Tsukuba is Japan's purpose-built science city, planted on the Kanto Plain about 60 kilometres northeast of Tokyo. The Japanese government moved dozens of national research institutes and universities here in the 1970s, and today the city hosts more than 150 research facilities — including JAXA (the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), KEK (the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization), and the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology. If you have any interest in science, space, or how Japan thinks about the future, Tsukuba is worth a day trip from Tokyo or even a night.
The city's layout reflects its planned origins: wide roads, plenty of green space, and a central pedestrian boulevard called Tsukuba Center that runs between the main station and the shopping complex. It is tidy and walkable in a way that central Tokyo is not, which makes it a pleasant contrast.
What most visitors don't expect is Mount Tsukuba. Rising to 877 metres just north of the city, this is one of Japan's most celebrated mountains despite being relatively modest in height — it has been the subject of poems since the eighth century. You can hike up through mixed forest, or take a cable car from the mountain base. The summit offers a wide panorama of the Kanto Plain on clear days, with Mount Fuji visible to the southwest. The mountain has twin peaks, and a small shrine sits between them.
Tsukuba is connected to Tokyo's Akihabara station by the Tsukuba Express, a fast commuter line opened in 2005 that covers the distance in 45 minutes. This has transformed the city from a somewhat isolated science enclave into a comfortable day trip from the capital.