Local Guide
5 recommended hidden sightseeing spots in Ibaraki Prefecture with accommodation in Tsuchiura

Located in the southern part of Ibaraki Prefecture, Tsuchiura City is dotted with many hidden spots that are only known to those in the know. There are many Property you can relax and forget about your daily life, such as spots where you can enjoy the unique flavors of Ibaraki Prefecture and Experience-based Property that make use of the rich nature. We will introduce five special spots that locals really want to keep secret.

The fish market adjacent to Nakaminato Fishing Port is a treasure trove of fresh seafood.

There are a total of 11 stores, including fresh fish stores, seafood processing stores, and restaurants.
There are a total of 11 stores, including fresh fish stores, seafood processing stores, and restaurants.

About an hour's drive from Tsuchiura City. Nakaminato, located in the southeastern part of Hitachinaka City, Ibaraki Prefecture, is home to the Nakaminato Fishing Port, where many seafood are landed every day. Adjacent to the fishing port is the Nakaminato Fish Market. You can casually enjoy shopping and dining at the market, which offers a wide variety of seasonal seafood, including local fish caught in Nakaminato and its surrounding areas. Nakaminato Fishing Port is where boats return from fishing in the morning and auctions are held in the morning, so around lunchtime there are many fresh seafood lined up, and the port is bustling with locals and tourists all day long.

Enjoy a seafood bowl with a generous serving of seasonal ingredients

Nakaminato Kaisenmaru's "Local fish galore! Specialty!! Grilled rice bowl" is 2,178 yen. Tuna, sea urchin, and salmon roe are standard, and white fish changes seasonally.
Nakaminato Kaisenmaru's "Local fish galore! Specialty!! Grilled rice bowl" is 2,178 yen. Tuna, sea urchin, and salmon roe are standard, and white fish changes seasonally.

There are seven restaurants in the fish market that serve sushi and seafood bowls made with seasonal seafood. One of the most recommended is Nakaminato Kaisenmaru's "Local Fish Loaded! Specialty!! Seared Rice Bowl." It is a luxurious seafood bowl topped with 13 ingredients, including local fish, that cover the rice. The white fish, such as sea bream, are seared so you can taste the delicate fat. It is also served with a rich sea bream broth, so you can top it with your favorite seafood and make it into sesame chazuke. Other restaurants also have their own proud menus, so you can stroll around the market and find your favorite place.

Comments Local Guide
This is one of the Kanto region's leading markets, and attracts many Guest/customer from outside the prefecture. You can purchase local dried fish starting from just one piece, and there is a wide selection of delicacies to enjoy with sake, making it the perfect place to look for souvenirs.
Nakaminato Fish Market
  • URLhttp://www.nakaminato-osakanaichiba.jp/
  • 住所19-8 Minatohonmachi, Hitachinaka City, Ibaraki Prefecture MAP
  • アクセスApproximately 10 minutes walk from Nakaminato Station on the Hitachinaka Seaside Railway Line
  • 営業時間Varies by store
  • 定休日Varies by store
  • 入場料Free admission
  • TELVaries by store
  • 駐車場Paid (approximately 600 cars) *100 yen for up to 4 hours

A long-established sake brewery that continues to make sake at the foot of Mount Tsukuba

The attached shop has a limited number of alcoholic drinks that are not often available on the market. Tasting available.
The attached shop has a limited number of alcoholic drinks that are not often available on the market. Tasting available.

Since its founding in 1867 (Keio 3), this sake brewery has consistently focused on hand-made brewing, and is one of Ibaraki Prefecture's leading sake breweries. Their pure rice sake, brewed using spring water from Mt. Tsukuba that springs on the premises and mainly locally grown sake rice, has been highly praised at the National New Sake Tasting Competition every year. Inside the brewery, a koji room built at the time of the company's founding has been renovated to house a shop and cafe. The shop sells a wide variety of sake, including "Minanogawa," named after the clear stream that flows from Mt. Tsukuba, and "Stella," which is characterized by its delicate and refined flavor, as well as sweet sake and sake lees.

Take a break at a cafe with a charming atmosphere

"Special Amazake (non-alcoholic)" 390 yen and "Special Sake Lees Milk Gelato" 450 yen
"Special Amazake (non-alcoholic)" 390 yen and "Special Sake Lees Milk Gelato" 450 yen

At the back of the shop, there is the "Sake Brewery Café," where tables are lined up using sake vats that were used for pressing the mash. Drinks and sweets, such as coffee brewed with brewing water, are available. The popular "Sake Brewery Special Amazake (non-alcoholic)" and "Sake Brewery Special Sake Lees Milk Gelato" are both elegantly sweet, highlighting the quality of the ingredients. As of 2021, Inaba Sake Brewery is run by the sixth-generation brewer, a rare female toji brewer in Japan. If you make a reservation in advance, you can receive a brewery guide where the brewer himself will teach you about the sake brewing process.

Comments Local Guide
The sake on offer here reflects the taste of the sixth-generation brewer, who has been carrying on the tradition of his ancestors for generations. "Stella," which means "star" in Latin, is fruity and delicious.
Inaba Sake Brewery
  • URLhttps://www.minanogawa.jp/
  • 住所1485 Numata, Tsukuba City, Ibaraki Prefecture MAP
  • アクセスApproximately 40 minutes by car from JR Tsuchiura Station
  • バスアクセスFrom Tsukuba Station on the Tsukuba Express, take the Tsukuba Bus Northern Shuttle Tsukuba-Tsuchiura Line for approximately 60 minutes, then walk for approximately 11 minutes from the last stop
  • 営業時間9:00-18:00 *Sake Brewery Café: 10:00-17:00
  • 定休日Wednesday
  • 入場料free
  • TEL029-866-0020
  • 駐車場無料（3台）

A new attraction in Ibaraki Prefecture that enshrines a god associated with dried sweet potatoes

More than 30 golden torii gates are lined up. Pass through the gates and offer prayers at the altar.
More than 30 golden torii gates are lined up. Pass through the gates and offer prayers at the altar.

Ibaraki Prefecture is the number one producer of dried sweet potatoes in Japan, and Hitachinaka City and Tokai Village are especially famous as major production areas. In 2019, a new shrine was built in this sacred place for dried sweet potatoes. The torii gate is a golden color reminiscent of the color of dried sweet potatoes, and is particularly eye-catching. The shrine enshrines five people who popularized dried sweet potatoes in the region and conducted research on them: Miyazaki Risshichi, Yuasa Toshichi, Koike Yoshibei, Owada Kumataro, and Shirato Matsukichi, as "gods of what they want." It is said that if you visit the shrine, you will be granted the blessing of "getting all the things you want."

Take home dried sweet potatoes, a local specialty

"Hoshimo" made with locally grown sweet potato "Beni Haruka" 700 yen each
"Hoshimo" made with locally grown sweet potato "Beni Haruka" 700 yen each

The shrine is located within the grounds of Hori-de Shrine, which was founded in 1663 (Kanbun 3). It is a historic shrine named after the second lord of the Hitachi Mito Domain, Tokugawa Mitsukuni, who excavated a mirror that became the object of worship, so you may receive more blessings if you visit both shrines. The shrine office sells amulets, votive plaques, and red seals, as well as locally made dried sweet potatoes. There is also a very rare dried sweet potato vending machine in the rest area on the premises. It is highly valued by locals as you can buy dried sweet potatoes at any time.

Comments Local Guide
This is the first shrine built in the Reiwa era as part of an effort to popularize the making of dried sweet potatoes, a specialty of Ibaraki Prefecture. The golden torii gate is so striking that you'll want to take photos.
Hoshimo Shrine
  • URLhttps://horide-hachiman.com/
  • 住所172-2 Ajigauracho, Hitachinaka City, Ibaraki Prefecture MAP
  • アクセスApproximately 2 minutes walk from Ajigaura Station on the Hitachinaka Seaside Railway Minato Line
  • 営業時間Free entry to the temple grounds
  • 定休日Free entry to the temple grounds
  • 入場料free
  • TEL029-265-9533
  • 駐車場free

Reopening as Property to enjoy with all five senses

The garden is filled with colorful flowers, including rose areas divided by color.
The garden is filled with colorful flowers, including rose areas divided by color.

The flower park, which opened in 1985, will be getting a makeover in April 2021. The approximately 12-hectare site overlooking Mount Tsukuba has been divided into nine areas, and each area has been transformed into an Experience Property where visitors can enjoy more than just looking, such as smelling, tasting, touching, and listening. The park is home to 9,000 roses, the prefectural flower of Ibaraki Prefecture, including 17 new varieties that will be unveiled for the first time in the world. With a focus on precious roses, visitors can fully enjoy the flowers and nature of the four seasons. The rose season is from mid-May to late June and from October to mid-November every year.

Experience Activity let you feel the charm of the season and the region

"Making Botanical Postcards" - Choose seasonal flowers and create your own original card - 550 yen
"Making Botanical Postcards" - Choose seasonal flowers and create your own original card - 550 yen

There are over 100 types of Activity and Experience available throughout the year that allow you to experience the blessings of nature and the enthusiasm of the local people. Many activities require prior reservations, but you can register on the day for activities like "making botanical postcards" and "making botanical aroma mist." They take about 10 minutes to complete, so you can enjoy them casually. There are plenty of other things to see, such as the "Rose Farm House Restaurant," where you can taste local Yago ingredients, and the "Rose Farm Market," which offers a selection of original items.

Comments Local Guide
The entire Property is stylish and fashionable, as it underwent a major renovation with the involvement of Aoyama Flower Market. The view of the roses blooming all at once in spring and autumn is particularly spectacular.
Ibaraki Flower Park
  • URLhttps://www.flowerpark.or.jp/
  • 住所200 Shimoaoyagi, Ishioka City, Ibaraki PrefectureMAP
  • アクセスAbout 30 minutes by car from Tsukuba Station on the Tsukuba Express
  • バスアクセスFrom JR Ishioka Station, take the Kantetsu Green Bus Flower Park Line for about 30 minutes, get off at the Flower Park stop and walk for a short distance
  • 営業時間9:00-17:00 (varies depending on the season)
  • 定休日Tuesdays (or the following day if the Tuesday is a public holiday), December 31st, January 1st
  • 入場料Admission fee: 900 yen for adults (1,200 yen during rose season), 300 yen for elementary and junior high school students (400 yen during rose season), free for preschoolers
  • TEL0299-42-4111
  • 駐車場free
  • メモPets are allowed. 200 yen per pet.

An Experience agricultural theme park where you can learn and play in nature

Enjoy the view from above in the Elm Treehouse in the farm area
Enjoy the view from above in the Elm Treehouse in the farm area

This is an amusement Property for agriculture and food located in Namegata City, one of Japan's leading sweet potato producing areas. The vast site, which is the size of eight Tokyo Domes, is home to a fruit farm and potato fields, where you can enjoy seasonal harvesting Experience (advance reservations required), such as digging sweet potatoes, picking strawberries, and harvesting lotus roots in the mud. The "tractor tour," which takes you around the farm on a cart pulled by a tractor, is also popular. In the rice paddies on the site, rice field art designed by Tatsuya Ishii of "Kome Kome Club" is also being cultivated (as of November 2021, it has not yet been decided whether rice field art will be implemented in 2022).

Rediscover the charm of sweet potatoes through museum and factory tours

In Exhibition Room 3, Experience "Fart Percussion," where the sounds of a mannequin's farts play a musical scale.
In Exhibition Room 3, Experience "Fart Percussion," where the sounds of a mannequin's farts play a musical scale.

The Shop & Museum Area, which contains the Yakiimo Factory Museum, a sweet potato factory that can be visited, is housed in a closed elementary school. On the first floor, there is a Farmer's Market with sweet potato desserts delivered directly from the factory, and a cafe popular for its sweet potato gelato. The museum's exhibition room is full of fun ways to learn about potatoes. As you progress through the museum, answer quizzes written in the student handbook that you are given beforehand, such as "Why don't sweet potato farts smell?", you will have the chance to try baked sweet potatoes and university sweet potatoes.

Comments Local Guide
At the sweet potato factory, there are plenty of things to Experience and do, such as Experience the extreme cold in a -30°C freezer and seeing a 19m-long tunnel oven made specifically for making sweet potatoes.
Lapoppo Namegata Farmers Village
  • URLhttps://www.namegata-fv.jp
  • 住所1561 Uzaki, Namegata City, Ibaraki Prefecture MAP
  • アクセスApproximately 55 minutes by car from JR Tsuchiura Station
  • 営業時間10:00-18:00 (last admission at Yakiimo Factory Museum is 15:30)
  • 定休日Monday to Friday (open on public holidays)
  • 入場料Admission is free (Yakiimo Factory Museum: 900 yen for adults, 700 yen for junior high school students and under, free for children 3 and under)
  • TEL0299-87-1130
  • 駐車場free
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