What opened
The Hitachi-no-kuni Long Trail opened as a complete loop across six cities and towns in northern Ibaraki Prefecture. The Japan National Tourism Organization released the English text. That release carries the route at about 350 kilometres and calls it the longest long trail in Japan designed as a loop. Mainichi, Yomiuri and Ibaraki Shimbun reported the same figure and the same ranking in September 2026. The opening ceremony ran at Hitachiomiya on 19 September 2026.
AdventureTravelNews carried the JNTO text on 19 October 2026 in its Member News section.
Two length figures
The trail's own English overview page still prints 320 kilometres. A footnote on that page calls the figure an estimate at the time of writing. JNTO's release and the Japanese press give about 350 kilometres for the completed loop. Plan on 350 and treat 320 as the earlier estimate.
Sections and day walks
The JNTO text states that no walker has to cover the route in one trip. It offers section hikes and day hikes, and it sets the length of each walk by fitness, interest and itinerary. The trail's own site splits the loop into areas with numbered courses. It publishes GPX and KML files, trail maps, a trail guide and model courses. A group can load one area, walk it, and leave the rest for a later year.
Access from Tokyo
The trail's access page gives about three hours from Tokyo by train. Take the JR Joban Line to Mito Station, change to the JR Suigun Line, and get off at Fukuroda, Shimonomiya or Saigane. The same page gives about three hours for the highway bus from Tokyo Station Yaesu South Exit to Fukuroda Falls Entrance, and that bus requires a reservation. By car, the run takes about two and a half hours on the Joban Expressway. Leave at Naka IC or Hitachi Minami IC, then drive National Route 118 north for about 40 minutes to Fukuroda.
The JNTO release describes Ibaraki as one to two hours from Tokyo. The trail's access page gives three hours to the central-area stations in the same prefecture. Budget the three hours.
The last stretch and parking
The Ogo Town Kanko AI shared-ride taxi covers the run from Fukuroda and Shimonomiya stations to the course. Parking sits at Fukuroda 1st, Fukuroda 2nd and Miyagawa. The access page bars parking at the Tsukimachi-no-taki Momijien lot and the Ichirou apple orchard lot. It lists no restroom at the Miyagawa lot. Toilets sit at the Okukuji-daigo roadside station and at Shimonomiya Station.
What the walking is
The route links forests, satoyama farmland, valleys, coastline and historic sites. It passes through villages and fields on the way. JNTO sets the concept as an extraordinary journey of repeatedly walking through mountains and rural landscapes while experiencing both everyday life and the extraordinary. The same text places the trail in Japan's walking tradition beside the Kumano Kodo and Shikoku pilgrimage routes.
Why a loop suits a group
The trail's overview page describes a circular course that a walker can join anywhere and leave at a chosen distance. A group of mixed ability can set one meeting point and split the day from it.
Before booking
Pick the area first, then the station. Take access times from the trail's access page, add the shared-ride taxi for the last stretch, and hold the bus reservation. Walk one area per trip.