Sakuragawa Onsen Ibaraki

Sakuragawa, in the western Ibaraki Prefecture at the foot of Mount Tsukuba's western slope, is notable for its Makabe historic district — an exceptionally well-preserved Edo-period earthen-walled merchant townscape whose traditional kura storehouses and merchant houses line the ancient stone-paved streets creating one of the finest small-town historic districts in the entire Kanto region. Sakuragawa Onsen Ibaraki draws on sodium and bicarbonate thermal waters from the geothermal resources of the Tsukuba volcanic zone on the western Kanto highland fringe, offering restorative baths in a community whose extraordinary Makabe historic preservation, traditional granite stone quarrying heritage, and access to the Mt. Tsukuba hiking trails create a surprisingly rich destination for thermal spa visitors. The Makabe historic merchant townscape, the traditional Ibaraki granite Mikage stone quarrying heritage that has supplied decorative stone to major Japanese construction projects for centuries, and the western approach hiking trails to Mt. Tsukuba's twin peaks create a varied and historically rewarding spa destination in western Ibaraki Prefecture.