We heard about this small festival from an Instagram advertisement. We decided to check it out the Ibaraki Urban Green Festival in Mito.

The festival was located in the open area near Shojo Bairin (猩々梅林) & Tazuruma Bairin (田鶴鳴梅林) which were just south of Kairakuen Garden. We were able to park for free at the Kairakuen Sakurayama #1 parking lot (偕楽園 桜山第１駐車場). It was a short three minute walk to the festival.

The festival was pretty small with a sparse amount of booths featuring a number of different organizations. Each of the organizations had a small give away. For one we answered a short survey on our phone about Ibaraki related green tourism. After completing the survey we were able to make a pin and received a Nemophlia note pad.

Another booth was for the ETC (toll roads). They had a short quiz that outlined their future projects in the area. These included increasing the lane count of the ETC near Tsukuba from one lane to two and lengthening some of the other routes. We got a clear file and key chain for taking the short quiz. We took another survey and received our choice of annual plants.

Ibaraki Urban Green Festival Plant Shop

The weather was perfect. It was sunny, but not too hot. We passed by this booth selling flowers and other plants. Amy saw some snapdragon flowers which just happened to be her favorite. We were also surprised to see some Salvia. We were quite familiar with it and had used it extensively in our projects back home. They even had the pink and white hybrid “hot lips”. We were a little confused when we saw the Salvia, as it was known for its drought tolerance. Japan definitely did not have a problem with that. The prices were super affordable with the snapdragon going for ¥100 and the saliva for ¥200.

Crane Ride

One of the booths was sponsored by a construction company. They were giving free rides on their aerial platform trucks. We donned some hard hats and harnesses and were able to get on. The views from the top were spectacular, we were able to get panoramic views of the greater Kairakuen Garden and even as far away as downtown Mito. It was a great experience and something we’d recommend if they have it again next year.

Another booth was holding a kokedama making workshop. Kokedama which originated in Japan were ornamental plants wrapped in moss and held together with string. We were very interested in participating. The event planners definitely underestimated the amount of interest in this experience. Initially, there were two time slots with 10 seats available at each. By the time we got there, there was only one seat left even though they had doubled the capacity to 20 seats per session. We were grateful to get the one seat and paid the nominal ¥300 participation fee.

Ibaraki Urban Green Festival Food

We had some time to spare, so we headed across the bridge to a nice grassy area with a number of food stalls. They had a nice variety of foods to choose from. We weren’t too hungry so we decided to just grab a quick snack. We ended up going with an order of chijimi Korean pancakes. It was pretty good. The outside was crispy and the vegetables were tender. There was a soy based sauce that added just the right amount of spice and flavor.

Kokedama Workshop

After our delicious snack we headed back to the kokedama booth. We were told to come back a little early as the plant selection process was on a first come first serve basis. The booth was already pretty crowded with participants, but we were able to get the plant we wanted. We took a seat at one of the stations.

The first step was to take the plant out of the pot and knock off a majority of soil. We then molded it into a ball and covered it with a layer of wet sphagnum moss. We used white string to wrap and hold the moss in place. Next we wrapped our kokedama in a layer of moss and used black string to wrap and hold it in place. We’re really happy with the way our kokedama turned out. Our attention to detail and dexterity really helped. A good portion of the other participants were children and some of the tasks were a little difficult for them to complete. Many of the parents had to step in and assist. They had some decorative plates up front and we were able to take photos with them.

We cleaned up our hands before heading back to the car. On the way home we stopped by Daiso and picked up some pots and saucers. We were able to pot everything for ¥330 including tax.

Final Thoughts

We really enjoyed the Ibaraki Urban Green Festival in Mito. From a budget perspective this event was amazing. There was no parking fee and entrance to the event was free. In total we paid only ¥1,430 which included ¥300 for the plants, ¥500 for the chijimi snack, ¥300 for the kokedama workshop, and ¥330 for the Daiso pots. We can’t wait to go again next year. Hopefully, it will get bigger and bigger each year.

More to Come…

Here is the link for their site.