A Letter from Blue Sky and Sea - Izu Shimoda Photo Diary

2015/05/30 Shirahama Beach today

I walked on the seaside road and the beach this afternoon.

There were some people swimming in the water and a lot of surfers on the beach.

2015/05/26 Sotoura Beach in Shimoda

Between Shirahama and Shimoda city, there is a small beach called Sotoura Beach.

They usually don't have big waves on this beach in shape of a cove.

That's why this beach is very popular with families with small children.

2015/05/25 Shirahama Beach today

I walked along the seaside this afternoon as usual.

The TV news said that it has been very hot in Tokyo this morning, but it was cool here in Shirahama because of the north wind.

2015/05/24 Hydrangea in our field

We sometimes had a little sun light through the clouds in the sky, but it had been almost cloudy today.

The hydrangea in our field is now getting colored little by little. The hydrangea festival will take place at Shimoda park next month.

 

2015/05/21 View from Ogasaki Wing

The Ogasaki^wing is one of the good view points in Izu peninsula.

We can see the beautiful landscape and the seascape from this point.

In addition, for example, when I came back from Tokyo we can feel "Yes, we are home!" at this point.

I really love the view from this point.

2015/05/19 Twilight time in Shirahama

When I was cooking for our own dinner in the kitchen I opened the window and saw the sun setting into the west.

So I went to the beach quickly to take pictures of the clouds turned pink on the beach.

2015/05/17 Beach Cleaning

The local community of Shirahama had a beach cleaning this early morning.

It was foggy then, but it became sunny today.

In addition, the humidity is getting higher day by day because the summer is coming!

2015/05/15 76th Black Ship Festival in Shimoda city

On the 1st day of Black Ship Festival 2015 in Shimoda the fireworks display was held at Shimoda harbor.

I went to Shimoda to see the fireworks display with my family.

We were able to see the fireworks under the clear sky last year, but we were not able to see the big fireworks in the cloud this year.

2015/05/14 Gorgeous Seascape in Shirahama, Shimoda

We had strong west wind, but it was very hot like summer here in Shirahama today.

We were able to see a gorgeous seascape this afternoon.

This beach looks like a southern island, doesn't it?

I was really excited when I was walking and taking pictures on the beach and the seaside road under the beautiful sun!

2015/05/13 Thank you for staying.

They came from Tokyo and stayed for 1 nights.

He is from England and she is from the United States, and he has stayed at Pesion Sakuray with his 4 friends 7 years ago, and they came to Sakuraya for her birthday.

It had been cloudy on the 1st day, but it became beautiful day after the typhoon passed.

Thank you for staying with us.

We are looking forward to meeting you one day again!

2015/05/13 Beach after typhoon

I took this picture on the way to the nearest beach this morning.

The typhoon #16 had passed to the north of Japan last night, and the sun and the blue sky came back  again.

We are very glad  that we had no damege by typhoon this time.

2015/05/11 Thank you for staying.

They are the first Nepalese customers who live in Tokyo.

They were very lucky to have great time on the beach under the sun like summer yesterday.

Thank you for staying with us.

See you one day again!

2015/05/10 Shirahama Beach at Low Tide

It was very beautiful and really hot like almost summer today.

There were some people in the water this afternoon.

By the way, that huge rock on the beach looks like a submarine just about getting out of water, isn't it?

2015/05/08 Sotoura Beach in Shimoda

When I took my daughter to the school by my car this morning I took this picture.

This is Sotoura Beach in Shimoda, 2 or 3 minutes by car from Shirahama Beach.

In this season the blue sky and the fresh leaves are really gorgeous.

You can see the other pictures which I took this morning on our Facebook page.

2015/05/05 Shimoda Black Ship Festival is coming soon!!

The 76th Shimoda Black Ship Festival 2015 will take place for 3 days from May 15th Friday.

The fireworks festival will be held from 8:15 PM on the 1st day.

Let's enjoy "Time Travel to the Dawn of Japan's Modernization".

Click here to see 11 pictures of this past festival on our Facebook.

2015/05/02 Shirahama Beach in Golden Week

We had clear blue sky today again.

The nearest beach "Shirahama Beach" was much more beautiful than yesterday, because there was no cloud in the sky.

According to the weather forecast today would be the best day during this Golden Week.

2015/05/01 Thank you for staying.

They came from Australia and stayed at Pension Sakuraya for 3 nights.

It had been cloudy and they sometimes had a little shower during their stay, but the blue sky came back on the last day.

The children were really cute, and the elder brother spoke English much better than me!!!

We are looking forward to meeting you all someday again!

Thank you very much for staying with us.

Have a nice trip and stay in Japan.

2015/05/01 Shirahama Beach & Shimoda city this morning

The blue sky and the sunshine came back here in Shimoda after 3 days!

It was very hot like summer!

I took my daughter to the train station in Shimoda by my car this morning, and took some pictures on the way.

2015/04/27 Yumigahama Beach in Minami Izu town

It was very hot and was almost summer here in Shimoda today.

I went to Yumigahama beach near the tip of Izu peninsula, 20 minutes driving from Sakuraya, with my wife and son this afternoon.

My son was very happy and excited to play with his mother, because he doesn't have many oppotunities like this.

2015/04/26 Shirahama Beach

I've lived here in Shirahama, Shimoda since more than 20 years ago, and I see the nearest beach almost every day.

But I never get tired of seeing such a beautiful sea.

2015/04/25 Koinobori - - Carp-shaped Streamer

We set up Koinobori which is carp-shaped streamer today.

Families with boys in Japan fly Koinobori outside from April to ealy May in honor of Children's Day May 5th which is originally boy's fesitival.

We also set up Koinobori in honor of my son for a good future and in the hope that he will grow up healthy and strong.

2015/04/24 Shirahama Chuo Beach

The nearest beach from Pension Sakuraya is Shirahama Ohama Beach, but there is other beach called Shirahama Chuo Beach.

It takes about 25 minutes by walking from Sakuraya.

This beach is the shape of cove and they don't have big waves.

So this beach is very popular wtih the families with small children.

2015/04/22 The great conductor Kazuki Yamada and Tokyo Philharmonic Chorus in Shimoda

I'm a member of Chorus in Shimoda, and we will have a concert with a professional chorus group, "Tokyo Philhermonic Chorus" and the conductor "Kazuki Yamada" on July 12th 2015.

Mr. Yamada got the 1st prize of International Competition for Young Conductors in Besançon, France in 2009.

He has come to Shimoda a lot of times since 1998, and we had a lot of concerts with him until now.

He came to Shimoda yesterday again and we had a special practice for the next concert with him.

It was a great time for us and we were defenitely developed by him.

2015/04/18 Shirahama Beach Today

I took these pictures from the seaside road on the way to Shimoda city this afternoon.

It was very warm here in Shirahama again today.

There were some people on the beach under the sun shine.....

2015/04/17 Shirahama Beach Today

We had heavy shower for a little while this morning, but it became sunny after that.

I walked toward back of Shirahama shrine on the beach today.

2015/04/16 Sand Mound on the beach

We had had strong north wind until yesterday, but it's west wind here in Shirahama today.

This morning I saw that they started to remove the sand on the road, which was blown off by the strong north wind for the last few days.

The sand mounds were made by the strong wind on the beach as well.

2015/04/15 Shirahama Beach today

The blue sky and the blue sea came back after a long time!

I was very happy to walk on the seaside road looking over the beautiful sea under the sunshine.

The weather forecast says it's getting warmer tomorrow.

2015/04/08 Snow in April

This is a picture from the online live camera near Mt. Fuji this morning.

They had a little snow in Hakone and around Mt. Fuji today.

We didn't have any snow in Shimoda, but we had very cold rain and strong north wind.

Where has spring gone?

2015/04/06 Shirahama Beach under the Sun

It was sunny and very warm after a several days here in Shirahama today.

When I was walking on the beach there were  some people barefoot in the water.

The weather forecast says it will be colder tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.

2015/04/05 Twilight time at Sakura street in Shimoda

In my hometown, Miyazaki prefecture in Kyushu, it was the first hottest day this year with over 30 degrees centigrade.

As we sometimes have a little cold day we can't imagine such a hot day.

This is a Sakura street along the river in Shimoda.

If it was sunny there would be a lot of people coming to see Sakura blossoms, but there was nobody even it was Sunday.