Tsukuba Sky Hotel

Cherry Blossom Viewing

by torototammy

Cherry blossom viewing is one of the most important event for Japanese people in spring. It only lasts for about a week so as soon as you find the cherry trees are blooming, you need to set up the "hanami" parties. Hanami could be a family picnic under the cherry blossom or the moon lit party with lots of sake.

Flowers

by manuelEB

Asking what kind of flowers are these? It is more or less the begining of a conversation with
fellow hickers. I asked why didn't we take the cable car up? They saw my face and understood very well the question... I mentioned the towel already. Bring another one.

A Day Trip To Mt. Tsukuba By Nori-Nori Bus

by torototammy

"Here We Go!"

On a sunny Sunday morning, my friends and I started our first "Nori-nori bus tour" from the Tsukuba Center Bus Terminal.

We took the No.3 bus to Tsukuba city hall branch and transfered to No.1 which leads us to the foot of Mt. Tsukuba.

10:39 Tsukuba Center
11:05 Tsukuba city hall

11:25 Tsukuba city hall
11:54 Mt. Tsukuba Info Center
(at big red shrine gate)

On the way we enjoyed the pasotral views.

"Tsukubasan Jinja (shrine)"

From the big red gate, we walked up to Tsukubasan Jinja. There are some ryokans and cheesy souvenir shops along this narrow road.

Once you walk up the steep steps and enter the shrine, the world is different. It was so peaceful.

15 minute walk from the bus stop

"Cablecar"

You'll reach to the cablecar station after walking thorough the shrine.

At the station, there's a nice deck and the view was already beautiful.

15 minute cablecar ride took us to the top of Nantaisan(the male mountain). One way:570 yen

"Nantaisan"

Yeah! Feels good even you didn't crimb up!

"Nyotaisan"

We walked about 15 mintues on the rocky path from the Nantaisan summit to Nyotaisan.
On the way, when we pass by other hikers we greet each other "Konnichiwa!". The Summit of Nantaisan is the formation of rocks and very slippery!! Watch your steps!

There is a shrine here. Don't forget to try Omikuji(the fortune telling).

"The View From The Top"

On the bus, we saw farmers were getting ready to plant rice. The water in the rice fields were reflecting. Our "science city" looked sooooo small. Because of the humidity(?), we couldn't see the highrises in Tokyo nor Mt. Fuji.

"Rope Way"

We walked down to the ropeway station. They have new Swiss made cars which have large almost-floor-to-ceiling windows and you can enjoy spectacular view during the 6 minute ride.

They operate until 9pm for the night view in the summer.

"Hike Back To The Shrine"

At the ropeway station, There are another cheesy souvenir shops and restaurants. After a quick break we walked back to the shrine. The trail was easy to walk (we were walking down) and really quiet. We enjoyed the birds singing and fresh smell of the forrest.

It took about good 30 minutes to get to the shrine. There was enough time to brouse around the souvenir shops and took the bus back to our city center. The route was diffrent from the morning and we could see another part of the town.

15:14 Mt. Tsukuba Info Center
15:50 Tsukuba city hall

16:10 Tsukuba city hall
16:53 Tsukuba Bus Terminal