EVENT HAPPENING RIGHT NOW! Speeding Over to Ibaraki on the Tsukuba Express & Checking Out Makabe's Hinamatsuri Festival!

The JAPANKURU team loves a little off-the-beaten-path excursion, and when it's a day trip just outside Tokyo, that's even better! Which is why we hopped on a Tsukuba Express train in Akihabara this week to head over to the Makabe area of Sakuragawa City in Ibaraki, still composed mostly of old-fashioned buildings, all in the foothills of nearby Mt. Tsukuba. While the hundreds of historic buildings and dozens of national tangible cultural properties are beautiful year-round, Makabe turns from a sleepy village into a bustle of activity for Hinamatsuri Festival every year, so we went to check it out!

From Tokyo to Festival-Filled Ibaraki with Tsukuba Express

Nostalgic & Not Far from Tokyo, Find a Manga Museum, Factory Nightscapes, and Japanese Tradition in Kawasaki City's Tama Ward

Famous as a destination for fascinatingly beautiful nighttime views, Kawasaki City (川崎市) is half-an-hour or less from Tokyo. The city's Tama Ward is especially fun for a little retro-style travel, with a museum celebrating long-beloved manga Doraemon's creator, parks featuring traditional Japanese architecture, and plenty of spots to fill up a day... or three!

Enoshima Aquarium - Visit a Tokyo date spot straight out of Japanese TV, and see the jellyfish while you're at it!

Just a little outside Tokyo, and nestled beside the prime daytrip location of Enoshima Island, Enoshima Aquarium (新江ノ島水族館) is famous for its fantastic jellyfish displays. This is probably why it's such a beloved destination for dates on Japanese TV - you'll see Enoshima Aquarium featured in 2010 j-drama Nagareboshi, and the Netflix anime (turns drama and movie) Princess Jellyfish. But this TV setting is very real, and it makes just as romantic of a date spot in real life as it does on TV. Take a special someone, or a group of friends, to check out the aquarium's gorgeous exhibits featuring local wildlife, sea turtle projects, and long history of jellyfish specialization.