Ibaraki Hidden Gems
Kanto's quiet garden — seaside cliffs, flower parks and one of Japan's great landscape gardens, all within reach of Tokyo.
5 spots
Climate & Best Season
Mild and relatively dry, with warm summers and little snow. Spring (nemophila) and autumn (kochia) are the signature seasons.
Famous For (Food)
- Natto
- Melon
- Anko-nabe (monkfish hotpot)
- Chestnuts
Signature Sights
- Hitachi Seaside Park
- Kairakuen plum garden
- Fukuroda Falls
- Ushiku Daibutsu
Kashima Jingu
Kashima Jingu enshrines Takemikazuchi, the thunder and sword deity who in the myths subdues the land and, in later belie…
Amabiki Kannon
Amabikisan Rakuhoji is a hillside temple founded, by its own account, in 587, and for centuries it has been the place pe…
Oiwa Shrine
Mt. Oiwa is described in local record as the oldest sacred mountain in the old province of Hitachi, and the shrine at it…
Ikisu Shrine
Ikisu is the third and least visited of the Toogoku Sanja, the three shrines of the east that Kashima and Katori complet…
Hitachi Izumo Taisha
In 1992 the great shrine of Izumo in Shimane divided its deity and enshrined it here, on a hillside beside Route 50 in K…