For this cycling day trip we went from Mito Station to Hitachi Seaside Park in Hitachinaka. Along the way we would stop off at Costco to get an early lunch and do some light shopping. Since Hitachi Seaside Park and Costco don’t open till 9:30 am and 10:00 am respectively, we were able to sleep in a little more than usual. We got up around 8:30 and were out the door by 9:00. Having learned from our previous trial run, its best to take a path with the fewest amount of turns (even if the distance was a little further). We headed out of Mito and eventually got on Route 351 heading northeast. We made a left on a street going through the Katsuta Japan Ground Self Defense Force Base and took that all the way to Showa Dori.

Katsuta Station

We checked out the east side of Katsuta Station and found a cute café that we’d like to try in the future. We also came across this small sculpture. It probably represents the annual Rock in Japan music festival that was held at Hitachi Seaside Park. The station was pretty busy with a lot of sightseers. That weekend and the weekend before were the optimal times to view the kochia at Hitachi Seaside Park. They changed from a green to a scarlet red color around Mid-October.

Katsuta station was the closest train station to the park. There was a separate pop up tent where you could purchase a bus ticket. The bus would take you directly to the entrance of the park. We headed off down Showa-dori for about 15 minutes before we hit Costco on our right. A long stretch of Showa-dori had a separate enclosed bike lane which gave us piece of mind and allowed us to increase our pace.

Costco

We got to Costco around 10:30 am and stopped by for an early lunch. We got a bulgogi bake, clam chowder, and there seasonal pear smoothie. The bulgogi bake is my go to for its mix of both sweet bulgogi and savory cheese bread. We tried the clam chowder and it didn’t disappoint. It had good flavor and was perfect for such a cold and windy day. Despite the weather, the seasonal pear smoothie was refreshing. Inside Costco we spotted this amazing deal and pulled the trigger. We used these back in the US and paid around $40 per box. Not sure where we’re going to put them yet, but we’ll probably try and hang them around our room. The biggest challenge was fitting it in my hiking backpack (haha, it barely fit).

Hitachi Seaside Park

We took the short two minute bike ride to Hitachi Seaside Park. The entrance to the park was packed with tourists. Separate tents were out to increase the amount of ticket counters. The whole process was quite orderly and the staff seemed calm and prepared to handle such a large crowd. We had heard that you could bike around the park with your own bikes, so we thought this would be the perfect opportunity to try. After entering the park, we were ushered to the left where we followed a number of signs to a bicycle rental terminal.

The cycle course starts just beyond the bicycle rental terminal. The great thing about the cycling course was that cars and pedestrians are prohibited from using it. The course is very extensive and any part of the park can be accessed from the bicycle trails. There are numerous bicycle parking areas where you can temporarily park your bicycle and look around.

Miharashi Hill

Our first stop was the main attraction at Miharashi Hill. The hill was covered with kochia (summer cypress) which were a vibrant scarlet red color. Kochia are an annual plant that are native to the dry lands of Eurasia. The kochia are green from July to September. In early October they begin to change into a beautiful red color. By mid October they are a vibrant scarlet color before becoming a golden color in late October. The hill has several one way zig zag paths that put us right in the middle of the field. From the top we began to appreciate just how many there were, and the amount of time and effort it must have taken to plant each one. We were told by a staff member that over 32,000 kochia are planted annually.

Interspersed within the kochia fields were Cosmos flowers fields (a relative of the sunflower). The Cosmos flower fields had a nice mix of white, lavender, and magenta plants. We were told by a staff member that a staggering 2 million Cosmos flower plants were planted on and around Miharashi Hill.

After viewing the kochia we got on our bikes and wrapped around the backside of Miharashi Hill, which was covered in a beautiful tall grass. It was pretty windy that day and watching the grass blow in the wind was quite calming. A little further down the path was the Sawada Spring Water Nature House which had a small display highlighting local wildlife and the surrounding area.

We began to make our way to the other side of the park towards the Glass House Café. Along the way we saw some beautiful fields of Orange Cosmos. We also climbed to the top of the Aroma Lookout which had modest views of the immediate area.

Glass House Café

The Glass House Café had beautiful ocean views that could be seen from the floor to ceiling windows. The café had several different levels that gave all the tables a good view of the large reflection pool and ocean. A lot of natural light and light wooden tables and benches made the area really bright. We got some kyoho (grape) ice cream, the Ibaraki Strawberry Matcha Latte, and some Nemophlia blue tea bags.

The kyoho (grape) ice cream was really good. It had a nice tart flavor. The Ibaraki Strawberry Matcha Latte was nothing but a huge disappointment. I’ve had the strawberry Matcha milk tea from Boba Guy’s in Los Angeles, so my expectations were pretty high. The drink ended up having an overpowering milky flavor with a hint of green tea and a scarce, almost non-existent trace of strawberry flavor. There were traces of strawberry seeds, but the strawberry flavor was nowhere to be found. We felt that this drink had so much potential, but was a big disappointment and at ¥550 it was quite pricey. We will try the Nemophlia blue tea and report back on it.

After looking around a little more, we decided to call it a day. We did make a short pit stop at the Mont Bell shop to pick up a membership card, a helmet cover, and a rinko bag (a bag to put your bike in when riding the train in Japan). Amy also picked up a new backpack at the local Sports Depot. After, we headed back towards Mito and called it a day.

Final Thoughts

From a bicycle sightseeing perspective this park was an absolute dream. There was something really satisfying and relaxing about being able to cycle down a path and not have to worry about cars or pedestrians. Being able to hop on your bike, ride around a little, get off, see something, then get back on and repeat was our ideal scenario. On top of that, the park was so big and there was so much to explore. We would put Hitachi Seaside Park on par with the Shimanami Kaido cycling route in regards to how catering they were to cyclists.

In the future, when friends and family come and visit us, cycling through Hitachi Seaside Park will be a must do thing in Ibaraki Prefecture.

The park has flowers throughout the year. Here is the link for the Flower Guide.

Budget: (Does not include food/souvenirs)

• Entrance Fee to Hitachi Seaside Park ¥700/person (seasonal pricing)
• Total: ¥700/person

More to come…