12 Culture Kairakuen Garden in Spring Susan Tumanon Kairakuen garden was built by Nariaki Tokugawa, the 9th lord of Mito. The name Kairaku means to share pleasures with people.
Culture Fukuda Kilns Elysse Hurtado Fukuda Kiln is one of Kasama’s many intrepid solo kilns, currently run by the 12th generation of the family and covering a sp...
Culture Hitachi Seaside Park in October Yu Nakao A perfect day outside Tokyo at Hitachi Seaside Park, a seaside park with gardens and an amusement park. It is a great place t...
Culture Mito's Plum Blossom Festival 2026 Elysse Hurtado Every year during the second last week of February, Mito’s Kairakuen plays host to the Mito Plum Festival. Thanks to its long...
Culture Ibaraki: Top Things to Do Tom Roseveare Our top ten outlines the best sightseeing spots and things to do around Ibaraki prefecture, including nature discoveries and ...
Culture Holy Connections Elysse Hurtado Hitachi's Izumo Shrine boasts of some of the biggest Shinto shrine attributes in Japan and innovative new practices that coul...
Culture Visiting the Ushiku Daibutsu (Great Buddha) Biankah Bailey The Ushiku Daibutsu is one of the tallest statues in Japan that many people have never heard about.
Culture Visiting Ushiku Daibutsu Peter Sidell An hour north-east of Tokyo, the Ushiku Daibutsu is a towering statue of the Amida Buddha. A full hundred and twenty meters t...
Culture Mito's Kobuntei Elysse Hurtado Finally reopened after several long months of reconstruction, Mito’s historically rich Kobuntei could be considered the jewel...
Culture Kairakuen Garden The Kairakuen was built relatively recently, in 1841, by the local prince Tokugawa Nariaki. In contrast to the two other grea...
