Tsukuba Mountain

by Wakana

Tsukuba mountain is one of the symbols of Ibaraki.

It is located at Tsukuba city. Contrast between Mt. Fuji and Mt. Tsukuba, they are called “West of Fuji, East of Tsukuba”.

This mountain is the lowest mountain among 100 famous mountains in Japan with an elevation of 877 meters. Because of the low elevation, you should avoid climbing this mountain during the summer. I recommend the view of the new leaves during spring, they come into blossom in the beginning of summer and put on autumn colors in fall.

Cable cars and ropeway are connected to the top, so we can also reach the top easily.

At the shrine mountain peak, both Mt. Nantaisan and Mt. Nyotaisan built the main shrine to worship the man and woman god.

In the “Manyoshu” which is the oldest Japanese poetry collection, there are 25 works about Mt. Tsukuba. In ancient times, war broke out many times around Mt. Tsukuba, but thanks to Tokugawa’s family, it became peaceful.

Later, Gama’s oil peddler spread the name of Tsukuba.

I’m going to introduce courses for climbing. There are several courses.

1. Miyukigahara course

Distance: 2km  

Difference in elevation: 610m  

The required time: up line 90 minutes/ down line 70 minutes

This course is aim to Mt. Nantaisan from Tsukuba Mountain shrine.

You can see uppermost stream of Minano river and you might meet with precious scene. This course is relatively steep with extreme difference in elevation.

 

2. Mukaeba course

Distance: 1.6km

Difference in elevation: 190m

The required time: up line 40 minutes/ down line 35 minutes

This course is links to Sakaeba from Tsutsuji hill.

You can go top of Mt. Nyotaisan and also you can go down to Tsukuba shrine. This course is relatively laborless course with little rocky stretch.

 

3. Shirakumobashi course

Distance: 2.8km

Difference in elevation: 610m

The required time: up line 110minutes/ down line 95 minutes

This course is toward top of Mt. Nyotaisan.

You can see big stone and strangely shaped rock. You can enjoy abundant nature and something fully of appeal for Mt. Tsukuba.

 

4. Otathuishi course

Distance: 1km

Difference in elevation: 200m

The required time: up line 40minutes/ down line 35 minutes

This course is links to Benkeityaya site fro]m Thuthuzi hill. This is short course.

If you changeover the Shirakumobashi course, you can toward top of Mt. Nyotaisan. In case you take ropeway oneway, you should use this corse.

 

Mt. Tsukuba is the lowest mountain among 100 famous mountains in Japan, but nobody knows what will happen to in nature. So you should cover all the bases.

Forest Adventure in Tsukuba

By Saki N.

 

ARUTASU Company began Forest Adventure as an outdoor park in 1997. It was successful that the idea was so successful that it was abroad, and now similar courses can be found all over the world. Pacific network, in partnership with Altus, constructs these treetop courses throughout Japan.

 

There are three courses. First is the CANOPY COURSE. It is the easy course at Forest Adventure. Anyone over 110cm　tall can have fun. Second is the DISCOVERY COURSE. It is not as easy as the Adventure course on. This course kids and adults can do the whole course together. Last is the ADVENTURE COURSE. It is most dynamic and challenging level available. So, this course is recommended for adults.

 

Top features   The best thing about Forest Adventure is that it uses the natural forest. It is unlike the construction of a typical amusement park, it does not have a large impact on the environment, and the damage is minimal. So there is no other park like this one.

 

I will talk about information.　Business hours are from 9:00-16:00 in November to February, from 9:00-18:00 in July and August, 9:00-17:00 The last reception is closes 2 hours before closing.(Advance reservation is required.) Next is Price. Adventure course: Adult (18 years old and over) 3,600 yen, Child (17 years or younger) 2,600 yen. Next is weigh for entry. Healthy people who are in elementary school, fourth grade or above or 140 cm　and weight up to 130 kg. Last is how to go to there. Car: Joban Expressway Tsuchiura Kita IC → Route 125 no. →20 km to the western side / Tsukuba mountain area.

Train: Tsukuba Express (Tsukuba Station) get off Tsukuba Shuttle Bus (Tsukuba Shrine entrance) and go about 5 minutes on foot.

What is the appeal of Mito?

by Kinuka

Many people ask me, “What is the appeal of Mito?” And many people think that there is not the appeal in Mito, and Ibaraki is selected most unattractive prefecture. I want to change this thinking, so I chose this topic.

I will introduce about Mito. Mito is the biggest city in Ibaraki. Mito has a population of about 270,000. Specialties in Mito is natto. And many people don’t know much, Mito is an area famous for anglerfish. Most famous person in Mito is Mitokoumon, which is a nickname about Tokugama Mitukuni. He is a president in Edo period.

First, a famous place in Mito is Kairakuen. This is made by Tokugawa Mitukuni, who has been loved many people for a long time. This is known as second biggest city park in the world. And this is famous for Ume tree. Incidentally, biggest city park is Central Park in New York. You can go there by bus from Mito station. It is open from 6 AM to 7 PM in February 20^th to November 30^th. In October 1 to February 19^th, it is open from 7 AM to 6 PM. The best season from February to March. The cost is free, but you must pay some money to make a tour of Koubuntei, which is an old house made in the Edo Period. You can see old Japanese house and lifestyle at Koubuntei, which is used as location to enjoy the ceremony. For example, in November the Hagi Festival which is for the Hagi flower will be held there every year. Hagi is a kind of flower. You can enjoy seeing it and drinking mattya. Also you can see projection mapping at night. You can enjoy seeing it and drinking mattya, and you can see projection mapping at night. You can enjoy seeing the flowers and drinking mattya during the day and watching projection mapping at night.

Next, I will introduce food in Mito. Most famous food is Natto. But this time, I chose Ume. Most famous food used Ume is Umeboshi. But there are other delicious sweets called Mito no Ume. The cost is about 500 yen.It is so delicious, so if you don’t like Umeboshi, you can eat this. You can buy Mito no Ume in Kairakuen so you can eat this seeing it while looking at ume.

There are many appeals of Mito, but I can’t tell you all things about there. So please by all means come to Mito, and please find the appeal of Mito by yourself.

 

Let’s Ride the Sushi-go-round

by Minami O.

Hamazushi is a popular Japanese sushi restaurant chain. Hamazushi is the place where it is easy for people from abroad to savor sushi. Hamazushi sells delicious and reasonably priced sushi. So, people can enjoy eating the various tastes and fish.

Sushi is eaten with soy sauce to remove the fishy smell. Hamazushi has five kinds of soy sauce, and you can choose your favorite type! Certainly, you can have a fresh and delicious variety of sushi and you can have many side dishes, like noodles, cakes and many drinks. I recommend shrimp with avocado and salmon.

Moreover, Hamazushi offers new menus once a month. You can enjoy seasonal foods and limited-time foods. And you can also buy sushi to go. There are many sushi sets and you can order sushi as you like. I recommend that you order early because it may take a long time to get sushi.

The cost is very reasonable. It means you can eat sushi for 90 yen on weekdays. It opens from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and this restaurant is open all year round. There are many Hamazushi restaurants everywhere in Japan! So, you can eat Japanese food anytime and anywhere.

If you go there, you order sushi by using a monitor. And then, you must pick up your ordered sushi from the conveyor belt.

It is located in Hitachi Kanesawa town along Japan National Route 6. And it takes about thirty minutes by foot from Omika station. Sushi is the most popular Japanese food, so Hamazushi is a very good place to eat sushi or something Japanese.

Get Super Powers around Hitachi

by Airi M.

Do you know the spot in Hitachi where you can get super powers? It is Oiwa shrine! Below are pictures of one of the buildings and a Torii gate. We can get special powers that last for a long time; this shrine is the most powerful spot in Japan. One rumor tells that when an astronaut went into space, she saw a shining place on Earth. She searched for the shining place later, and the place was Oiwa Shrine.

Oiwa shrine is home to 108 Gods, so it is large. Praying to all Gods takes 2 hours. Gods are from many sects. For example, Kunitokotachinomikoto, one of the sons of the first two Gods of Japan, also has a home there. We can also hike there. If we hike around the shrine and up the mountain, we can stay there for three or four hours.

Next is a trio of big famous Japanese cedars from about 500 years ago, and the cedars are 50 meters tall. The trio was chosen as one of “The 100 Forest Giants of Japan.” If we stand in front of the cedars, where the sun creates a rainbow, we can get giant powers and bask in the rainbow sun.

The shrine has some events. The first event is Saitansai, which is held on January 1st every year across Japan. Usually almost all Japanese go to the shrine to pray on January 1st. This shrine is especially popular in Japan, and many people come to Oiwa shrine on that day. The second event is called Kaikousai, which is only held at Oiwa shrine, on the third weekends of April and October every year. We protect our ancestors and Gods if we pray here during this event.

I recommend Oiwa shrine. You should go there if you come to Hitachi city. Get special powers from Oiwa Shrine! To go to the shrine by train, get off at Hitachi station and take the bus for Higashi Kochi. The bus stop is at the 1 sign. Get off the bus at Oiwa shrine. It takes 35 minutes by bus from Hitachi station. The bus fare is 500 yen one way and 1000 yen round trip. Admission is free. The shrine is near; we can go there easily. Visit Oiwa Shrine’s Homepage at http://www.oiwajinja.jp/.

 

 

 

 

The Café On The Sea

by Natsuki S.

Do you know a stylish café in Hitachi? I would like to introduce“SEA BIRDS CAFÉ”. I chose this café because it has a lot of charm.

Direction

This café is located in Hitachi station and it takes about 10 minutes from Omika station by train. It costs about 200 yen. The price of food is reasonable for us. Most of its prices are about 800 yen, so they are easy to order for us. Because of its popular location, lunchtime is often absolutely packed.

 

 

History

Hitachi station was renovated in 2011. This café was designed by Kazuyo Sejima, who is a famous architect in 2012. It won an award. For these reasons, this café became popular.

Fascination

The store has a fancy interior. We can eat lunch with one eye on the sea. It is a great view, so window seats are always booked. If we sit on a window seat, we will need to call for reservation. When I visited this café, I could not sit on a window seat.

 

 

I think the most popular food is “Pancakes”. It tastes nice and looks great. Almost everyone takes photos and then posts them on the Internet. This is a regular source of amusement for them.

 

Through the internet, other people see and they become interested in this café. I want you to visit to this café. I think you can eat delicious food and relax. If you go to this café on a sunny day, you will take in the wonderful view. And you will probably want to go there again.

 

 

Izura Rokkakudo

by Wakana Y.

Izura Rokkakudo is a hexagonal structure designed by Okakura Tenshin. Okakura Tenshin was the art world’s leader in the Meiji period. Izura Rokkakudo is next to art museum, so we can see his great art product.

This structure is one of the registered monument.

It is located in Kitaibaraki city from 36minutes from Omika by train.

Please get off at Othuko station, and take a taxi about 5 minutes.

It is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and closed Monday.

The admission to enter the area is 300 yen.

In 1905, Rokkakudo built by Tenshin. There structure which stick out Pacific Ocean and built on the rock. He called it “Kanrantei”. He was listening the sound of waves while indulge in idle reverie.

In 2011, this structure was broken by tsunami “Higasinihon Daishinsai”, and become a symbolic of cultural heritage disaster. But the structure was rebuilt in 2012.

I went to Rokkakudo when I was elementary school trip. At that time, I was very young, so I only feel nice view. After I went to again, I understood what kind of influence for art world’s.

I recommend season is summer. Because Rokkakudo is very close to the coast, so if you feeling a nice sea breeze and watching it, you can relax.

This structure is famous of Kitaibaraki city. I live in Kitaibaraki city, so I wanted to introduce this structure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Wonderful Zoo in Hitachi

by Mao A.

The Kamine Zoo was opened in 1957 and the zoo has its 60^th anniversary in this year. And the zoo’s motto is “A zoo which we can enjoy and learn”.

The zoo has about 100 species and 580 animals. For example, elephants, lions, tigers, capybaras, hippos, rabbits, and so on.

You can put a snake on your shoulders. We can feed elephants, monkeys and goats. We can enjoy contact with guinea pigs and giant rabbits. Those experiences and contacts are popular. A baby capybara was born last month. There is a standing raccoon.

There is a café that name is ‘Elephant café’. The café’s recommend menu is a ‘Kamine burger’. Other dishes are pizza, French fries, pastas, grilled curry and rice and so on. In there, there are some souvenirs, too.

There are keychains, puppets, snacks, toys and so on as souvenirs. The most famous souvenir is “a Gorilla Booger”. It looks like gorilla’s boogers. The name is amazing, but it’s sweetened adzuki beans. I think we need courage to buy it.

In June, there is free admission for only 2 days. And a panel exhibition is held to commemorate the 60^th anniversary.

And, in August every year, this zoo holds “Zoo at night”. The closing time is extended to 9:00 p.m. and the zoo attendants feed frozen fruit and so on the chimpanzees.

The zoo is opened at 9 a.m. and closed at 5 p.m. in March to October. If we go around the zoo, it takes maybe 3 to 5 hours.

Kamine Zoo is located in Hitachi City. It takes about 10 minutes from Hitachi station by bus.

The admission fee of adults is 510 yen and children is 100 yen. But the people who are over 65 years old can enter free.

 

TSUCHIURA FIREWORKS FESTIVAL

by Haruka

The top three fireworks festivals are in Akita City, Akita; Nagaoka City, Niigata; and Tsuchiura City, Ibaraki. Tsuchiura City is located in the south of Ibaraki on the east side there has Kasumigaura lake. About 20,000 fireworks are launched in the sky every year. We can enjoy the spectacular view.

They started in 1925. Mr. Biho Akimoto, a Buddhist priest of the Jinryuji temple in Tsuchiura started the first competition using his own money.

On the river side, there are row of stalls called demise. At the festival we can enjoy eating foods. For example, there are octopus dumplings, yakisoba, candy apple, potatoes with butter. Other than food, there is superball scooping, shooting game, goldfish scooping.

700,000 to 800,000 people came Tsuchiura Fireworks Festival last year. I learned these tips from last year. Go fast as soon as possible. Train and the road will busy. There is also car parking too.

 ・Access:  Train  Tsuchiura station.

         　Car   From Tokyo get off Sakura Tsuchiura IC and go on route 6.

                From Mito get off Tsuchiura IC and go on route 6.

・Date/Time　The First Saturday of　October　18:00~20:30

・Place:    At Sakuragawa riverside (Gakuen- ohashi

Big Dragon Suspension Bridge

 

By Takashi

Many tourists visit the Big Dragon Suspension Bridge during all four seasons. Its height is 100 meters. Its span is 446 meters. The entrance fee is 310 yen. I’ve been there just once when I was an elementary school student. There are windows under your feet, and you can see the water. I think it is thrilling to see under your feet.

Several events are held there each season. For example, in the spring, we can see many flying carps on and around the bridge. There are about 1,000 flying carps. Also, in the summer, there is a Garden Lantern Festival. There are 500 plastic lanterns and 100 bamboo lanterns around the bridge.

We can have fun there because you can do something interesting. For instance, you can eat soba near the bridge. The soba is called Hitachi-Akisoba, which means fall soba. It was made in 1978 by many farmers. Soba is usually judged by three elements: taste, aroma, and sweetness. It excels over the others in these elements. Then, Hitachi-Akisoba is highly evaluated by soba cooks. Furthermore, if you pay over 1,000 yen, you can eat Hitachi-Akisoba with traditional Japanese foods; such as grilled fish, tempura, and dishes used local vegetables.

A lot of people are interested in the bungee jumping off of the Big Dragon Suspension Bridge. Its height is about 100 meters. When you are near the water’s surface, you will feel closer than 100 meters and become excited. The cost to jump changes depending on how many times you jump. First time, the fee is 15,000 yen. Second time, the fee is 7,000 yen, that is more than a 50 percent discount. People who don’t have disease (for example, epilepsy or heart disease) can try to do bungee jumping. Until now, nobody has had an accident, so it is safe. People who experienced the bungee jumping say “this is the thrill beyond my imagination.”

Big Dragon Suspension Bridge has many kinds of attractions. You can see festival, eat Hitachi-Akisoba, and go bungee jumping. You can have fun because there are many interesting things around the bridge. If you don’t go there, you will have extreme regret.