A recent short break for all the teachers in my workplace allowed some time to relax and enjoy the time off but that wasn’t quite the case for me. On the face of it a trip to the east coast of the Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka Prefecture sounds pretty good but as ever it wasn’t really a holiday.

A nice image of a beach in Izu but we could only dream of such a place on this trip!

About eight years ago my parents-in-law bought a second house in Izu so that they had a home closer (than their Hiroshima apartment) to their children (my wife and her brother) in Tokyo without having to live in the big city itself. Their visits to the house have become fewer and fewer in recent years due to a number of reasons so it’s been left to my wife and I to look after the place.

However, life has got in the way a bit this year and so the house had been completely unattended for six months until the end of June. The sight when I arrived one hot and sunny afternoon was an overgrown entrance area, leaf and branch-covered steps and the doorstep was a sea of berries from a tree above which I never even knew existed! The back garden was also fairly messy with dead leaves everywhere and some very tall grass!

Inside wasn’t too bad apart from the usual amount of dead insects lying around. We’d cleaned the place a lot in January so it was still looking pretty good. The electricity though had been cut off as is the case if there’s no sign of usage in three months. I sadly didn’t know that last fact at the time though and was a bit miffed that it wasn’t working. I’m not sure why though as this is not the first time it’s happened!

So yet again we went the first 24 hours without any electricity in a story very similar to this one from last year but this time we were also without gas so it was cold showers all the way. As boiling hot as it was outside the feeling of such a shower was still too much for the body to take so a strategic wash was necessary each time.

The positives of having such a holiday home are fairly obvious things like the location and the fact that it’s free accommodation. It’s about 20 minutes walk from the nearest station which is pretty impressive for such a rural area, and that has also been hugely useful over the years for exploring areas up and down the east coast of Izu as well as places further afield in the prefecture.

The house is about 50 years old and showing its age in places. It’s also full of clutter inside which is not easy to throw out due to the strict garbage disposal laws. Money would need to be spent on getting rid of some of the more bulky items and so they sit unused in the house collecting dust.

Talking of rubbish (as opposed to just talking rubbish!), the collection area is more than a  five minute walk uphill from the house and certain blue bin bags have to be bought and used for whatever is being trashed. When you’ve filled over a dozen bags with dead leaves and other such garbage it really is quite tiring to go back and forth carrying two bags at a time.

As for the trip itself there were very limited highlights beyond the satisfaction of clearing up the garden. The views from Nebukawa station en-route to Izu were pretty impressive as I stopped to give the dog a chance to stretch his little legs and more importantly relieve himself. Naturally he did that multiple times!

Komuroyama Park is probably our favourite place in Izu, and a morning trip there was the only excursion of note during our time in Izu.

Our chihuahua may be a little dog but he sure can climb the many steps ascending the mountain, and is often looking back to give us that look of hurrying up!

Dinosaur Space is an area close to the summit and it’s always fun to see how our dog measures up against the creatures from millions of years ago.

There is a kind of secret woodland walk between there and the top which I’ve never seen anyone else use and has the added benefit of the canopy protecting you from the sunshine. I’m not trying to look cool or being ironic by wearing my cap backwards by the way but have started doing so a fair bit recently just because the front gets so sweaty and uncomfortable.

A cafe opened at the top a few years ago which seems to have been quite successful as it’s a modern wooden design with an outdoor observation deck offering some lovely ocean views amidst lush greenery.

My wife is a sucker for such cafes and so we stopped for some very refreshing ice-cold beverages.

With soaring temperatures, we had to be careful with the dog and try to keep him cool. A few showers in the drining water fountains and a wet towel seemed to do the job and stop him from panting so much.

After three nights at the house we returned to Tokyo feeling pretty good about the gardening work we’d done. It’s tough at times (especially in such sweltering heat) but really is quite rewarding, and is the price we pay for having a second home of sorts. Naturally, the main positive of having a free place to stay in the countryside accessible from Tokyo by local train (about four hours door to door) far outweighs the maintenance work that needs doing each time. It won’t be so long before we return again, and hopefully there’ll be more free time to explore the coastal areas.

Click here to read ‘7 Nights In Izu: Is The Picture Postcard Cinder-Cone Mountain Becoming Too Touristy? Plus Japan’s Best Zoo & Over-Eating!’

Click here to read ‘6 Nights In Izu: A Blackout, Birthday Celebrations, Over-Tourism, Star Wars Day, Walking Adventures, J3 Football & The Birthplace of Long-Distance Calls!’

Click here to read ‘Izu Coastal Adventures: A Uniquely Coloured Torii Gate, Northern Izu’s Finest Beach & The Real Life ‘Shogun’ Setting’

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