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

2011/01/31 Last sunrise on January

This morning I woke up a little later than usual, so I took my daughter to her school by car.

Of couse she got to the school on time!

On the way home I took this photo.

It was very good scenary with sunrise and clouds on the horizon!

2011/01/31 We got an e-mail with photo from France!

We got an e-mail with photo today.

They came from France and stayed at Sakuraya for 2 nights on August 5th and 6th.

During their stay it had been sunny and they were able to go to the beach for swimming.

We hope we would be able to meet you someday again.

Thank you very much for staying at Sakuraya and sending photo!

2011/01/30 Walking on the beach with my son

It was a little cold because of west wind, but good weather for walking.

This afternoon I went to the nearest beach Shirahama with my son.

There is Shirahama shrine on the north part of Shirahama beach, and there is a red gate of shrine called Torii in Japanese on the big rock.

We were able to see Izu seven islands clearly from the tip of this big rock.

2011/01/29 A postcard from France

Today I found out a postcard in our post box.

It was from Paris in France.

They stayed at Sakuraya in April last year, and this time they have been back to Paris and sent us this postcard.

I have already put it on the board at the entrance of Sakuraya building like this.

Thank you for sending postcard from France!!

2001/01/28 Hiking from Sakuraya to Mt. Takane & Rendaiji town

Today it was almost cloudy, but sometimes we were able to get sun shine.

I wanted to buy something at home improvement center called "Handy".

It is located at Rendaiji town in Shimoda on the oposit side of Shirahama, and we can go there through Mt. Takene.

It means, if I climb Mt. Takene and went down it I can go there.

So I decided to climb the mountain today.

From the top of Mt. Takane we can see the pacific ocean and Izu seven islands.

It takes about 1 hour from Sakuraya by walking.

2011/01/27 Mihogasaki cape in Shirahama, Shimoda

Today it was sunny and very warm here in Shimoda, so I went for walking.

I took this photo at the tip of Mihogasaki cape.

It takes about 20 minutes by walking from Sakuray.

As the air was very clear I was able to get the beautiful scenary with Izu seven islands on pacific ocean.

Of course we can see Shirahama beach on the other side.

This season it is very good for walking, because we can take good photos of the ocean and the naturre.

2011/01/21 Have you ever seen this?

Today I went to Izukyu-Shimoda station and walked around in the station building to find out something interesting.

This is called "Shizuoka-cola." made in Shizuoka, Japan!

The taste was almost Coka Cola, but it includes the flovor of Japanese green tea.

Why don't you try this?

You can find out it at the shop in the station building, but unfortunately it is not cold.... .

 

2011/01/20 Playing with my son, Yuuki, on the beach

I went to the kindergarten to pick my son up by walking this afternoon.

On the way to our home we went to the nearest beach "Shirahama" to play.

Today it was sunny again and the water was blue and gorgeous.

My son was excited with the waves on the beach.

After he will get into the primary school we will not be able to together after school like this.

I think I would be sad...... .

2011/01/19 Tropical sea in Shimoda - - Shirahama Chuo Beach

I went to hospital for my wife at around noon, and while she was there I went to the beach to take photos.

Today it was sunny again, so the sea was so beautiful. It looks like a tropical beach in Okinawa or southern island.

This beach is called "Shirahama Chuo Kaigan", it takes about 30 minutes by walking from Pension Sakuraya. Of course there is a parking lot for free except busy season.

I want to go there for snorkeling after this cold winter.

2011/01/18 Influenza in Shimoda and Japan

This morning, as I woke up a little later than usual, I took my daughter to her school by car.

When I left my house the sun had just risen up on the horizon.

So I went to the beach behind Shirahama shrine to take photos.

By the way, now in Shimoda there are many people who got influenza after last weekend.

My daughter had already got it on last Friday or Saturday, so this had prevented her from going to school.

And my wife has had fever at last.

Are you going to visit Japan this winter?

Please be careful not to get influenza.

You should bring or buy a flu mask and wash your hands every time.

2011/01/17 A new knapsack of my son, Yuuki

In Japan almost of every students go to primary ( grade ) school carrying this knapsack with back straps.

As he knew that he would go to the primary school on next April he wanted his own knapsack like this.

"When can I buy my knapsack?"

"We will buy it when we will go to Chigasaki city."

As we promised we bought this knapsack at the shop in Chigasaki.

Long time ago we had only 2 types, black one for boys and red one for girls, but they have many kinds of color of this knapsack in these days.

But we were able to make a dicision soon because my son wanted black one.

He looks very happy with his own brand-new knapsack now.

We call this "Randoseru" in Japanese, but how can we call this in English?

Maybe they don't have this bag in the foreign countries, right?

 

2011/01/12 Sunrise in Shirahama & Toshima-island

I took this photo at around 7:30 am at the different place from yesterday.

It was sunny this morning, and there was no big cloud in the sky.

That's why I was able to take a photo with shinning sun and there was a golden road on the sea.

Do you see the island under the sun?

That's called "Toshima" island.

It takes about 1 hour and 35 minutes by ship from Shimoda harbor.

Do you know what the circumference of that island is?

It is only 8 kilometers and only 300 people live there.

80 % of that island is covered with camellia trees and the amount of production of camellia oil is best in Japan.

There is no beach in that island, so the most popular sports are diving and fishing.

Would you like to go there?

Check this website out!! 

2011/01/11 In the morning sky

There was an article on the snow in Shimoda yesterday in the newspaper this morning.

I was thinking we had snow at all places in Shimoda, but the paper said the snow lay only 2 centimeters in the coastlands between Shirahama and Shimoda.

I took this photo on the way home at around 7:00 am when I took my daughter to the junior high school by car this morning.

It was really cold this morning too.

2011/01/10 Snow on the island "Izu Oshima"

Today my wife went to the next prefecture by train, so I took here to the station early this morning.

At that time we had black cloud in the sky, but it had not been rainy yet.

But we had snow after that.

I didn't notice it, because I had been in my room and the screen had been closed.

When I went shopping at around 9:00 am it has already been sunny, and I found out the snow on the island over the ocean.

They have snow some times during cold season every year, but it is earlier than usual.

2011/01/09 Windy day in Shirahama, Shimoda

After our customers checked-out, when I was cleaning up the guest room I saw the sea very beautiful through the window.

So I stopped cleaning I went to the beach.

The gradation of changing of the sea was so gorgeous!

The tourists park their cars on the road, and they took photos and some of them went to this beach for walking.

But we had very strong wind today, and this wind sometimes blew the sand off.

2011/01/07 Walking on Shirahama Beach

Today I went to the nearest beach for walking after long time.

I have been very busy for last 2 months, so I didn't walk.

It was very cold here in Shimoda today, but as we didn't have wind it was very comfortable to walk.

I was very happy walking with blue sky, white cloud and blue sea today.

 

2010/01/02 Hatsumode to Shirahama shrine

Today, after we finished cleaning up the gurst rooms we went to Shirahama shrine.

Most Japanese visit a shirine or a buddhist temple as a first time of new year to pray for comfort and health on the 1st, 2nd or 3rd January.

This is called "Hatsumode", the first visit shrine of new year.

That's why there were a lot of people at Shirahama shirine today and were some women in Kimono.

After praying we took a photo in fron of Haiden (hall of worship) all together.

 

2011/01/01 Happy New Year!! - - Pension Sakuraya in Shimoda, Japan

How have you been?

We had a lot of customers last year at Pension Sakuraya in Shimoda.

We appreciate it very much.

In Japan we, Japanese cereblate the new year's day on January every year.

It is considered by most Japanese to be one of the most important annual festivals and has been celebrated.

At Sakuraya we decorate the room and many places in the building with the flowers like this.

In all Japanese style rooms we put the flower pot with the seasonal flowers and the leaves.

Let us wish you and yours a happy and healthy New Year.