Ibaraki Prefectural Gov’t Touts Tourist Spots with Flowers Blooming in Spring, Unveils New Facility for Visitors

The Ibaraki Prefectural Government has wrapped up tourist attractions -- especially for visitors from abroad -- featuring flowers blooming in spring, and unveiled a new tourist facility that has just opened in the prefecture this spring. As the best season for viewing cherry blossoms and nemophila flowers sets in from April through May, the facility, a new hotel for cyclists, opened in March.

Photos: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/release/202003278538?p=images

Tourist attractions:

“Ushiku Daibutsu (Great Buddha)” and “shibazakura (pink moss)” featuring a beautiful world of the big statue overlooking a carpet of colorful shibazakura.

The garden with “Ushiku Daibutsu” (120 meters tall), the world’s biggest standing bronze statue, is a spot famous for flowers, and visitors can enjoy viewing flowers for all four seasons such as sakura cherry blossoms, hydrangeas and cosmos. Every year in April, shibazakura bloom brilliantly, creating a beautiful landscape together with the Great Buddha.

- Best season for viewing: from early April through mid-April (in average year)

- Location: Ushiku Daibutsu, Ushiku City, Ibaraki Prefecture

- Inquiry: Ushiku Daibutsu (2083 Kunocho, Ushiku City, Ibaraki Prefecture)

- Website: https://daibutu.net/ (in Japanese)

“Shidare-zakura (weeping cherry trees) on Hitachi Fudoki no Oka,” forming a tunnel of weeping cherry blossoms that create a breathtaking beauty.

Hitachi Fudoki no Oka, equipped with Japan’s largest lion mask-shaped observatory, is a popular spot for cherry blossoms. There are about 500 cherry trees in the park, and visitors can enjoy viewing “Somei Yoshino” cherry trees (the most common type of cherry blossom known for its pale pink flowers), shidare-zakura and botan-zakura (double cherry blossoms) for about one month from early April. Notably, the combination of shidare-zakura and botan-zakura in mid-April makes the landscape even more colorful.

- Best season for viewing: around mid-April (in average year)

- Location: Hitachi Fudoki no Oka, Ishioka City, Ibaraki Prefecture

- Inquiry: Hitachi Fudoki no Oka (1646 Someya, Ishioka City, Ibaraki Prefecture)

- Website: http://business2.plala.or.jp/fudoki/index.html (in Japanese)

“Nemophila flowers on Hitachi Seaside Park (in Hitachinaka City), offering spectacular blue scenery of nemophila flowers filling up the hill.

About 5.3 million nemophilas bloom in the 4.2-hecter field of the “Miharashi no Oka (vantage hill)” in the park. The facility has received enthusiastic reviews from visitors not only from elsewhere in Japan but also from abroad. Usually, the best season lasts about two weeks. Everyone is welcomed to visit there and enjoy the magnificent blue scenery created by nemophilas. Next, the best season for viewing kochia balls (summer cypress) begins in mid-July.

- Best season for viewing: from mid-April through early May (in average year)

- Location: Hitachi Seaside Park, Hitachinaka City, Ibaraki Prefecture

- Inquiry: Hitachi Seaside Park (605-4 Onuma-aza, Mawatari, Hitachinaka City, Ibaraki Prefecture

- Website: https://hitachikaihin.jp/ct.html (in traditional Chinese)

“Hoshino Resort BEB5 Tsuchiura”: The hotel perfect for bicycle riders opened in Tsuchiura City, Ibaraki Prefecture, on March 19, 2020

“Hoshino Resort BEB5 Tsuchiura,” catering to cyclists, opened in the building of Tsuchiura Station on the JR Joban Line (in Tsuchiura City, Ibaraki Prefecture) on March 19. Visitors can check in and check out the hotel together with their bikes, and there are guest rooms into which cyclists can bring their bikes with them. The hotel, therefore, is designed to help cyclists enjoy their trips to the fullest. “Tsukuba Kasumigaura Ring Ring Road”, which is directly connected to the hotel, was just designated last autumn as a “National Cycle Route,” one of the leading cycling roads in Japan. The 180-km flat cycling road has a wide variety of courses so that everyone from beginners to experienced cyclists can enjoy. Anyone can visit there even empty-handed as an excellent bike rental service is also available. In the station building, moreover, there is a bike maintenance facility and the like, providing an amazing environment for cycling. Visitors can enjoy cycling as much as they want in Ibaraki, only one hour away from Tokyo.

- Facility name: Hoshino Resort BEB5 Tsuchiura (Tsuchiura City, Ibaraki Prefecture)

- Opened: March 19 (Thursday), 2020

- Website: https://hoshinoresorts.com/zh_tw/hotels/beb5tsuchiura/ (in traditional Chinese)

Regular flights between Taipei (Taoyuan) and Ibaraki are in operation:

Ibaraki Airport, 80 km from central Tokyo, handles Tigerair Taiwan’s regular flights between Taipei (Taoyuan) and Ibaraki, making it possible for people to reach Ibaraki on a direct flight from Taipei. Prospective travelers are encouraged to use Ibaraki Airport to visit the northern Kanto region (Ibaraki, Tochigi and Gunma prefectures) that is filled with charms such as nature and hot springs even though it is so close to the Tokyo metropolis.

- Flight information

2 round trips every week (Thursdays and Sundays)

Oct. 27, 2019-March 28, 2020

Taipei to Ibaraki

09:50     14:00

Ibaraki to Taipei

15:00      18:05 (Thursday)

15:00      17:55 (Sunday)

*As departure and arrival time may change, please confirm through the airline company’s website and other sources.

Proposals to travel from Ibaraki Airport

Proposal 1: “Kairaku-en” -- one of the three greatest gardens in Japan and a famous spot for plum blossoms

Kairaku-en, one of Japan’s three greatest gardens, is known as a famous spot for plum trees. Some 3,000 plum trees of about 100 varieties bloom during the “Mito Plum Blossom Festival” held from Feb. 15 through March 29.

Proposal 2: Visit Tochigi Prefecture and Gunma Prefecture

Ibaraki Airport provides the best access to Tochigi Prefecture -- Japan’s top producer of strawberries -- and Gunma Prefecture famous for its Kusatsu Onsen (Kusatsu Hot Spring) resort.

Reservations can be made through Tigerair Taiwan’s official website:

https://www.tigerairtw.com/zh-tw/ (in traditional Chinese)

Tourist information on Ibaraki Prefecture is available on the Ibaraki tourism website:

https://tc.ibarakiguide.jp/ (in traditional Chinese)

Useful travel tips at Ibaraki Airport

- Lowest car rental rates: from 1,000 yen a day

For someone who stays at an accommodation facility in Ibaraki Prefecture for at least one night, the car rental rate for the first 24 hours is 1,000 yen.

A special campaign is currently underway to offer the rate of 7,000 yen for the first 72 hours.

http://www.ibaraki-airport.net/zz/news/rent-a-car-plus2019.html (in traditional Chinese)

- A direct one-way bus service to Tokyo is available (until March 31)

A direct connection bus service between Tokyo Station and Ibaraki Airport is in operation. Customers who travel to Ibaraki by plane can use the one-way bus service to Tokyo Station for 500 yen.

Also, bus services to other locations in Ibaraki Prefecture are available:

http://www.ibaraki-airport.net/zz/access/bus/html (in traditional Chinese)

Ibaraki Airport’s official website:

http://www.ibaraki-airport.net/zz/index4.html (in traditional Chinese)

Basic data on Ibaraki Prefecture and access information

- Population: 2.871 million

- Total land area: 6,097 square meters

- Prefectural capital: Mito City

- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/%E8%8C%A8%E5%9F%8E%E8%A7%80%E5%85%89-323890404428705/ (in traditional Chinese)

- Website: http://tc.ibarakiguide.jp/ (in traditional Chinese)

- Introduction video: https://tc.ibarakiguide.jp/about/videos.html (in traditional Chinese)

Travel plans using public transportation (bound for Mito Station):

- From Tokyo Station: about 75 minutes by JR Joban Line limited express; about 120 minutes by expressway bus

- From Narita Airport: about 120 minutes by expressway bus

- From Ibaraki Airport: about 40 minutes by expressway bus

Travel plans using cars (to Mito city center):

- From Tokyo Metropolitan area: about 90 minutes on Joban Expressway (E6)

- From Narita Airport: about 90 minutes on Shin-Kuko Expressway (E65), Higashi-Kanto Expressway (E51), Metropolitan Intercity Expressway (C4) and Joban Expressway (E6)

- From Ibaraki Airport: about 40 minutes on Higashi-Kanto Expressway (E51) and Kita-Kanto Expressway (E50)