Tallest Budha in Japan, horses, beer and more
Ushiku swamp, budha, winery and brewery
Did you know that Budha statue in Kamakura or Nara can't compete with the one in Ushiku for its height?
Not famous at all or even no chance of world heritage because of its young history compared to the ones in Kamakura or Nara but truly it's the tallest one in Japan.
So it's definitely a sight to see.
You can find him from anywhere around the area, even from 30km away.
And Kamakura or Nara budha is handful small to this Ushiku budha.
More than triple the height of the Statue of Liberty in N.Y.
It used to be the tallest one in the world when it was built back in 1993 and it was Guinness record at the time. Today the tallest one is in China though. But anyways, there's a nice garden at the foot and very tranquil place adjacent of graveyard, too.
(All the Japanese cemeteries belong to the temples, not shrines)
To get there, take a local bus from Ushiku JR station or drive there.
Other local attractions can be :
- Chateau Kamiya / Ushiku Brewery - the oldest winery in Japan but now they shifted the business toward their brewery .... original eight beers on tap at its beer restaurant. Interesting and unique style is Delaware (grape) hint beer and IPL (india pale lager).
http://www.ch-kamiya.jp/shop/liquor/brewery.html
- Ami premium outlet mall - American style outlet mall.
http://www.premiumoutlets.co.jp/ami/
JRA Miho horse training center
If you drive there, be sure to visit Miho JRA training center.
They offer free guided tour every weekend (Saturdays and Sundays)
When there are races, all the horses are gone for the race so you won't see them there.
But it's interesting to see all the different soil training courses, training pools, weighing scales, training gates etc....they even have a horse clinic to treat horses' injuries or diseases.
There are two training centers in Japan - one in Shiga (West Japan) and the one here in Miho (an hour train ride from Tokyo)
Horse Garden riding club - English OK!
Last but not the least, there's a lovely horse riding club there, called Horse Garden.
Almost all the horse riding clubs in Japan can't take non-Japanese guests for its limited speaking language. But they offer lessons in English here.
As the owner learned the riding in Europe, the environment and landscape is just like the one in Germany, UK or Ireland. Horses are in good care, mostly imported from Europe, perfectly suitable for dressage or jumping. You can take really the authentic dressage lesson there for sure. (As I felt so!)
Horse Garden Riding Club
http://www14.ocn.ne.jp/~h-garden/
Encouraged to take the full - day Ushiku/Miho tour ?
Go for it or let us arrange that for you....
http://hiddengem.tokyo/
Zara
Japan
