The Ibaraki Prefectural Government has wrapped up tourist attractions -- especially for visitors from abroad -- featuring flowers blooming in spring, and unveiled a new tourist facility that has just opened in the prefecture this spring. As the best season for viewing cherry blossoms and nemophila flowers sets in from April through May, the facility, a new hotel for cyclists, opened in March. Photos: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/release/202003278538?p=images Tourist attractions: "Ushiku Daibutsu (Great Buddha)" and "shibazakura (pink moss)" featuring a beautiful world of the big statue overlooking a carpet of colorful shibazakura. The garden with "Ushiku Daibutsu" (120 meters tall), the world's biggest standing bronze statue, is a spot famous for flowers, and visitors can enjoy viewing flowers for all four seasons such as sakura cherry blossoms, hydrangeas and cosmos. Every year in April, shibazakura bloom brilliantly, creating a beautiful landscape together with the Great Buddha. - Best season for viewing: from early April through mid-April (in average year) - Location: Ushiku Daibutsu, Ushiku City, Ibaraki Prefecture - Inquiry: Ushiku Daibutsu (2083 Kunocho, Ushiku City, Ibaraki Prefecture) - Website: https://daibutu.net/ (in Japanese) "Shidare-zakura (weeping cherry trees) on Hitachi Fudoki no Oka," forming a tunnel of weeping cherry blossoms that create a breathtaking beauty. Hitachi Fudoki no Oka, equipped with Japan's largest lion mask-shaped observatory, is a popular spot for cherry blossoms. There are about 500 cherry trees in the park, and visitors can enjoy viewing "Somei Yoshino" cherry trees (the most common type of cherry blossom known for its pale pink flowers), shidare-zakura and botan-zakura (double cherry blossoms) for about one month from early April. Notably, the combination of shidare-zakura and botan-zakura in mid-April makes the landscape even more colorful. - Best season for viewing: around mid-April (in average year) - Location: Hitachi Fudoki no Oka, Ishioka City, Ibaraki Prefecture - Inquiry: Hitachi Fudoki no Oka (1646 Someya, Ishioka City, Ibaraki Prefecture) - Website: http://business2.plala.or.jp/fudoki/index.html (in Japanese) "Nemophila flowers on Hitachi Seaside Park (in Hitachinaka City), offering spectacular blue scenery of nemophila flowers filling up the hill. About 5.3 million nemophilas bloom in the 4.2-hecter field of the "Miharashi no Oka (vantage hill)" in the park. The facility has received enthusiastic reviews from visitors not only from elsewhere in Japan but also from abroad. Usually, the best season lasts about two weeks. Everyone is welcomed to visit there and enjoy the magnificent blue scenery created by nemophilas. Next, the best season for viewing kochia balls (summer cypress) begins in mid-July. - Best season for viewing: from mid-April through early May (in average year) - Location: Hitachi Seaside Park, Hitachinaka City, Ibaraki Prefecture - Inquiry: Hitachi Seaside Park (605-4 Onuma-aza, Mawatari, Hitachinaka City, Ibaraki Prefecture - Website: https://hitachikaihin.jp/vi.html (in Vietnamese) "Hoshino Resort BEB5 Tsuchiura": The hotel perfect for bicycle riders opened in Tsuchiura City, Ibaraki Prefecture, on March 19, 2020 "Hoshino Resort BEB5 Tsuchiura," catering to cyclists, opened in the building of Tsuchiura Station on the JR Joban Line (in Tsuchiura City, Ibaraki Prefecture) on March 19. Visitors can check in and check out the hotel together with their bikes, and there are guest rooms into which cyclists can bring their bikes with them. The hotel, therefore, is designed to help cyclists enjoy their trips to the fullest. "Tsukuba Kasumigaura Ring Ring Road", which is directly connected to the hotel, was just designated last autumn as a "National Cycle Route," one of the leading cycling roads in Japan. The 180-km flat cycling road has a wide variety of courses so that everyone from beginners to experienced cyclists can enjoy. Anyone can visit there even empty-handed as an excellent bike rental service is also available. In the station building, moreover, there is a bike maintenance facility and the like, providing an amazing environment for cycling. Visitors can enjoy cycling as much as they want in Ibaraki, only one hour away from Tokyo. - Facility name: Hoshino Resort BEB5 Tsuchiura (Tsuchiura City, Ibaraki Prefecture) - Opened: March 19 (Thursday), 2020 - Website: https://hoshinoresorts.com/en/hotels/beb5tsuchiura/ (in English) Basic data on Ibaraki Prefecture and access information - Population: 2.871 million - Total land area: 6,097 square meters - Prefectural capital: Mito City - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dulichibaraki/ (in Vietnamese) - Website: https://vi.ibarakiguide.jp/ (in Vietnamese) - Introduction video: https://vi.ibarakiguide.jp/about/videos.html (in Vietnamese) Travel plans using public transportation (bound for Mito Station): - From Tokyo Station: about 75 minutes by JR Joban Line limited express; about 120 minutes by expressway bus - From Narita Airport: about 120 minutes by expressway bus - From Ibaraki Airport: about 40 minutes by expressway bus Travel plans using cars (to Mito city center): - From Tokyo Metropolitan area: about 90 minutes on Joban Expressway (E6) - From Narita Airport: about 90 minutes on Shin-Kuko Expressway (E65), Higashi- Kanto Expressway (E51), Metropolitan Intercity Expressway (C4) and Joban Expressway (E6) - From Ibaraki Airport: about 40 minutes on Higashi-Kanto Expressway (E51) and Kita-Kanto Expressway (E50) Source: Ibaraki Prefectural Government