Local Guide
5 recommended sightseeing spots in Ibaraki Prefecture to stay overnight in Tsuchiura

The area around Tsuchiura City, located in the southern part of Ibaraki Prefecture, is dotted with many hole-in-the-wall spots known only to those in the know. From spots where you can enjoy the unique tastes of Ibaraki Prefecture to Experience-type Facilities that make the most of the abundant nature, there are many Properties where you can relax and forget about everyday life. Here are five spots that the locals really want to keep secret.

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

A total of 11 stores, including fresh fish stores, processed seafood stores, and restaurants, line the streets
A total of 11 stores, including fresh fish stores, processed seafood stores, and restaurants, line the streets

About an hour drive from Tsuchiura City. Nakaminato, located in the southeastern part of Hitachinaka City in Ibaraki Prefecture, is home to the Nakaminato Fishing Port, where a lot of seafood is landed every day. Adjacent to the fishing port is the Nakaminato Fish Market. The market offers a wide variety of seasonal seafood, including local fish caught in Nakaminato and its suburbs, and is a great place to shop and enjoy a meal in a casual atmosphere. The Nakaminato fishing port is crowded with many locals and tourists throughout the day, as boats return from fishing in the morning and auctions are held in the morning, so the market is full of fresh seafood around noon.

Enjoy a bowl of seafood rice topped with a hearty portion of seasonal ingredients

Naka Minato Kaisenmaru's
Naka Minato Kaisenmaru's "Full of local fish! A specialty! Aburi-Don" for 2,178 yen. Tuna, sea urchin, and salmon roe are standard items, while white fish changes seasonally.

The fish market has seven restaurants that serve sushi and seafood bowls using seasonal seafood. Among them, we recommend "Nakaminato Kaisenmaru's" "Full of local fish! A specialty! Aburi-don" at Nakaminato Kaisenmaru. It is a gorgeous bowl of rice topped with as many as 13 ingredients including local fish that cover the rice. White fish such as sea bream is seared to give it a delicate fatty taste. The dish is also served with a thick tai dashi broth, so that you can choose your favorite seafood on top to make a sesame chazuke (rice with sesame seeds). Other restaurants also boast a variety of menu items, so take a stroll around the site and find your favorite restaurant.

Local Guide Comment
The market is a representative of the Kanto region and attracts many Guest/customers from outside the prefecture. Dried local fish can be purchased from a single piece, and there is also a wide variety of delicacies to snack on, making it a perfect place to look for souvenirs.
Nakaminato Osakana Ichiba (Nakaminato Fish Market)
  • Address 19-8 Minato Honmachi, Hitachinaka City, Ibaraki Prefecture MAP
  • Direction 10 minutes walk from Nakaminato Station on the Hitachinaka Seaside Railway Line.
  • Business hours Varies depending on the store.
  • Closed Varies depending on the store
  • Admission Fee Admission free
  • TEL Varies depending on the store.
  • Parking Pay parking (approx. 600 cars) *100 yen for up to 4 hours

A long-established sake brewery at the foot of Mt.

The attached store has a lineup of limited-quantity sake that is rarely sold in the market. Tasting available
The attached store has a lineup of limited-quantity sake that is rarely sold in the market. Tasting available

Since its establishment in 1867 (Keio 3), Ibaraki Prefecture's leading sake brewer has consistently insisted on handcrafting its sake. Junmai sake, brewed with spring water from Mt. Tsukuba that gushes out on the premises and sake rice that is mainly locally grown, has won high acclaim at the National New Sake Competition every year. The brewery has a store and café inside the brewery, which was renovated from the brewing room built when the brewery was founded. The store sells a wide variety of sake, including "Minanogawa," named after the clear stream flowing from Mt. Tsukuba, and "Sutera," characterized by its delicate and refined taste, as well as sweet sake and sake kasu.

Take a break at a café in an atmospheric space

Sake brewery's special amazake (non-alcoholic): 390 yen, Sake brewery's special sakekasu milk gelato: 450 yen
Sake brewery's special amazake (non-alcoholic): 390 yen, Sake brewery's special sakekasu milk gelato: 450 yen

In the back of the store is the "Sake Brewery Café" with tables made from the sake tanks used during the sake unrefining process. Visitors can enjoy drinks such as coffee brewed with sake brewing water and sweets. As of 2021, Inaba Sake Brewery is run by the sixth generation of the brewery's founder, a female toji (master brewer), a rarity in Japan. As of 2021, the sixth-generation head brewer runs the Inaba Brewery, and is one of the few female toji (master brewers) in Japan. If you make a reservation in advance, you can take a guided tour of the brewery, where the brewery owner herself will explain the sake brewing process.

Local Guide Comment
The sake selection features the taste of the sixth-generation brewery owner, who has been protecting the sake brewery that has been passed down from generation to generation. Sutera, which means "star" in Latin, is fruity and delicious.
Inaba Sake Brewery
  • Address 1485 Numata, Tsukuba City, Ibaraki Prefecture MAP
  • Direction Approximately 40 minutes from JR Tsuchiura Station by car
  • Direction From Tsukuba Express Tsukuba Station, take Tsukuba Bus Hokubu Shuttle Tsukuba-Tsuchiura Line (approx. 60 min.); 11 min. walk from the last stop.
  • Business hours 9:00-18:00 *Sake brewery café is open from 10:00-17:00
  • Closed Wednesday
  • Admission Fee Free of charge
  • TEL 029-866-0020
  • Parking Free of charge (3 cars)

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

More than 30 golden torii gates stand in a row. Pass through the torii gates and pay your respects in front of the god.
More than 30 golden torii gates stand in a row. Pass through the torii gates and pay your respects in front of the god.

Ibaraki Prefecture boasts the largest production 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 shrine's torii (gateway) is a striking golden color, reminiscent of the color of dried sweet potatoes. The shrine enshrines as "Hoshi-imo no Kami" (God of Hoshi-imo) five people who spread dried sweet potato in the area and conducted research: Rishichi Miyazaki, Toshichi Yuasa, Kichihei Koike, Kumataro Owada, and Matsukichi Shirado. It is said that if you visit the shrine, you will be blessed with "hoshii mono (everything you want).

Dried sweet potatoes, a local specialty, as a souvenir

Hoshi-imo
Hoshi-imo" (sweet potatoes) made from locally grown "Beniharuka" sweet potatoes: 700 yen each

The shrine is located on the grounds of the "Horiide Shrine," which was built in 1663. It is a shrine with a long history, and is said to have been excavated by Mitsukuni Tokugawa, the second lord of the Hitachi-Mito Domain, who unearthed a mirror to serve as the deity of the shrine, so visiting the shrine together may increase your blessings. At the shrine office, in addition to good luck charms, ema (votive picture tablet), and red seals, locally produced dried sweet potatoes are available. In addition, there is a very rare vending machine for dried sweet potatoes at the rest area on the premises. The locals also find it very useful to be able to buy dried sweet potatoes anytime they want.

Local Guide Comment
This is the first shrine in 2025, built as part of an effort to promote the production of dried sweet potatoes, a specialty of Ibaraki Prefecture. The golden torii gate makes a big impact and makes you want to take pictures.
Hoshi-imo Shrine
  • Address 172-2 Ajigaura-cho, Hitachinaka-shi, Ibaraki MAP
  • Direction 2 min. walk from Ajigaura Stn. on the Hitachinaka Kaihin Railway Minato Line.
  • Business hours Free in the precincts
  • Closed Free in the precincts
  • Admission Fee Free of charge
  • TEL 029-265-9533
  • Parking Free of charge

Renewal and reopening of the Property to be enjoyed by all five senses

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

Flower Park, which opened in 1985, will be powered up in April 2021. Tsukuba, the park has been reborn as an Experience-type Property where visitors can enjoy not only seeing but also smelling, tasting, touching, and listening to the flowers in each of the 9 areas. The park is home to 9,000 roses, the prefectural flower of Ibaraki Prefecture, including 17 new varieties that are being introduced for the first time in the world. Visitors can fully enjoy the flowers and nature of the four seasons, centering on these precious roses. The annual rose season is from mid-May to late June and from October to mid-November.

Experience Activities that let you feel the season and the charm of the region

Botanical postcard making
Botanical postcard making" where you can freely choose seasonal flowers and plants to make your own original card (550 yen)

More than 100 different Activities and Experiences are offered throughout the year to bring the bounty of nature and the enthusiasm of the local people closer to you. Many of them require advance reservations, but "making botanical postcards" and "making botanical aroma mist" can be completed in about 10 minutes, so they are easy to enjoy. Other attractions include the "Rose Farm House Restaurant," where you can taste local foods from Yatsugo, and the "Rose Farm Market," which offers a variety of original items.

Local Guide Comment
The entire Property is stylish and fashionable, having undergone a major renovation with the involvement of the Aoyama Flower Market. The view in spring and fall, when all the roses are in full bloom, is especially beautiful.
Ibaraki Flower Park
  • Address 200 Shimoaoyanagi, Ishioka-shi, Ibaraki MAP
  • Direction Approx. 30 min. by car from Tsukuba Station on the Tsukuba Express
  • Direction Approx. 30 min. from JR Ishioka Stn. on the Sekitetsu Green Bus Flower Park Line, a short walk from the Flower Park-mae stop.
  • Business hours 9:00-17:00 (varies according to season)
  • Closed Tuesdays (or the following day if Tuesday is a national holiday), December 31, January 1
  • Admission fee Admission: Adults 900 yen (1,200 yen during rose season), Elementary/junior high school students 300 yen (400 yen during rose season), preschool children free
  • TEL 0299-42-4111
  • Parking Free of charge
  • Memo Pets are allowed; 200 yen per pet.

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

Enjoy the view from the elm tree house in the farm area
Enjoy the view from the elm tree house in the farm area

This is an agricultural and culinary amusement Property located in Namegata City, one of Japan's leading sweet potato production areas. Visitors can enjoy seasonal harvest experiences (advance reservations required) such as sweet potato digging, strawberry picking, and picking lotus root in the mud. The "tractor tour," in which visitors ride around the farm on a cart pulled by a tractor, is also popular. In the paddy fields on the grounds, rice field art designed by Tatsuya Ishii of "Yomei Club" is also being cultivated (the implementation of rice field art in FY2022 has not yet been determined as of November 2021).

Rediscover the charm of sweet potatoes with a museum and factory tour

Experience
Experience "fart percussion," in which mannequins' fart sounds play a musical scale, in Exhibition Hall 3

The "Shop&Museum area," where the "Yakimo Factory Museum," a baked sweet potato factory that can be visited, is located, is housed in a closed elementary school, and on the first floor there is a "farmer's market" with sweet potato sweets directly from the factory and a cafe popular for its sweet potato gelato. The museum's exhibition halls are filled with fun ways to learn about sweet potatoes. Visitors are given a "student handbook" in advance, in which they answer quiz questions such as "Why does a baked sweet potato fart not smell bad? and other questions written in the "Student Handbook" given to you in advance, you will be given a chance to try yaki-imo and takaimo (college sweet potatoes).

Local Guide Comment
At the Yaki-imo Factory, visitors can experience the extreme cold in the -30°C freezer and visit the 19-meter long tunnel oven for yaki-imo.
La Poppo Namegata Farmers Village
  • Address 1561 Uzaki, Nagata City, Ibaraki Prefecture MAP
  • Direction Approx. 55 min. by car from JR Tsuchiura Station
  • Business hours 10:00-18:00 (last admission at Yakimo Factory Museum is 15:30)
  • Closed Monday-Friday (open on national holidays)
  • Admission Fee Free admission (Admission to the Yakimo Factory Museum is 900 yen for adults, 700 yen for children under junior high school age, and free for children under 3 years old)
  • TEL 0299-87-1130
  • Parking Free of charge
The information in this article is current as of the date of the update. Please check before visiting as they are subject to change.