Ibaraki Overview

For most of its history, Ibaraki Prefecture (formerly known as Hitachi Province) was a comparatively sleepy rural quarter of the country. In recent years, Ibaraki has become known as both a treasure house of traditional culture, home to countless shrines and temples, castle ruins and well-preserved gardens, as well as a center of high-tech industry: the prefecture birthed well-known firms like Hitachi and is now home to Tsukuba’s Science City, tech headquarters and universities. As the Tokyo megalopolis stretches down the coast, absorbing more and more of Ibaraki’s southern reaches, the prefecture has provided an exurban refuge for Tokyo residents willing to make the commute, and convenient transit links make its cities and towns attractive day-trip destinations.

Tsukuba is perhaps the city with which Tokyoites are most familiar, especially since the inauguration of the mighty Tsukuba Express in 2005 which cuts travel time from Akihabara to Tsukuba to just under an hour. Tsukuba is sometimes known as Japan's Silicon Valley, and although that’s something of an understatement, it gives a picture of a well-developed and well-planned community with a surprisingly international character. Sites like the Tsukuba Space Center and Tsukuba Expo Center’s science center and planetarium are a good way to appreciate cutting-edge Tsukuba. Many also make the trip out to the city to hike Mount Tsukuba—although the hike is easy compared to other local routes, the Mount Tsukuba Cable Car (a funicular railway, despite the name) also takes visitors up the mountain.

Mito, the prefectural capital, has a distinctly different vibe—still a modern Japanese city but home to many historical and culture destinations, ranging from the one of Japan’s finest old gardens at Kairakuen, Tokiwa Shrine, the ruins of Mito Castle, and Tokugawa Museum to the stunning Art Tower Mito and Ibaraki’s Museum of Modern Art. Mito also provides a convenient jumping-off point to other areas in the prefecture, as it sits on three JR East lines (Joban, Mito and Suigun Lines) and other local railways.

Venturing out from Tsukuba or Mito, there are countless destinations to suit any taste or interest: beaches like Mizuki Beach around Hitachi City, the sacred mountain anchored by Oiwa Shrine, the lakeside town of Tsuchiura, the preserved buildings and cutting edge architecture at Makabe, or Oarai’s Isosaki Shrine with its oceanfront tori gate.

Ibaraki is a microcosm of modern Japan: looking into the future but still reverential of its past.

Hitachi

Ibaraki Pref

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Tsukuba

Ibaraki Pref

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Tsukuba Expo Center

4.0

104 Reviews

Ibaraki Pref. Tsukubashi Aduma 2-9

0298581100

9:50-17:00(Last entry16:30)

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Mt. Tsukuba

Ibaraki Pref. Tsukubashi Tsukuba

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Tsukubasan Cable Car

4.0

28 Reviews

Ibaraki Pref. Tsukubashi Tsukuba 1

0298660611

9:20-16:40(depending on the …

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偕楽園

茨城県水戸市見川1丁目1251

0292216570

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Giretsukan

Ibaraki Mito-shi Tokiwacho 1-3-1

0292210748

[Weekday] 9:30-15:30 (Hours …

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水戸城址

茨城県水戸市三の丸

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The Tokugawa Museum

Ibaraki Pref. Mitoshi Migawa 1-1215-1

10:00-17:00(Last entry16:00)

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