Mito

One of Japan's Top 3 Gardens, its primary claim to fame is its 3,000 plum trees, which bloom in February and March. In addition, the garden also contains a network of walkways running through large stands of tall cedar trees and bamboo, and past expanses of flame-red azalea and snow-white bush clover. Depending on the season, one can also observe camellia, magnolia, and cherry blossoms. While the sights within the garden are quite impressive in their own right, this hillside garden also provides spectacular overlooks of Semba Lake and Park when the cherry blossoms come into bloom in April.

This well-preserved, old-style samurai residence on the grounds of Kairakuen is well worth seeing, with its fine natural woodwork, thatched roofs, hand-painted paper doors, surrounding garden, and beautiful vistas from the higher floors. Look for the Chinese-character cheat-sheets on the walls of the Chinese poetry composing room.

This large Shinto shrine is dedicated to Mito clan lords Tokugawa Mitsukuni (1628-1700), known as Mito Kōmon, and Tokugawa Nariaki (1800-1860).

This small museum on the grounds of Tokiwa Jinja houses a huge rolling taiko drum, an ancient large-barrel cannon (or mortar) on wooden wheels, a lineage chart of the Tokugawa shoguns and their Mito cousins, the 400-odd volumes on Japanese history compiled by the Mito School, and other items from Mito's samurai glory days. Few signs and no pamphlets in English.

The final residence of Edo era samurai Mitsukuni Tokugawa, where he lived into old-age after traveling around Japan as Mito Kōmon. This site offers a variety of scenic views, including blossoming cherry trees in the springtime and maple trees aflame with red and yellow leaves during fall.

Founded by the city in 1988 to commemorate Mito's 100th anniversary as an official city in 1989, its spiral tower rises 100m above the ATM plaza. Popular with locals due in part to its proximity to Mito Station, it is meant to symbolize the movement from the past to the future and from tradition to creation.

The former Han school (an education institution for Samurai) founded in 1841 by Noriaki Tokugawa, the same local lord who founded the Kairakuen Gardens. The school was closed in 1871, after the Meiji Revolution, but most of the buildings survived and were declared national heritage of great significance. Kodokan is located northeast of the train station, five minutes walk.

An English garden.