What to do on a sunny Sunday around Tsukuba?

Kasumigaura park near Tsuchiura

by Nicolas Delerue

The Kasumigaura park in Tsuchiura is a nice place on the bank of the Kasumigaura lake. The park features an European style windmill, a nice watermill and an information center where you can see pictures of the fishes in the lake and about its history (if you understand Japanese, there are also explanation going along with the pictures).

The windmill in Kasumigaura park

The park is located on the south of Tsuchiura. To go there by bicycle you can of course follow Tsuchiura-gakuen dori, but you will be on a crowded road with many cars which is quiet unpleasant! A nice way, from Tsukuba center, is to leave Tsuchiura-gakuen dori on your right and go across the paddy fields heading westward to the southernmost tip of the Tsukuba-san range (any road in that direction will do it). After a few kilometers across the fields you will reach a river (the sakura river) cross it and keep going westward for a few more hundreds meter. You will then reach an old railway that is now converted into a bicycle path (you can not miss it: it looks like a road but with poles to prevent cars from turning in it; on some parts the surface of this path has a pinkish color). Turn to the right and follow the old railway until Tsuchiura. On your way, just before passing under the Joban highway you will see on your left-hand side a little shinto shrine (see photo).

A little shinto shrine on the way to Kasumigaura park After the Joban highway, you are almost at the height of the lake and the fields around the path becomes wetter. The old railway ends in Tsuchiura city when it meets a river with a small motorized watermill.

The small motorized watermill at the end of the old railway Turn to the left, to follow the river. You will cross a road, then reach locks and a little tunnel under a railway. Cross the tunnel, keep going a few more hundred meters until you reach another road. Turn right on that road to cross the river. After a few minutes, you will pass a little harbor on your left and then reach another bridge (just before a Wondergoo shop). Turn left on that bridge and follow the narrow road along the shore.

The windmill in Kasumigaura park After a few hundreds meters you should see the windmill (and as you follow the shore you can not really get lost). At the end of this narrow road you will find the Kasumigaura park.

More pictures...


View of the Kasumigaura lake from the park	Watermill in the park

Location	Geographic Coordinates
Little shinto shrine	36°06.0956 Noth 140°05.1373 East
End of the old railway	36°05.9483 North 140°10.5583 East
Bridge after the locks turn right	36°04.9267 North 140°12.9075 East
Bridge where you must turn left and follow the lake	36°04.2189 North 140°12.5567 East
Kasumigaura park	36°03.6252 North 140°13.4192 East

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Last modified: Tue Jul 8 08:55:30 JST 2003 Page made by Nicolas Delerue