[Hitachi Seaside Park Travel Guide] Stunning Colorful Views and So Much to Do!

Hours vary by season, so please keep that in mind.
The park is closed every Tuesday, December 31–January 1, and from the first Monday through Friday in February.

Some facilities require an additional fee beyond admission.

In spring (April–May) and fall (October), an additional seasonal fee of 350 yen applies.
During these periods, the total cost is the admission fee plus the seasonal fee.

The “Miharashi Area” features the highest hill in Hitachinaka City and a countryside landscape.
Take in the flowers blooming across the hillside and feel the season.
The combination of field flowers like rapeseed and Chinese milk vetch with traditional old houses is also soothing.
In the old houses used in the Edo period, you can sense what life was like back then.

Located on the west side of the park, this area features maintained forests and spring-fed wetlands.
It’s a satoyama landscape with rows of pine trees and naturally growing moss.
It’s also home to creatures such as Oze damselflies and hotokedojo loaches, so be sure to look for them.
There are facilities where you can learn about plant and animal habitats, and on weekends from April–November, the “Sawada Spring Water Area Guided Tour” is held.

The “Grassland Area” features an Approx. 8-hectare lawn, BBQ areas, the Great Grassland Flower Garden, a disc golf course, and athletic playground equipment.
From late May you can enjoy poppies and linaria, and from mid-September, yellow cosmos. In October, red, white, and pink cosmos bloom.
It’s also a great photo spot where you can shoot with the giant Ferris wheel in the background.

The “Sand Dune Area” includes sand dunes overlooking Ajigaura Beach, walking paths where you can observe coastal plants, and five gardens.
There’s also a facility with materials on plants and animals, so you can look up anything that catches your interest.
There’s also a pottery experience facility, so give it a try if you’re interested.
At the glass-walled cafe, you can enjoy Ibaraki-only drinks and sweets like “Ibaraki Fruit Japanese Black Tea,” “Sashima Japanese Pu-erh Tea,” and “Okukuji Egg Chiffon Cake,” all while gazing out at the Pacific.

The “West Gate Area” has walking paths planted with bulb plants and perennials, a cafe dappled with sunlight through the trees, and an outdoor stage that can hold 10,000 people.
Here, try limited-quantity “cold brew coffee,” “Hitachi Oimo TO soft serve,” and the “maze-maze shake” topped with fruit sauce made from Ibaraki produce.
You can also rent tandem bikes and electric-assist bicycles.
There’s also Nishi Pond with a cycling course, plus a trampoline for kids and a history gallery you can stop by.

The “South Gate Area” connects the “Sand Dune Area” and the “Pleasure Garden Area.”
The Fountain Plaza, the metasequoia-lined avenue, and the small hill where you can observe seasonal flowers are wonderful.
In spring you can see himezu i and fire bellflowers, in summer roses, and in fall Mexican bush sage. There’s also a cycle center, so rent a bike and head out on a route that passes through the woods.

The “Pleasure Garden Area” is an active, amusement-park-style zone.
In addition to the Ferris wheel and carousel, various attractions are scattered throughout.
There are also rides like the “Balloon Race” and “Ashibura Rumba Tower” that even toddlers can enjoy with a parent or guardian.
Food options like a crepe specialty shop and fast-food restaurants are also gathered here, so you can grab a bite when you need a break.

“Miharashi Hill” is where you can enjoy flowers throughout the seasons.
The breathtaking view of nemophila spreading across the entire hill is so famous it’s practically synonymous with Hitachi Seaside Park.
Starting with nemophila in April, the flowers on “Miharashi Hill” shift to kochia and cosmos.
It varies by season, but the sight of seasonal blooms covering the whole hill is not to be missed.

In April, the “Egg Forest Flower Garden” is filled with Approx. 250,000 tulips and daffodils across around 200 varieties.
There are also nine egg-themed playground structures and a windmill, creating a fairytale-like scene.
When people think of Hitachi Seaside Park’s best scenic spots, “Miharashi Hill” is the famous one—but don’t miss the breathtaking views at the “Egg Forest Flower Garden,” either.

If the “Egg Forest Flower Garden” is the spring scenic spot, then the “Fountain Plaza Flower Garden” is the summer one.
In early summer you can see cornflowers and calendula, and in peak summer, sunflowers.
The flowers planted change by year, so the flower-field scenery isn’t always the same every year.
It’s a summer scenic spot where you can take great, social-media-worthy photos.

The “Woodland Athletic Playground” is located south of the BBQ area.
It features 15 types of athletic play equipment, including “Crossing the Dinosaur’s Back” and “Tarzan Fortress.”
It’s designed for lower elementary school grades, but it’s likely fun regardless of age.
A perfect spot for anyone who wants to play hard with their kids.

“Hitachinaka Nature Forest” offers a satoyama landscape often seen as classic Japanese countryside scenery.
Stroll through the woods centered on Japanese red pine and Japanese black pine, and around ponds where kingfishers and waterbirds visit, and you’ll be able to observe a wide variety of plants and animals.
The near-threatened “Oo-umegasasou” grows here naturally, so you can also see rare plants.

The spring highlight is, of course, the nemophila flower fields.
There are Approx. 5.3 million flowers.
The pale blue “carpet” stretching as far as the eye can see leaves visitors feeling happy.
It’s a view you won’t find elsewhere, so it’s well worth a visit.

Lavender and zinnias in peak season are a must-see, and you also can’t miss the vivid green kochia.
There are also many summer-only hands-on events, like bamboo-copter making and haniwa making.
Create summer memories with seasonal scenery and summer-only experience events.

In fall, the leaves turn on Approx. 33,000 kochia plants.
After sunset, the red kochia is illuminated, and stage shows are held where you can enjoy music and dance.
There are also events where you can try local foods from food trucks, including “niku-maki onigiri,” “thick-cut beef tongue,” “Ibaraki dog,” and “salt-grilled ayu.”

Winter-only events are also packed in, including giant zodiac ground art, New Year’s events at traditional old houses, and taiko drums and lion dances.
It’s also a delight that events are held where you can feel Japanese traditional culture.
Don’t miss winter-blooming flowers like wintersweet, fukujusou, ice tulips, and plum blossoms.

Ushiku Daibutsu is a giant statue of Amida Nyorai completed in Heisei 4 (1992), and its official name is Ushiku Amida Daibutsu.
At 120 m tall (including a 20 m base), it is the world’s tallest bronze Buddha statue, registered in Guinness World Records.
Shinran Shonin (1173–1262), the founder of Jodo Shinshu, used Hitachi Province (present-day Ibaraki) as his base while spreading his teachings across the Kanto region.
Since Ibaraki is associated with Shinran Shonin, the Great Buddha was built here by Jodo Shinshu Higashi Honganji-ha, Head Temple Higashi Honganji.
Its overwhelming scale includes a total weight of 4,000 tons, a left palm of 18 m, a face length of 20 m, eyes 2.5 m long, a mouth 4 m long, a nose height of 1.2 m, ears 10 m long, and an index finger 7 m long.

Created by Tokugawa Nariaki, the ninth lord of the historic Mito Domain.
Along with Kenrokuen in Kanazawa and Korakuen in Okayama, it’s counted among Japan’s Three Great Gardens.
The grounds cover Approx. 13 hectares and are full of sights throughout.
What you’ll see ahead after entering from the east gate is Kobuntei, a wooden building with two stories and three levels.
Built as Lord Nariaki’s villa, its simple yet refined appearance—made up of two structures with shingle and thatched roofs—has an elegant charm.
Seni-dai, lined with stone boards for Go and Shogi and table stones, sits at the southern end of a hill, offering wonderful natural scenery below, including Lake Senba.

Hitachi Station is the central station in Hitachi City, on the JR East Joban Line, facing the Pacific Ocean.
Completed in 2011, the current station building is striking for its beautiful, all-glass design.
The design was supervised by Hitachi City–born architect Kazuyo Sejima, a recipient of the “Pritzker Prize,” often called the Nobel Prize of architecture.
It won the Good Design Award in 2012, and in 2014 received an excellence award in the “Brunel Awards,” an international design competition specializing in railway-related design.