Mito is the perfect Japanese little, big city, close to Hitachi-naka, where I lived.  Mito is situated in the southeast of Honshu Island 125 km north of Tokyo.  It is the capital of Ibaraki prefecture and has a wonderful mix of old and new. 

It is well known for its "Nato" (A food incidentially that most foreigners hate...  Took me 6 months to stomach it!).  The above picture is Nato wrapped in the traditional manner.  You can find it not wrapped like this easily in stores.

Nato is sort of a stringy bean food.  Nothing good in texture, but add some soy sauce and you might ONLY hate it.  (Again...  6 months)

Scenic spots worth seeing include the imperial park.  It looks stunning during the cherry blossums.  In the off-centre of the park lies two rather beautiful Go boards.

Go is currently a very popular game within Japan.  One I personally love and live for.  Think of it as Chess, if Chess were complex and hard while being simple to grasp.

Also within Mito is the "Art Tower".  Personally, I was never really taken by it.  It is merely an interesting looking building, that reminds me of the falic CN tower.

In all, my second home is Mito.  A beautiful city.  LOTS to see and do, without the problems of a big city.  The people are friends and understanding.

Akihabara
Asakusa
Daisetsuzan
Ebisu
Fukuoka
Fukuoka City
Ginza
Hateruma Island
Hiroshima
Iriomote Island
Ishigaki Island
Izumo
Kamakura
Kansai
Kitsuki
Kobe
Kokura
Kyoto
Marunouchi
Mito
Miyako Island
Moji
Nagano
Nagasaki
Nagoya
Naha
Nikko
Osaka
Roppongi
Saitama
Sapporo
Shibuya
Shikoku
Shimonoseki
Shinjuku
Takayama
Taketomi Island
Tobata
Tohoku
Tokashiki Island
Tokyo
Tokyo Odaiba
Ueno
Wakamatsu
Yahata
Yokohama
Yonaguni Island
Zamami Island