They say history doesn’t repeat itself but yet again our most recent trip to Izu got off to a very bad start.

This picture was from December 2023. Just imagine a similar situation but minus the candles!

With sunny days on the horizon I decided to travel light but that did mean I felt a bit stupid and out of place dressed in just shorts and a t-shirt on the day we went to Izu in Shizuoka Prefecture. That was because the temperature had dropped a fair bit from previous days. It was raining a lot too. My wife had to work in the daytime so I decided to take the dog and go there ahead of her to get some things ready and in order before her arrival at night.

The rain had increased in its intensity by the time we disembarked at our local station on the east coast of the Izu Peninsula. I rarely ever take a taxi in any situation but this was an exception as I knew the dog wouldn’t walk in the rain. We waited for a while for a taxi outside the station but one didn’t come (there was some one waiting ahead of us too) so I had to walk in the rain to the house amidst fairly cool spring temperatures. Still, the dog stayed completely dry in his bag and I saved money on the taxi! A warm house full of home comforts awaited us!!

The house is vacant for a fair few months each year but my in-laws always leave the electricity on in the kitchen area as that includes the refrigerator which has a few things in it. However, on arrival at the house mid-afternoon I discovered that the electricity had completely gone off.

My first thoughts were that either there had been a problem with the bill payment (again!!) or that I was just foolishly missing something obvious like a switch or button or something! I called my mother-in-law to check that everything was ok with the electricity bills, and she got back to me a short time later saying the electric company had been contacted and it would soon be working.

In the meantime, I sent this picture (below) of me and the dog to my wife but as it was we would be in a similar position and situation for much longer!

After the aforementioned phone call I truly believed the electricity would be switched back on within an hour or certainly before sunset at about 6:30 pm. Power did indeed return briefly but a few seconds later it just cut off again! No idea what happened there.

As darkness fell a couple of my mother-in-law’s friends came round to see if they could help which made me feel bad as they’d had to come out in the pouring rain at a time when they were probably settling in for the night. They just confirmed what I had expected. The breaker (that lever you pull up or down to turn the electricity on) for the main power was broken. My stupid pride may have been saved but it meant that there was highly likely to be no electricity till the next day.

Of course I had my smartphone during this “ordeal” (very much first world problems!) but the battery was running very low and I just couldn’t charge it. What little battery I did have left needed to be conserved for occasionally having to use the torch and for phone calls to and from my wife and in-laws.

As the dog was with me I really couldn’t just leave him alone in the dark to go out and get some much needed food whilst charging my phone in the process. The last time this happened we had many candles but I didn’t know where they were kept and just couldn’t find them in the dark

My wife eventually arrived at about 9:30 pm to find the dog and I sat on the sofa in complete darkness which was very amusing to her. I’m sure the dog must’ve also been wondering why the hell I hadn’t turned the lights on and was just sitting in the dark and not watching TV or using my phone. I couldn’t even read or do anything so just sat there doing absolutely nothing. Alone with my thoughts whilst snuggling up to the dog was all I could do.

As our situation was fairly helpless at that time of night, we just went to bed at about 10:00 pm as there really wasn’t anything to do either. By the time we woke the following morning, the sight of daylight and clear skies outside was a very welcome one. We had to bide our time until working hours commenced for the electric company so took the dog out to a nearby park, and went to the supermarket as I hadn’t eaten since lunchtime the previous day. We were even able to charge our phones for a bit whilst there.

A couple of guys from the electric company eventually came round at lunchtime and determined that the breaker was indeed broken. They managed to replace it and told us that the electricity was back on but it was fairly limited. Thankfully it was spring and not winter or summer when heating or aircon are needed which use up a fair amount of power!

You’d think that as soon as the electricity was back on mid-afternoon we would lap up being reconnected but instead we went out to enjoy the clear blue skies and sunshine. We went to regular haunt Mount Komuro but this time my wife chose to take the chairlift up rather than walk. As it was her birthday, I didn’t try to change her mind as it had been a quite tough day albeit a memorable one!

We usually go to this place early morning so we rarely see anyone else but this time it was mid-afternoon and a holiday too. It was quite strange to see so many other people albeit not as many as there would have been had the azaleas (which the park is famous for) been in bloom.

We didn’t know the annual azalea festival had actually finished so had been hoping to catch a glimpse of the pink flowers. The sports field which becomes a car park during the event was completely vacant so that was probably a telltale sign that it was over!

Normal servive was resumed once back home and our first world problems were over. Such minor problems really are a grave reminder of much simpler and innocent times when our lives weren’t so dictated by tecbnology. It was quite nice to experience life without it for a short time but having said that, I really hope and pray that we don’t encounter the same problem for a third time in a row next time we visit Izu.

Click here to read ‘Is It Worth Visiting The Japanese Fishing Village Which Was The Setting For The TV Series Shogun?’

Click here to read ‘7 Nights In Izu: Great Lakes, Picturesque Mountains, A New Footbath, Robot Waiters & 4 Candles!’

Click here to read ‘Shizuoka Shenanigans: Spiders, Spicy Sustenance, Sizzling Steaks, Sacred Shrines, Strange Soda, Ships & Soccer’

Click here to read ‘Izu Coastal Adventures; Mountains, Beaches, Lakes, Parks, Bridges, Temples, Food, Dogs, Football, Abandoned Ruins & Chainsaws!!’