Ibaraki

  • Kairakuen Garden in Mito City is one of Japan's Three Great Gardens, along with Kanazawa's Kenrokuen and Okayama's Korakuen.
  • Miharashi Hill at Hitachi Seaside Park changes color seasonally with Nemophila and Kochia, popular as Instagram-worthy spot.
  • Lake Kasumigaura has Japan's second-largest lake surface area after Lake Biwa, active with smelt fishing and yacht racing.
  • Plum, rose, skylark, and flounder are cherished as prefectural flower, tree, bird, and fish, with the prefectural emblem designed based on plum blossoms.
  • Mito natto's strong stickiness inspired the birth of local character 'Neba~ru-kun' representing 'stickiness.'
  • Kashima Shrine enshrines Takemikazuchi-no-Okami, the god of martial arts, attracting many athlete visits as a victory power spot.
  • Ibaraki Airport shares facilities with JASDF Hyakuri Air Base, with the unique style of walking from parking to runway.
  • 'Hitachi Autumn Soba' is an aromatic brand buckwheat, with new soba festivals held throughout the prefecture in November.
  • Prefectural residential lot sizes rank first nationwide, featuring spacious living environments.
  • JAXA Tsukuba Space Center displays a full-scale H-II rocket for viewing, with space food available for purchase.
  • Rock in Japan Festival is held in Hitachinaka City in summer, Japan's largest-scale outdoor music festival.
  • Tsukuba Express runs at maximum 130 km/h, reaching Tsukuba from central Tokyo in fastest 45 minutes.
  • 'Dried sweet potato' accounts for about 90% of national share, preserving traditional natural drying methods using winter dry winds.
  • Okukunji chicken is high-protein, low-fat, with excellent oyakodon and mizutaki.
  • Ibaraki dialect used by prefectural residents adds 'dappe' or 'be' to sentence endings, said to convey warmth when heard.