Kanto · Day Tour
One of the tallest statues on earth, an hour from Tokyo, and hardly anyone goes.
From
¥30,000 per person
approx. US$190
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before
Instant confirmation
A private Ibaraki tour with a local guide. The Ushiku Daibutsu, one of the tallest statues in the world, Hitachi Seaside Park and its seasonal flowers, Kairakuen — counted among Japan's three great gardens — and the Nakaminato fish market. Close to Tokyo and almost entirely overlooked.
The Ushiku Daibutsu stands 120 metres including its base, which makes it one of the tallest statues in the world and several times the height of the Great Buddha at Nara. There is a lift inside, and windows at the chest give you the plain below. Standing at its feet is the point; the scale does not photograph.
Hitachi Seaside Park is planted on a former airfield by the sea and given over to mass single-species plantings. In spring around four and a half million blue nemophila cover an entire hill; in autumn the same ground is red with kochia. It is engineered for effect and it works completely.
Built in 1842 by the lord of Mito, and unusual in that it was opened to the public from the start rather than kept private — the name means garden to enjoy together. It holds around three thousand plum trees, which flower from February, and a bamboo grove and cedar woods behind them.
Nakaminato's market sells off the Pacific boats, and the town has the sea in front of it and a river behind. Mito, the prefectural seat, was the domain of another Tokugawa branch house, and its historical school and its natto — a matter of genuine local pride — are both part of the day if you want them.
Meet your guide at the Starbucks in Mito Excel.
One of Japan's three great gardens.
Whatever is in flower that month.
The fish market on the coast.
The statue, and the lift inside it.
Starbucks Coffee at Mito Excel, Miyamachi, Mito, Ibaraki. Your guide will contact you on WhatsApp beforehand to agree the plan.
The price covers your private English-speaking guide. Entry fees, transport and meals are paid as you go, and by convention you also cover your guide's. Bring cash.
Yes. Mito is around an hour and a quarter from Tokyo by limited express, and Ushiku is closer still.
Blue nemophila from mid-April into May, red kochia in October. Tulips, roses and cosmos fill much of the rest of the year.
Not comfortably. They are spread across the prefecture. Tell us which matter most and your guide will build the day around two or three.
Late February and March, when the plum trees flower. The garden holds around three thousand of them.
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start time. Bookings are confirmed instantly.
Kanto · Day Tour
5 hours · From ¥30,000
