On our recent overnight camping trip we stayed at Ryujin Furusato Village in Hitachiota, Ibaraki Prefecture. The campground was a short 15 minute drive from the Ryujin Suspension Bridge. We took a small alley like road off of Road 33 to access the campground. The road was so narrow and obscure that we missed it the first time and had to make a U-turn. The road snaked up the forested mountain and went to one way traffic at some points. After about 10 minutes we reached our destination.

The parking lot was quite large and could accommodate up to 80 cars. The distance from the parking lot to the tent area was up a hill and a little far. The campground manager was kind enough to let us drive our cars up to unload all of our stuff. We snaked our cars through some traffic barriers and were grateful to avoid extra trips.

Ryujin Furusato Village Amenities

The campsite area was a large, open, and grassy field where tents could be placed freely. The open space was in close proximity to restrooms and the covered dishwashing area. The facilities were housed in nice permanent structures with lots of lighting. There were flush toilets and sinks with running water.

Note: The campground had squat toilets. There was also no soap or paper towels (We brought our own).

In addition to the campsites the campground also had four small cottages and three large bungalows if your looking for a more comfortable stay. Some of the cottages appeared to have a nice view of the valley below. There was a campfire area, but we were told that due to a recent accident, we would be unable to reserve a space.

The map of the campground on the website was a little deceptive in our opinion. The map on the website makes it look like everything is right next to each other. In reality, the campground was on a series of hills and steep staircases or impassable terrain separated them.

The campground also had a number of auxiliary structures. There was a nice sized rest house and a large covered eating area with room for BBQ’s. The BBQ area and additional BBQ equipment could be rented for a fee. There were also a couple of classroom type buildings and an amphitheater for larger groups.

Ryujin Furusato Village Attraction

The main attraction of the campground was a roller slider or slider for short. The slider was a slide with hundreds and hundreds of rollers that were connected together along a set path. With the help of gravity we began to slide down the rollers. The slider was 123 meters long and featured five turns. The stairs leading to the slider were slightly irregular in size and quite steep. The view from the top of the slide gave us a panoramic view of the entire campground and surrounding mountains. The slider was really fun, there were a few parts where we picked up some speed. We used our feet to help regulate the speed and maneuver around the turns.

Pro Tip: Bring something to sit on for the slider. We picked up some interlocking foam squares from Daiso and they worked perfectly.

Ryujin Furusato Village Reservations

The campground does not have an online reservation system, so we had to call in to make our reservation. We were very grateful that the campground manager was so nice and patient with us. Through our broken Japanese we were able to reserve two tent sites for one night. The campground fee is based on the number of tents, not the number of people. At ¥2,620/tent/night, our four person tent came out to a very reasonable ¥655/person/night.

Note: If you plan to bring in your own food, be sure to pick it up ahead of time. There were no supermarkets or convenience stores in the area. The closest supermarket was Tairaya in the town of Daigo which was a 30 minute drive away. Likewise the closet convenience store was a FamilyMart which was a 15 minute drive away.

Final Thoughts

We would stay at the Ryujin Furusato Village in Ibaraki again, probably not in the fall or winter though. It got a little too cold at night for us. We’d come back in the spring or summer. Or, if we did come back in the fall or winter, we would stay in one of the cottages or bungalows. The campground was connected to the Ryujin Suspension Bridge by a series of hiking trails. Next time when we come, we’d like to take them and explore the area.

Here is the link for their website.

More to come…