Hitachinaka

Japan's largest kochia (kojima) spectacle: Head to Hitachi Seaside Park to admire the autumnal spectacle of Miharu-no-Oka (Hill of Sunrise) dyed red by plump kochia plants, experiencing the seasonal transformation of green, red, and gold. Many tourists were there that day. The pear picking activity included picking large and sweet pears, but unfortunately, only 30 minutes were allotted. Seafood market...enjoy free access to sushi, seafood rice bowls, and street food. Everything was very fresh.

I saw the vibrant red kochia plants at Hitachi Seaside Park on TV and really wanted to see them in person, so I hastily signed up for this tour. It was a tour company I wasn't very familiar with, but it seemed to be a popular tour among foreign tourists. The explanations on the bus were in Chinese and English, but after the tour guide finished explaining everything, he came over to me, the only Japanese passenger, gave me a Japanese brochure, and explained everything again, showing great consideration. The large tour bus was spacious and comfortable. The bus driver was Japanese. We got caught in traffic jams both on the way there and back, but the driver was quick-witted and dropped us off before our destination or changed the pickup location, so we were able to spend plenty of time at our destination. The scenery at the seaside park, which was the main reason for my trip, was of course wonderful, but what I also remember most fondly is the friendly interactions I had with people from Thailand and Singapore during this trip. I would like to use this service again.

Luckily, we didn't encounter any traffic jams. Our tour guide, Natsuko, did her best to take care of everyone, and we could communicate normally in Chinese, English, and Japanese. The time management was also quite good. We were very fortunate to have arrived during the season when the broom grass turns red; it was incredibly beautiful and spectacular.

Our tour guide, Zhang Peiwen, was very friendly, attentive, and knew how to tell interesting anecdotes. The seaside park was quite large, and we walked around for a long time, which was a bit tiring. Fukuroda Falls was very refreshing, but unfortunately, the chicken skewers and apple pie stall that the tour guide highly recommended was closed that day. At Oarai Isomae Shrine, you can see the torii gates over the sea, and we happened to find a fruit stand, so we bought some grapes and ate them all. Although the itinerary wasn't as famous as Mount Fuji or Nikko, there weren't too many tourists, so we could relax and stroll around.