When we think of the historic centers of Japanese culture, it\u2019s likely Kyoto, Edo (the former name of Tokyo), Kamakura, or Nara to which the mind is drawn. But Hitachi-no-kuni, the northern part of present-day Ibaraki Prefecture, was among the most cherished provinces of the ancient world<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Nara period (710-794) was one of the most formative in Japanese history; the dawning of the Golden Age of Japan. The first permanent capital city, Heijo-kyo, was established, and constructed in the likeness of the Chinese Tang Dynasty\u2019s capital, Chang\u2019an. Buddhism, also imported from across the East China Sea, flourished in synch with the indigenous Shinto faith, and temples like Todai-ji, one of the most magnificent wooden structures ever conceived, was built on such a sweeping scale it required 900 hectare\u2019s worth of forest and nearly bankrupted the empire. The Japanese literary tradition also came into its own, with books like the Kojiki <\/em>(Records of Ancient Matters) and Nihon Shoki <\/em>(Chronicles of Japan) published in 712 and 720, respectively. These dense tomes were designed to instill within Japan a sense of self and to assure people the empire had been bequeathed to its current rulers by the gods themselves.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scribes and scholars of the Imperial Court also began chronicling the myths, histories, and geography of the provinces, compiling them into books called fudoki<\/em>. Hitachi-no-kuni was one of them, and was blessed with an abundance of seafood and produce from the mountains, and people’s lives were deemed stable in such a rich natural environment at the time. <\/strong>The land is concertinaed by mountain ranges, forming broad valleys and river channels, and thick with forests of maple, cypress, cedar, camphor, and beech. Because of these things, this land was called Tokoyonokuni, meaning \u201cdistant country,\u201d or more pithily, \u201cUtopia.\u201d Lastly, it marked the beginning of the road to Tohoku, the deep north, the final frontier of the Japanese mainland. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though Ibaraki cuts a more developed figure today than it did 1,300 years ago, the prefecture\u2019s northern reaches still show signs of age-old beauty. From Mount Hanazono to tea plantations, from the Takado Kohama coastline to the forests and villages of the satoyama <\/em>(a rural landscape between mountains and arable farmland), the history, culture, and bounty of the land remain much as they were in times past.<\/strong> And with the recent introduction of a scheduled 320km-long walking route, the Hitachi-no-kuni Long Trail, visitors can now experience on foot this journey deep into the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only 90 minutes from Tokyo, the Hitachi-no-kuni Long Trail connects six cities and towns<\/strong> \u2014 Hitachi, Hitachiota, Takahagi, Kitaibaraki, Hitachiomiya, Daigo \u2014 with northern Ibaraki\u2019s satoyama region<\/strong>, and encompasses several cities and towns, each of which has its own distinct cultural flavor and way of life. This division of the trail allows visitors to approach it in digestible chunks where you are free to decide how to walk around and how far to walk. Don\u2019t have much time to walk it in one journey? How about focusing on the shrines of the Oiwa and Hanzono areas instead? Or trekking from the mountains to the sea in Takahagi? Or walking the southern stretch from Hitachiomiya to Hitachi City? There is no prescribed route; the trail encourages you to use your intuition and chart your own course. But if you need further inspiration, take a look at the nine areas in brief below.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n