Interesting spots of Mizuki Area in Hitachi

Interesting spots of Mizuki Area

Izumi Jinja (Izumi Shinto Shrine) and Izumigamori
Izumi Jinja is about 1 kilometer northeast of JR Omika Station. If you go along route 245 northward, you’ll find an indicating post to the shrine at the traffic signal on the other side of the “Mzuki no sho”. Turn left there and go on about 100 meters. You come across a tall stonework torii, a Shinto shrine archway. Pass under the archway. Then, in a comfortable shade of trees, a straight stone paved lane leads you to the main shrine of Izumi Jinja. This main shrine was rebuilt in 1983 by the donation of parishioners. The previous one had been burnt down in 1802 with many treasures and records.

The foundation is reported to be about 1,500 years ago. Among the many shrines in this city it is the oldest and highest in its status.
Going down the narrow path at the side of the shrine, you find a calm mysterious spring with a tiny shrine for a goddess ruling water. From the
bottom of the spring water, pale sand spouts ceaselessly. Many carps, big and small with various colors are idle quietly in transparent water.

The district around this spring and the shrine is called Izumigamori (that means a grove which has a spring). One of the old Japanese local topography texts, “Hitachinokuni Fudoki” written in early 8th century, reports that villagers gathered together by the spring to hold feasts.
Many old trees, the beautiful shrine, and the silent spring will surely make your mind calm and easy. The noise of the road nearby can be hardly heard. It is a nice place for refreshing, especially in this hot and damp
season.
Cars are the best access. Less than 15 minutes’ walk by a short cut from Omika Station is also a good way to get there.

the main shrine of Izumi Jinja "Shinden"
a calm mysterious spring with a tiny shrine

Itoyo-no-sato Izumigamori Park
Go across a road to the north side of Izumi Shinto Shrine and the spring, and you’ll find Itoyo-no-sato Izumigamori Park.

Itoyo is a fish which has lived around the place for long time. Because it can live only in very clean water, it is getting rare and designated as a protected species in various regions of Japan.
In this park, Itoyoes are bread in a pond by using the spring water of Izumigamori. The length of the fish is about 5 centimeters. The blue green color of Itoyo’s back and red of its belly, which are nuptial coloration of the male, will catch visitors’ eyes. You can see such figures in the breading season, from the middle of April to the middle of October.
There is a wooden bridge at the center of the pond, so you can watch
Itoyoes close and easily. Flowers of the season are planted around the pond, and also there are lawns and a summerhouse. We saw children shouting with joy, pointing at the fish and playing on the grass.
It will take you only several minutes to go around the park, but take your time, you can enjoy staying there. We hope it will be your favorite place!
　

Kajime-Yu(かじめ湯)
-Traditional Seaweed Bath in Mizuki-
Summer has come! The season of the ocean. The Mizuki Beach is one of the most beautiful seashores in Hitachi City. But do you “Hyotan” readers know that the seaweed of the Mizuki area has the power of
improving our health? Let us introduce to you the Mizuki’s traditional seaweed bath, “Kajime-Yu”.
“Kajime” is a kind of seaweed in the Hitachi-area sea. The seaweed bath called “Kajime-Yu” is a bath with mixture of Kajime, which was locally believed to cure every bad health condition. People from mountain areas
are said to have visited Hitachi’s “Kajime-Yu” to regain their fitness.
Today, you can experiment with the effect of Kajime-Yu at the seawater bath hotel, “Hagiya Ryokan”(はぎ屋旅館) at Mizuki Beach.

(“Kajime-Yu” かじめ湯) Traditional seaweed bath refreshing the condition of the skin and body by the essence of Kajime.
(“Shio-Yu” 潮湯) Seawater bath to cure the ill condition of body by the mineral of the salt.
(Shio-Mushi-Yu 潮蒸し湯) Special sauna of the Hagiya-Ryokan. Beauty service using marine products is also available. (For female only)
At the restaurant inside, we can recommend homemade soba (buckwheat noodles), which is praised by many visitors. As souvenirs、you can get packs of “Source of Kajime-Yu”, which you can enjoy in the bath at home.
Why don’t you try “Kajime-Yu”, which can relax your body and mind naturally the great scenery of the Mizuki Beach?
(Datails)
Hagiya-Ryokan Tel.　0294－52－2522　E-mail kajimeyu@mito.ne.jp
(Access)
About 25 walk from Omika Station
(Use of car or taxi is recommended)

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