This is the best place to enjoy Ibaraki in winter! Editor's Recommendations [Sightseeing Spots in Ibaraki] 2024 Edition

  • Ibaraki
Ibaraki Flower Park "Moonlight Rose Garden 2024
The editorial department has carefully selected the best spots for sightseeing in Ibaraki in winter! We have compiled a list of winter-only illuminations, local delicacies, warm indoor experiences, and other winter fun. Why don't you go to Ibaraki in winter?

Moonlight Rose Garden 2024" with fantastic lights

The annual illumination at Ibaraki Flower Park, where stars twinkle in the winter night sky, is now underway. In the large park area where roses still remain, you can feel the warm light unified in champagne gold from the rainbow-colored bonfires and starry sky swings in this illumination.

The park is filled with dried flowers, activities using nature, and participatory light displays that will be enjoyed by adults and children alike.

Please enjoy the flickering bonfires and lanterns to relax your mind and spend an evening connecting with the light with your loved ones.
Deck connected to the light

Moonlight Rose Garden 2024 Event Overview

Outline of the event ●
Saturday, October 5, 2024 - Monday, January 13, 2025
Lighting time ... 17:00
Closed ... Tuesdays, New Year's Eve (open on December 24), January 6 (Monday)

●Opening hours during the event ●
(1) Saturday, October 5, 2024 - Sunday, December 1, 2024
9:00 - 20:30 (last admission 20:00)
② Monday, December 2, 2024 - Monday, January 13, 2025
Weekdays 12:00 - 20:30 / Weekends and holidays 9:00 - 20:30 (last admission 20:00)

●Entrance fees during the event ●
Adults ￥1,200 - ￥1,500
Children (elementary and junior high school students) ￥400～￥500
Preschool children free
Pets ￥200
*Note*
Admission fees vary depending on blooming conditions
The park is enveloped in soft light.
Moonlight Rose Garden 2024 For more information, please visit

Umeshu and Sake Museum Beshunkan" (plum wine and sake museum)

Umeshu and Sake Museum Besshunkan is a recommended spot for ume (plum) sake lovers to visit.

Besshunkan is a sake brewery that has been in operation since the Edo period (1603-1868), and was renovated from a plum wine brewery. Here, tastings of plum wine are free of charge!

A must-try is the "Hyakunen Umeshu," which won Japan's top prize (Osaka Tenma Tenjin Umeshu Competition) at the 2008 National Umeshu Competition. This plum wine is made by slowly maturing the original sake brewed with domestically produced Aomi and finished with brandy and honey. It was named "Hyakunen Umeshu" and commercialized in the hope that people will love it for many years to come.
Exterior view of "Umeshu and Sake Museum Besshunkan

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Kasama Kogei no Oka" (Kasama Crafts Hill), an easy way to experience pottery making in Ibaraki

Kasama Kogei no Oka is a hands-on facility located in the Kasama Art Park, where nature and art are fused together.

There is a hands-on class where you can create your own Kasama pottery, a permanent exhibition of ceramic works, a gallery café where you can enjoy coffee and cake while viewing the ceramic works, a craft café where you can have tea and a meal, and a souvenir corner.

Why not make your own original pottery for a memorable winter experience?
Hand Crafting Experience at Ibaraki Flower Park

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Kuradashi Yaki-imo Kakatoka," a café specializing in aged yaki-imo in Ibaraki

Kuradashi Yaki-imo Kakatoka in Kasumigaura City, Ibaraki Prefecture, is a very popular directly operated store run by a company specializing in sweet potatoes established in 1975. Full of honey! The company's own brand is "Beni Tenshi," which is characterized by its stickiness and rich flavor.

In addition to yaki-imo, the café menu offers many original sweets and drinks made with yaki-imo, such as yaki-imo latte and soft-serve ice cream! There is also a store on site, so you can enjoy a variety of sweet potato foods at home.
Yaki-imo Boat, a signature menu item at "Kuradashi Yaki-imo Kayagura

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Mentai Park Oarai, a theme park specializing in mentaiko (cod roe)

Mentaiko Park Oarai is a theme park specializing in mentaiko operated by Kanefuku, a long-established mentaiko manufacturer. Visitors can tour the mentaiko factory free of charge, sample freshly made mentaiko, and buy mentaiko for sale.

At the food court, mentaiko is sold in a variety of dishes, including onigiri (rice balls) made with mentaiko and mentaiko bowls topped with a sumptuous mentaiko filling! Mentai-don," a bowl of rice topped with mentaiko, and other items for sale. Recommended for everyone from adults to children, whether with family or as a couple.
Mentai Park Oarai" factory direct sales store

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Ibaraki Jizake Bar" for casual station drinking in Mito Station

Ibaraki Jizake Bar is a standing drinking stand located at JR Mito Station. It was established to convey the appeal of Ibaraki Prefecture's local sake to as many people as possible in and outside of Ibaraki Prefecture, and reopened on November 1, 2022 next to the Ticket Office Mito Station, where in addition to sake tasting, local sake and Kasama-yaki sake ware are now available!

Try the new "station drinking" offerings such as the "Ibaraki Local Sake Server" where you can enjoy one cup of sake for only 300 yen, and the "Local Sake Drinking Comparison and Otsumami Set" which includes three different kinds of your favorite local sake and three daily specials!

Exterior view of Ibaraki Jizake Bar

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Ibaraki's winter delicacy, "ankou ryori

Anglerfish hot pot is a winter delicacy representative of Ibaraki Prefecture and is known as "the anglerfish of the East and the pufferfish of the West! Its flavor is light and full of collagen, and its meat is low in fat and calories, making it popular among women.
The anglerfish landed in Kitaibaraki is caught in the fishing grounds off the coast of Joban, and is called "kianko. Ankou are fattened up to the liver, and the fat is of high quality, making for a delicious ankou nabe!

If you want to try anglerfish dishes on your winter trip to Ibaraki! For those who want to try anglerfish dishes on their winter trip to Ibaraki, we recommend Toshimaya Tsukihama no Yu, located in Isohara Onsen in the northern part of Ibaraki Prefecture, which offers an overnight stay and two-meal plan from October 2024 to the end of March 2025.
Anko cuisine (image)/Courtesy of Toshimaya Tsukihama no Yu

Hoshi-imo Shrine" with the largest production of hoshi-imo in Japan and a golden torii (Shinto shrine)

Hoshi-imo" is a specialty of Ibaraki Prefecture. It is delicious, nutritious, and full of nature's bounty! Ibaraki Prefecture's share of the national hoshi-imo market is over 90%! The soil is suitable for growing sweet potatoes, and the climate with little rainfall and sea breezes in the winter is ideal for producing hoshi-imo.

In Hitachinaka City, which produces a particularly large amount of hoshi-imo in Ibaraki Prefecture, there is a shrine with a golden torii gate. This is the much talked-about Shingu "Hoshi-imo Shrine" built in 2028. It is said that if you visit the shrine, you will be blessed with "hoshii mono (things you want). It is truly a "hoshi-imono sanctuary.
Golden torii (gate) of "Haimo Jinja (hoshi-imo shrine)

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Let's go to Ibaraki this winter!

What did you think? Our editor's picks! These are the recommended sightseeing spots in Ibaraki in winter.
We hope you will visit Ibaraki this winter.

Let's combine your favorite train and lodging to save money!

You can make your own original trip!

The " JR East View Dynamic Rail Package " is a variable-price individual travel product sold exclusively through the Internet that allows you to freely select a train and accommodations and make a reservation at once. Depending on the timing and conditions of your reservation, you may be able to save even on the day of departure at the earliest! We also offer one-day trip plans! Please enjoy your own trip according to your schedule and purpose.

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For train + accommodation reservations in Ibaraki area, please visit [ JR East View Dynamic Rail Package ]
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