With views on a clear day of Suruga Bay, the Pacific Ocean and Mount Fuji, Shimizu in Shizuoka Prefecture is always an appealing place to visit. My previous visit two years prior to this one was a bit of a dreary, wet experience but this time the conditions were very sunny with clear blue skies thus making the setting far more appealing on this day trip from our base in Ito on the Izu Peninsula.

No sooner had I arrived in Shimizu and I was on a free shuttle bus heading to S-Pulse Dream Plaza; a shopping mall located on the harbour front with a big ferris wheel outside.

Other than just looking around, my main goal was to locate the Ramune Museum which had completely bypassed me on my previous visit. Sure, there are a few token exhibits about the history of this Japanese fizzy drink but the main point of interest for many is the wide range of strange and unusual flavours of drink on sale. More details here.

A red British telephone box was located over the road for some reason, and just beyond that was S-Pulse Dream House with a mascot statue of Palchan in front of it.

This is basically a club shop selling all kinds of official S-Pulse merchandise such as shirts, scarfs, towels, cuddly toys, key rings, magnets and so on. It was a sea of orange last time but on this occasion the mint green-coloured S-Pulse summer shirt (Japanese clubs not only release home and away shirts but also seasonal ones too!) was being heavily promoted.

With a lot of time to spare I decided to visit the Verkehr Shimizu Port Terminal Museum for something a bit more cultural. It’s got a beautiful brick exterior with a path leading to the entrance through a couple of water basins.

Usually I’m not much of a museum kind of guy but I do have something of a soft spot for ones devoted to forms of transportation so this maritime museum was quite appealing. The 400 yen entrance cost meant it wasn’t really a risk to see what it was like. There are some fine-looking three-dimensional maps of the local area and an impressive collection of canned foods as well as information about the history of Shimizu Port which was not a fishing area but a shipping town.

The museum opened in 1991 to promote the culture of the region through its exhibitions, and it is no real surprise that the most interesting part for many is the 1:10 reproduction of the Japanese-style ships used in the Edo Period (as well as others) when Shimizu was a transit point on the Pacific Ocean connecting Osaka and Edo, the former name of Tokyo.

There were buses heading to IAI Nihondaira Stadium just across the road from the maritime museum which was very convenient and about 25 minutes later I was disembarking at one of my favourite stadiums in Japan. It is just a shame it takes so much effort to get to though!

The last time I was there was just two years ago which were very different times in terms of strict Covid_19 controls and measures. I was sat amongst the S-Pulse faithful in the home end that day but quietly supporting their opponents Kashiwa Reysol.

I had pencilled in this match before I noticed on Twitter/X that two European based S-Pulse fans were both going to be present too. Thomas (a.k.a. @Tich_SPulse) and Barry (a.k.a. @spulseukultras) live in France and England respectively and are both very passionate fans. I met the latter on my first visit to this stadium in 2017 but had never met the former.

Even though there was only one goal there were quite a few chances, and the atmosphere was absolutely fantastic.

No sooner had the full time whistle blown and I was rushing out of the stadium to get the shuttle bus back to Shimizu station in order to actually make it back to Ito that night.

Click here to read ‘What Can You Expect To See At Japan’s Sushi Museum?’

Click here to read ‘Sitting Amongst The S-Pulse Faithful In Shimizu But Quietly Supporting The Opposition!’

Click here to read ‘The Great Buddha, Monster Hospital, Quality Dog Time, A Sushi Museum & Live J-League Football!’