Visit

Kairakuen Garden

Kairakuen Garden is ranked among Japan’s top three most beautiful gardens, alongside Kenrokuen in Kanazawa and Korakuen in Okayama. The garden was established in 1842 by Nariaki Tokugawa, the ninth feudal lord of the Mito Domain. It has since served as a place of relaxation and recreation for the public.
Kairakuen is famous for its Plum Blossom Festival (Ume Matsuri) held from late February to early March. It is home to around 3,000 plum trees from 100 different varieties. Cherry blossoms and azalea in the spring and Japanese bush clovers in autumn keep Kairakuen looking beautiful year-round.

Kasama Inari Art Museum

This museum is the place to learn about the rich history of Japanese pottery.

Located on the grounds of Kasama Inari Shrine, the museum displays six styles of ancient pottery in the permanent exhibition.

Their collection consists of works from the Heian, Kamakura, and Muromachi periods, spanning over 1,000 years old. Elaborate hanging scrolls and folding screens with drawings depicting scenes of Japanese landscapes and seasonal motifs are also displayed in special exhibitions.

Visitors can gain valuable knowledge about the history and development of Japanese ceramics at this museum.

Hoshiimo Shrine / Horide Shrine

Horide Shrine and Hoshiimo Shrine are on a hill with a beautiful view of Ajigaura Beach. The name Horide comes from "horidasu," or the Japanese verb for "to dig out." In 1663, locals unearthed armor, spears, and katana swords in the surrounding area and built a small shrine to enshrine these items. Several years later, an ancient mirror was dedicated to the shrine by Tokugawa Mitsukuni, a historical figure who governed over the local Mito Domain (a domain encompassing modern-day central and northern Ibaraki). It soon became the shrine's object of worship. The shrine is called "Horide" because both the first items found here and the mirror were dug up. Hachiman, the deity of academics and warding against evil spirits, is worshipped here.

In 2019, Hoshiimo Shrine was newly built on the grounds of Horide Shrine. Ibaraki Prefecture ranks the highest in production volume for hoshi-imo (dried sweet potatoes) in Japan. Moreover, Hitachinaka, where the shrine is located, is th…