Ibaraki

Ibaraki is a prefecture on the Pacific coast northeast of Tokyo, a flat farming-and-science region that most foreign travelers pass over. Its rewards are specific and worth the detour: one of Japan's three great gardens and some of the country's most photographed seasonal flower fields.

Kairakuen in Mito was planted with three thousand plum trees that bloom in late winter, ahead of the cherry season. The bronze Ushiku Daibutsu ranks among the tallest statues on earth, visible for kilometers across the fields, and Fukuroda Falls drops in wide tiers that partially freeze in cold winters.

Mito's sticky fermented natto is the local taste, beloved and divisive in equal measure, and the coast adds fresh seafood. Trains from Tokyo reach Mito directly, which makes the garden an easy day trip; add a rental car if the falls and the Buddha are both on your list.