacific, backed by pine groves and bordered by rocky…
Senba Lake Cycling — Lakeside Loop Trail
Senba Lake is a narrow, 12-kilometer-long reservoir on the northern edge of Mito City, created by damming the Naka River…
Ajigaura Beach — Surfing & Coastal Escape
Ajigaura Beach is a 4-kilometer stretch of sandy coastline facing the open Pacific, known as one of Kanto's best surf br…
Lake Chuzenji & Kegon Falls — Mountain Lake Sanctuary
Lake Chuzenji sits at 1,269 meters in a volcanic caldera formed 20,000 years ago when Mount Nantai erupted and lava damm…
Senjogahara Marshland — Alpine Wetland Plateau
Senjogahara is a 400-hectare highland wetland at 1,400 meters elevation, formed when volcanic lava flows blocked drainag…
Ashikaga Flower Park — Wisteria Dream Canopy
Ashikaga Flower Park is home to over 350 wisteria trees, including a 160-year-old giant wisteria (fuji) whose canopy cov…
Kinugawa Onsen — River Gorge Hot Springs
Kinugawa Onsen is a hot spring resort town in a narrow mountain gorge carved by the Kinugawa River. Discovered in the Ed…
Nasu Onsen — Royal Retreat Hot Springs
Nasu Onsen is a collection of seven hot spring sources scattered across the volcanic slopes of Mount Nasu, a highland re…
Nasu Animal Kingdom — Interactive Highland Zoo
Nasu Animal Kingdom is a 43-hectare zoo and animal park specializing in highland and grassland species from around the w…
Akechidaira Ropeway — Panoramic Mountain Views
The Akechidaira Ropeway is a 3-minute cable car that ascends 300 vertical meters from the Akechidaira Plateau to an obse…
Nanrakuen Garden — Plum Blossoms and Iris
Nanrakuen is a traditional Japanese landscape garden built in 1688 for the lord of Matsuyama Domain, featuring seasonal…
Morioka Castle Ruins — Stone Walls & Cherry Blossoms
Morioka Castle (盛岡城跡公園, now Iwate Park) was built in the early 17th century by the Nanbu clan, who ruled the Morioka Dom…
Motsuji Temple Garden — Pure Land Paradise Design
Motsuji Temple was once larger than Chusonji, containing 40 temple buildings and 500 monks' quarters during the Northern…