Izu Peninsula - Kawazu

It's a Friday night and I'm sitting in my Japanese room at Kokoronodoka (心のどか) hotel in Kawazu (河津). I've been to Izu a number of times, but this is my first time in Kawazu. My Japanese inn has a spa- complete with indoor and outdoor private baths. It's wonderful. I had a bit of stress getting here because of the trains. Today it rained, so of course JR was delayed. Therefore I arrived just before the hotel check-in closed. Before I arrived I got a telephone call from the website I booked through, saying that if I wasn't there by 10 pm, I wouldn't be able to check in and I would still be charged :/ STRESS! Hahaha. But everything worked out.

On arrival, they took my bags and immediately set me up with a yukata, showed me the baths and then the room. The room is really nice, small but perfect for me. It includes a tv, Internet, air con, tea, filtered water, a kettle, etc. 

When I woke up the next day, I checked the surf report, and it was bad. No surfing this weekend :( But I didn't come all this way for nothing, so I finally took the time to walk around Shimoda and explore a bit. Shimoda is famous for being the first port for the Americans in Japan. It was in Shimoda that the Americans succeeded in getting Nagasaki and Yokohama ports opened to them as well. So Shimoda has an interesting history. I only walked around, in the future I will explore the museums and temples. I did part of a walking tour along Perry's road, Perry being Commodore Perry who established the American presence in Japan. After walking around Shimoda, I went back to Kawazu and hit Imaihama beach. This is a nice little beach, with sand and reef. Sometimes you can surf there, but it's less consistent than Irita. Apparently after the installation of terrapods in the water, the beach is a lot calmer and the waves just don't come any more. I wasn't able to surf there this time, instead I went body surfing! It was a lot of fun.

I retired to my hotel around 7, ate some food, went in the onsen and then got my fill of Japanese television. The next morning I was going to try swimming or surfing again, but there was thunder and lightning and stormy weather. So I just decided to get an early start on my way home. It is about 4 hours by local trains. 

I would definitely stay at that hotel again. It was quiet and the room was very nice. The owners seemed quite nice too. 

Shimoda's Port

View of Shimoda from Shimoda Park.

Me at the entrance to Kokoronodoka.