Nakagawa Town is a cozy riverside town 2.5hours north of Tokyo with a ukiyo-e museum, pottery culture (Koisago-yaki), an onsen, and Iizuka-tei hotel. It's a great place to experience the Japanese countryside.
Hitachinaka City is a seaside city in Ibaraki prefecture famous for Nemophila flowers and Kochia at the Hitachi Seaside Park as well as their fish market and delicious seafood.