At around 67 hectares, Senba Park in Mito City, Ibaraki Prefecture is a huge open space that any park could be proud of. With its Lake Senba and meeting places, the park is a great tourist spot, a place that comes highly recommended for families to visit.
The park is full of nature where you can see both black swans and white ones, ducks as well as many other wild birds. It's quite rare to see black swans in Japan so coming across them is exciting.
Aside from the nature, many, many people make use of the park as a running and jogging track, particularly along the lake's banks.
Nearby can be found Kairakuen Garden, one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan. The garden's ume plum blossoms are in full bloom between mid-February and late March. Their beautiful foliage can be seen on the way from the park to the garden.
You can see the beautiful plum blossoms on the way from the park to Kairakuen Garden. Furthermore, from late MArch to early April, the sakura cherry blossom trees are in full bloom along the waters of Senba Lake.
The lake is large and the whole family can enjoy riding a boat there. Alongside the lake flows the Sakura River and while most people will head to Kairakuen Garden in spring, the park is also a very nice place to enjoy feeling relaxed with its calm atmosphere.
There is a healing feeling here, no matter when you visit, but it is particularly noticeable in spring. Throughout the year, the park is filled with a beautiful scenery so please, come and visit when you can.
Getting there
If you take the JR Joban Line from Tokyo, you can get off at JR Kairakuen Station. The garden is several minutes walk from the station.
