Japan City Guides: Ibaraki

Ibaraki　茨城

Kashima Jingu.

150km north east of Tokyo.
diverse mix of agriculture, high-tech R&D, and industry.
Mito City: the administrative capital.
Tsukuba university: famous for robotics.
60km-long beach: popular hangout for surfers from Tokyo, and includes gay beach.
Kairaku-en - one of Japan's top gardens and famous for its plum blossom.

Things to see and do in Ibaraki

Art Tower Mito | Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum | Kasama Nichido Museum of Art
Kairaku-en Park | Surfing | Ohtake gay beach

Art Tower Mito (ATM) - a spectacular, super modern cultural complex built in Mito City in 1999. Crowned with a spiraling, 100 meter high titanium tower, it includes an art gallery, a church-like Entrance Hall with a massive pipe organ, an acoustically fine-tuned Concert Hall for classical music performances, the ACM Theater, a Contemporary Art Gallery, a Conference Hall, "Centerpoint" Museum Shop, restaurant "Vert et Blancher (11:30am-3pm - last order 2.30pm; 5-10pm - last order 9pm)", and a coffee lounge.
Performance and exhibition schedule
Google Map

Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum - a large modern museum opened in 2000, showcasing both traditional crafts and avant-garde creative arts. Set in the beautiful, sprawling Kasama Geijutsu-no-mori ("Art Forest") Park.
Gallery 1: Great Masters of Modern and Contemporary Japanese Ceramic Art
Gallery 2: Ceramic Art in Ibaraki
2345 Kasama, Kasama-shi, Ibaraki-ken
9:30am-5pm (admission until 4:30pm)
Closed Mondays and New Year (If Monday falls on a national holiday, the museum is open that day, but closed on the following day.)
Google Map

Kasama Nichido Museum of Art - a large art gallery opened in 1972 by the prominent local Hasegawa family. Notable for its Impressionists and Ecole de Paris painters, and for its collection of artist palette paintings.
978-4 Kasama, Kasama-shi, Ibaraki-ken
9:30am-5pm (admission until 4:30pm)
Closed Mondays and New Year (If Monday falls on a national holiday, the museum is open that day, but closed on the following day.)
Accessible from JR Tomobe station using the free Kasama City Tour Bus.
Google Map

Kairaku-en Park near Mito for plum blossom in February-March; hiking on Mount Tsukuba

Kashima Jingu, an ancient Shinto shrine near the center of Kashima.

Kashima Stadium - home of the Kashima Antlers.
From Tokyo: take the Japan Rail (JR) Sobu Line rapid train from Tokyo to Kashima-jingu Station (approx. 2hrs 15mins).
From Narita Airport: JR Narita Line to Sawara Station and change to the Kashima Line for Kashima-jingu Station. From Kashima Jingu Station take Oarai-Kashima Line (operated by Rinkai Tetsudo Railway) to Kashima Soccer Stadium Station, then a 5-minute walk.

Surfing beaches: From Kita-Ibaraki all the way down the coast - about 130km - to Choshi, the west-facing coast of Ibaraki is a surfer's paradise, easily accessible from Tokyo.

The coast offers variety, with waves all year round at the northern end, and reef breaks in certain places. Best overall is Oarai with its strong breaks. Kyochigama is recommended for its long, shallow beach breaks. The beach near the Hirai district of Kashima City is recommended for beginners. The stretch of beach just a little north of Kashima Soccer Stadium is recommended for those with a certain degree of experience.

Gay beach: at Ohtake, in Hokota City.
Google Map


Tsukuba city's manholes show the space and science background of this garden city in northern Japan	The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba


Gokoku Shrine and the Tokugawa Museum, Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture

Ibaraki Access - Getting To Ibaraki Prefecture

Train

Japan Rail (JR) Sobu Line rapid train from Tokyo to Kashima-jingu Station (approx. 2hrs 15mins). From Narita Airport take the JR Narita Line to Sawara Station and change to the Kashima Line for Kashima-jingu Station.