After the three surrounding prefectures of Chiba, Kanagawa and Saitama, the next closest one to Tokyo is Ibaraki and at just 45 minutes away by train from Tokyo, it’s main city Tsukuba is actually much closer than many people think. This list contains both famous and some alternative “sights” you may not have heard of. The prefecture possesses a few of Japan’s biggest things. Here, in no particular order, are the TF Top 10……Ibaraki sights.

1. Ushiku Daibutsu – The world’s third tallest statue has no religious or historical meaning but was simply built to be in the Guinness Book of Records. It’s an impressive sight at 120 metres tall (including its 10 metre base). More details here

2. Hitachi Seaside Park – Splendid hillside of kochia shrubs which turn a dazzling crimson colour in the Autumn. More details here

3. Mount Tsukuba – Well known for its double peaks rising nearly 900 metres above sea level this mountain is referred to as the “Purple Peak of Kanto” because of its colour change from dawn to dusk. More details here

4. Kairakuen – Plum blossom precedes the more famous cherry ones and one of the best places to view it is at this place in Mito which is one of Japan’s three most celebrated landscape gardens. More details here

5. Kashima Soccer Stadium – A bit of a hassle to get to but a rewarding one nevertheless. It has its own train station (Kashima Soccer Stadium), sleek architecture and a statue of Brazilian and former Antlers legend Zico outside. More details here

6. Wan Wan Land – An amusement park of sorts dedicated to man’s best friend with dog runs, a performance stage and pens full of different sized dogs to play with. Please be warned that you may feel more sad than happy after seeing the conditions which the dogs are kept in. More details here

7. Tsukuba Expo Center – Japan’s science city hosted the Expo 1985 world’s fair and this spacious museum contains staff outfits, merchandise and cutting-edge electrical products (walkmans, camcorders, games consoles, cameras, home computers etc) of that time! More details here

8. Kurefushi-no-Sato Tumulus Park – The 17.3 metres tall construction is known as Haniwa (terracotta clay figure) or Hanimaru Tower. It was built almost 20 years ago and is the landmark of the park. More details here

9. Hitachi Fudoki no Oka – The 10 metre-tall concrete shishi statue is Japan’s largest lion-dog and it is the centre-piece of these open-air grounds as it looks over a children’s recreational area! Maybe that’s to intimidate the kids and scare them in to behaving better! More details here

10. Houdai-in Temple – The statue at this quiet temple is supposed to be one of the largest of its kind in Japan. It’s about 10 metres tall and the pedestal is three metres. The temple grounds are full of beautiful flowers in season and there is also a sizeable standing buddha statue too. More details here

Bonus: Located at the foot of a mountain is Anko Anji Jizō-san; Japan’s largest jizō statue This particular one appears to be a female which is quite rare as jizō usually takes the male form. It was built in 1984 and has a unique face which is almost comical in appearance!  More details here

Click here to read ‘Tokyo Daytripper: Top 10 Saitama Sights’ 

Click here to read ‘Tokyo Daytripper: Top 10 Kanagawa Sights’ 

Click here to read ‘Tokyo Daytripper: Top 10 Chiba Sights’