2025 Edition: Here's where to enjoy Ibaraki in winter! Editor's Recommendation [8 Sightseeing Spots in Ibaraki].

  • Ibaraki
  • Sightseeing
Ibaraki Flower Park "Moonlight Rose Garden 2025
The following are the recommended sightseeing spots in Ibaraki in winter, carefully selected by our editorial department! We have compiled a list of winter fun spots, including winter-only illuminations, local gourmet foods, and indoor warming experiences. Why don't you go to Ibaraki this winter?

Ishioka City: "Moonlight Rose Garden 2025," a fantastic illumination event

The annual illumination is now underway at Ibaraki Flower Park, where stars twinkle in the winter night sky. In the large park area where roses still remain, this illumination features rainbow-colored bonfires and starry sky swings, and you can feel the warmth of the light unified in champagne gold. The park is filled with dried flowers, activities using nature, and participatory light displays that will be enjoyed by adults and children alike. Please rest your mind by the flickering bonfires and lanterns and spend a night connecting with the light with your loved ones.
The park is enveloped in soft light.

Moonlight Rose Garden 2025 Event Overview

Outline of the event ●
October 11, 2025 (Sat) ～ January 26, 2026 (Mon)
Lighting time・・・・17:00
Closed・・・・Tuesdays, year-end and New Year holidays (open on December 30 (Tue)), 7 (Wed), 14 (Wed), 21 (Wed), 28 (Wed)~30 (Fri)
Part 1 Flower Illuminate ・・・2025 Saturday, October 11 ~ Monday, December 1, 2025
Part 2 Winter Illuminate ・・・ Wednesday, December 3, 2025 ~ Monday, January 26, 2026

●Opening hours during the event ●
① Until Sunday, November 30, 2025
9:00 ~ 20:30 (last admission 20:00)
② Monday, December 1, 2025 ~ January 26, 2026 (Monday)
12:00 - 20:30 (last admission 20:00)

●Entrance fees during the event ●
Adults ￥1,200 - ￥1,800
Children (elementary and junior high school) ￥400 - ￥600
Preschool children free
Pets ￥200
Roses are in full bloom in the park *Please check the official website for blooming times, etc.
Moonlight Rose Garden 2025 official website

Mito City: "Umeshu and Sake Museum Besshunkan" for enjoying Umeshu (plum wine)

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 an ume (plum) brewery. At "Umeshu and Sake Museum Besshunkan," sake tasting is free of charge! One of the must-try items is "Hyakunen Umeshu," which won the top prize in Japan at the 2008 National Umeshu Competition (Osaka Tenma Tenjin 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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Umeshu and Sake Museum Besshunkan official website

Kasama City: Easy Ceramic Art Experience "Kasama Kogei no Oka" (Kasama Craft Hill)

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-pulling experience.

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About the pottery experience at "Kasama Kogei no Oka"

Kasumigaura City: "Kuradashi Yaki-imo Kakatta," a cafe specializing in aged yaki-imo

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, so you can enjoy a variety of sweet potato foods at home.
The signature menu item at "Kuradashi Yaki-imo Kayagatte": "Yaki-imo Boat

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Kuradashi Yaki-Iomo-Kaichi official website

Oarai Town: 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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Mentai Park Oarai official website

Mito City: "Ibaraki Jizake Bar," a casual station drinking bar in Mito Station

Ibaraki Jizake Bar is a standing drinking stand located at JR Mito Station. It was set up to convey the appeal of Ibaraki Prefecture's local sake to many people in and outside of Ibaraki Prefecture, and on November 1, 2022, it reopened next to the Ticket Office at Mito Station, selling local sake and Kasama-yaki sake containers in addition to sake tastings! Try the new "eki-nozomi," including the "Ibaraki Local Sake Server," which allows you to enjoy one cup of sake for only 300 yen, and the "Local Sake Drink Comparison and Otsumami Set," which includes three types of your favorite local sake and three snacks that change daily!

Exterior view of Ibaraki Jizake Bar

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Kitaibaraki City: "Anko" cuisine, a winter delicacy of Ibaraki, at Toshimaya Tsukihama no Yu

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! The ryokan recommended for those who want to try anglerfish dishes on their winter trip to Ibaraki is Toshimaya Tsukihama no Yu in Isohara Onsen located in the northern part of Ibaraki Prefecture, and from Wednesday, October 1, 2025 to Tuesday, March 31, 2026, a half board plan is available for those who want to enjoy anglerfish dishes.
Anko (sea anglerfish) cuisine
Toshimaya Tsukihama no Yu official website

Hitachinaka City: "Hoshi-imo Shrine" with Japan's largest production of "hoshi-imo" and golden torii gate

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 hoshi-imo production. 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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Hoshi-imo Shrine official website

Let's go to Ibaraki this winter!

What did you think? From illumination to gourmet food and easy pottery making, Ibaraki is full of attractions in winter as well! These are the recommended sightseeing spots in Ibaraki in winter, carefully selected by our editors. We hope you will visit Ibaraki this winter.
The contents and services in this article are subject to change.
All images are for reference only.

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