Banana Wani-En Gardens

Posted on June 11, 2017 by tokyofox

My parents-in-law bought a second home in Ito earlier this year and before my first couple of visits I asked a group of students about things to do on the Izu Peninsula. The first answer to come back was about this place which has a very intriguing name. It translates as banana crocodile gardens (below) and they are located close to Izu-Atagawa down towards the south of the peninsula.

 

However, when I left home on this particular day I actually had no intention of visiting these interestingly named gardens and neither did I even know that Continue reading →

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Quirkiness Aplenty At This Strange Retro Museum In Shizuoka

Posted on June 8, 2017 by tokyofox

There was never really any plan to go to this museum directly after Usami Kannon-ji temple but as it was still early and I didn’t have to be home by midday I thought I’d take the train to Fudo station and walk for half an hour (uphill!) to this museum which is only 3.6 kilometres down the road from the Ayashii Shonen Shojo Museum (Mysterious Boys and Girls Museum). What is it about this area and weird museums?!!

 

This Japanese retro strange museum is accessed via some steps leading up to the ticket office window at a kind of crossroads from where the different zones can be explored. It is incredibly difficult to Continue reading →

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Japan’s Largest Sitting Kannon Statue Has A Great View In The Mountains

Posted on June 5, 2017 by tokyofox

 

As I took the train up the east coast of the Izu Peninsula towards Atami a few months ago I noticed a giant statue high up in the forest in the distance. My subsequent research told me that it was called Usami Kannon-ji temple and I set my sights on one day hiking up to it. I had to be patient though as on follow-up trips to Izu there just wasn’t time for me to go off and explore the area.

The Japanese Golden Week holiday finally gave me the chance to check it out and it was a very early start. I felt so awake on waking at about 5:30am that I thought I’d go to Usami station and just Continue reading →

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The Temple Of The Toilet God

Posted on June 1, 2017 by tokyofox

 

Obviously the title gives it away but before asking my father-in-law to drive us all to Myotoku-ji temple (234 Ichiyama, Izu-shi) I wasn’t really sure why it was considered a quirky place. Over the last couple of years though I have come to trust my source for such places but on arrival  Continue reading →

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Journey To The Centre Of The Izu Peninsula

Posted on May 29, 2017 by tokyofox

The pungent root that is wasabi is one that divides many people. Haters often demand  sushi chefs leave it out of their dishes for a number of reasons such as fear of it getting up their noses, making their eyes water and of course the slightly burning taste! In contrast, those who don’t mind it can often enjoy it in many different forms these days whether it be wasabi-flavoured crisps, Kit-Kats or ice-creams.

As someone who came up with the idea of wasabi on toast a few years back, I am of course no stranger to the spicy green stuff and so when my father-in-law mentioned a family day trip to Kameya Jien Wasabizawa in Izu city, I was keen to go and see what concoctions they had come up with. On the back of our family trip down to the tip of the Izu Peninsula it was another early start in order to beat the Golden Week traffic and we were at Japan’s number one wasabi growing region at about 9am.

 

Izu city has a longstanding history of  Continue reading →

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Super Sunday Soccer At Shimizu S-Pulse In Shizuoka

Posted on May 25, 2017 by tokyofox

There are four J-League teams based in Shizuoka prefecture and they were all playing at home on the last weekend in April. J3 side Fujieda MYFC were the only team to play on the Saturday so that was a given. The other three sides all had Sunday fixtures so I had to decide between seeing J3 team Azul Claro Numazu, Jubilo Iwata (where former Celtic hero Shunsuke Nakamura now plays) or Shimizu S-Pulse. Ultimately I chose the latter as I wanted to go to a top flight game and Shimizu was slightly the closer to our base in Ito.

Look closely and Mount Fuji can just about be made out through the circular architectural piece (below) situated just outside Shimizu station from where I took the bus six kilometres to the IAI Stadium Nihondaira.

 

It was a sweltering day and the kid below came up to me and spoke in English about Leicester City as I was again wearing my Continue reading →

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Down To The Southern Tip Of The Izu Peninsula

Posted on May 22, 2017 by tokyofox

Due to my football commitments over the weekend in Fujieda and Shimizu, it was a few days before my Golden Week holiday started properly in terms of spending some quality time with my wife, her parents and of course Momiji the dog! First up was a drive down to the southern most point of the Izu Peninsula with some stops along the way.

     

Shirahama Beach provided a brief stop and it was quite stunning with its  Continue reading →

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Ayashii Shonen Shojo Museum (Mysterious Boys and Girls Museum)

Posted on May 19, 2017 by tokyofox

Route 135 is the main road that runs down the east coast of the Izu Peninsula and there are all manner of interesting places and sights dotted along it. With its large and imposing statue out the front, this museum caught my eye as we were driving down to Shimoda and Minami-Izu. On the way back, my parents-in-law stopped off (by chance) for a macha flavoured ice cream right next door to it so I took the opportunity to explore the shabby looking building whilst the rest of the family returned home.

     

It really is difficult to detail the contents of such a museum as it’s just so packed with random stuff akin to a recycle shop or collectors bedroom! There is very little in the way of  Continue reading →

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You Got The Power In Yugawara!

Posted on May 16, 2017 by tokyofox

After just a few hours in Shizuoka prefecture I was on a train heading back over the border to Kanagawa prefecture to visit Yugawara which is actually just the one stop from Atami. The reason being that I wanted to visit Fukusen-ji Temple (191 Izumi, Atami-shi) which was about twenty minutes away on foot.

 

Located just across a river, there were some steps leading up to this temple which included a quaint thatched roof on the main building and some wisteria flowers. I was only there for one thing though and that was to see the Continue reading →

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An Afternoon In Atami

Posted on May 13, 2017 by tokyofox

 

It was a gloriously sunny day when my Golden Week holiday started in Atami en-route to stay with my parents-in-law in Ito which is about 25 kilometres further down the east coast of the Izu Hanto Peninsula. My wife would be joining me later that night but I was free till the evening and armed with our suitcase which I dumped in a locker outside Atami station and then proceeded to walk for about 45 minutes up to the castle.

The views across the harbour are supposed to be reminiscent of Mediterranean Europe (above) and they were indeed very impressive on a fine day. Atami-jo Castle is located on top of a hill and I actually Continue reading →

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