Tsukuba Botanical Garden

As the scent of autumn grew stronger, I kept wondering where to go to truly feel the season’s arrival. Suddenly, the Tsukuba Botanical Garden (National Museum of Nature and Science), which I visited during my student days, popped into my mind. So, on the first morning of the three-day weekend (Culture Day), I hopped in the car and set off.

The Tsukuba Botanical Garden is located in Tsukuba City, Ibaraki Prefecture, and acts as an annex to the National Museum of Nature and Science. Although Ibaraki is perennially ranked at the bottom of Japan’s “most attractive prefectures” list, I actually have a soft spot for Tsukuba City. After all, it’s home to so many research institutions (including the University of Tsukuba and JAXA).

From my memories years ago, the area seemed quite developed and prosperous.

Address: 4-1-1 Amakubo, Tsukuba City, Ibaraki 305-0005
Admission: 320 yen (General).
Official Website: https://tbg.kahaku.go.jp/english/

Since I went on Culture Day, admission was free! It seems many national and public facilities are free on this holiday. It wasn’t too crowded, with just a scattering of people, even though I arrived only 2 hours before closing time¹.

The botanical garden isn’t huge; you can probably walk through the whole thing in 2-3 hours. But there are plenty of spots to rest, making it perfect for sitting down and soaking in nature. You could easily spend half a day here just relaxing.

“A green oasis where your soul can take a deep breath in the middle of a busy research city.”

There are also several greenhouses where you can see a variety of tropical and aquatic plants. Every section has detailed explanatory signs, and they’ve recently added QR codes you can scan to easily get more info about the plants.

Enough talk, here are some photos to give you the vibe.