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

No clouds in the sky - Shirahama beach

"What's that, Yuuki ? "

"Sea !"

Before going to Shimoda for shopping we went to the beach and asked my son.

Then he answerd me so.

"That's very beautiful sea, right ?"

"Beautiful !!"

Today's Shirahama beach was really excellent. ....

Foot Spa - Izukyu Shimoda train station

I went to Shimoda train station today.

I have ever been there a lot of times, but I have never show this.

This is Foot Spa in front of Shimoda station building.

This spa is free of charge and opened for 24 hours.
The capacity is about 4 people, so it is not big, I think.

If you go to Shimoda by train please try it once.

Besides I show you the view from this spa. .....

Aloe Field in Shirahama - the entrance of Shimoda city

Today we, the members of Shirahama Tourist association cleaned up the field of Aloe at Itado area in Shirahama.

Because we have "Aloe Festival " in this area from December 9th.

To clean up this field we got into the Aloe trees and cut the weeds.

It was cloudy today but it became a little hot for us cleaning up this area.....

Walking on the beach in Shirahama

It was sunny in Shirahama yesterday, but was almost cloudy today.

As I had to go to the small citizen hall in Shirahama I went there with my son, Yuuki.

We walked on the beach for a while after that.

(He was looking back his shoes. Was there anything back your shoes, Yuuki ?) ......

Shirahama beach after a long time

We had a holiday in Okinawa last week.

And when we came back to Shirahama it had already been dark.
Besides we had been very busy to prepare for this weekend in these days.

So I could go to the beach to take a picture after a long time today.

In Okinawa we went to Ishigakijima island and Haterumajima island.
They have excellent beach and nature, but actually this Shirahama beach is very beautiful same as Okinawa, I think.

The view of Izu Seven Islands from Shirahama

This morning it was very beautiful day, but the clouds came to Shirahama in the afternoon.

I went to "Ogasaki Wing", the spot where we can see Izu seven islands and Shirahama.

And I took this picture.

You can see the islands between the cloud and the ocean. ......

Hikari and Yuuki on the beach

Today it was almost cloudy and we had sometimes a little rain in Shirahama.

As I had to go to Shirahama Tourist Information I took my children, Hikari and Yuuki, together.

There was nobody on the beach, even surfers, becase we did not have good waves today.

When I was in the office I heard a voice of Yuuki crying outside.

I asked my daughter and she said,

"Yuuki wants to get off the shoes. But I said No because it is rainning here today."

I sometimes take my children recently and my son plays on the beach, so he wanted to do it today too. .....

Sawada Park Rotenburo- Outside Hot Spring in Dogashima

Today it was beautiful day, so I went to Nishi Izu with my son, Yuuki.

After 1 hours driving we could see the ocean and drove for 5 minutes we got to "Sawada Koen (Open-Air Spa)"
in Dogashima.

When we arrived there was nobody in a parking lot and I found a sign at the reception of this Onsen.
"Closed on every Tuesday" it said.

But I was not going to take a bath there because my son had a little cold today.

After parking my car we went up the steep steps to get to Onsen on the top of hill.

"Hey Yuuki, watch your step !!"   .....

A silent beach, Shirahama Ohama

Today we had no wind in Shirahama.

The sun was shining and the sea was really beutiful.

There was a group of surfing but they didn't have good waves here.

Today it was good day for reading a book on the quiet beach.

Blue sky in Shirahama

Today it was very beautiful day too !!

There was no cloud in the blue sky and we could see Izu Oshima island clearly.

Actually I wanted to go to the beach to take a picture but didn't do it because I had clean up the rooms today.

Some of our guests went to the beach to swim and read a book at the balcony outside.

When they came back from the beach I asked them about the water and they said,

"It was not cold and enough to swim !!"

How do you get to Shimoda from Tokyo, by train or by car ?

By train:

The best way would be taking Limited Express Train "Odoriko" by JR.
In this case you don't need to transfer at any station, it means this
train goes to Simoda directly.
And you had better take the reasonable Free Pass "Odoriko Minami Izu
Free Kippu" for this train.
You can get the informations in detail in the following webpage.
http://izu-sakuraya.jp/english/freepass.htm

The timetable for JR:
http://grace.hyperdia.com/cgi-english/hyperWeb.cgi

Please fill out the form as follows,
Start Point: Tokyo  Destination: Izukyu Shimoda

If you would like to take this pass you had better go to JR station to
book the seats as soon as possible.
The seats on the left side toward Shimoda in this train would be better
for you, because you will be able to get the ocean view from the left
side seats.

By car:

We have 2 ways to get to Shirahama from Tokyo by car.

<1>
Tomei Express way - Atsugi IC - Odawara - Atami - Ito - Kawazu - Shirahama

<2>
Tomei Express way - Numazu IC - Mishima - Shuzenji - Amagi mountain -
Kawazu - Shirahama

It takes about 3 hours, or 3 and half hours from Tokyo, if you don't
have a traffic jam.

Anyway, before coming to Shimoda, please check the map of Sakuraya with
photos in the following webpage and bring it to find our Pension easily.
http://izu-sakuraya.jp/english/mapwithpicures.htm

A beautiful sky after typhoon, Shirahama Beach !!

I had been worrying about Typhoon one week ago, because we have many guest during these holidays.

But  it didn't land to Japan fortunately this time at last.

In stead of typhoon we had a very beautiful day in Shirahama.
The blue sky and shinning sea, everything is excellent.

Besides we coudl see Izu Seven Islands clearly today !!

After cleaning up I went to the beach to take a picture with my chidlren. .....

New Tatami Mats !!

The busy summer was finished at the end of last month, so Sakuraya is very quiet recently.

This autumn we decided to change Tatami Mats of Japanese style rooms.

We got the new Tatami Mats of Room 101 today.

The new Tatami Mats are really good smell, and we can be relaxed very much.

And as we changed the wall paper last spring this room seems like new room !

By the way, when I was taking pictures of this room my son, Yuuki, came into. .......

A cliff on Shirahama beach

We had a strong storm in these days, but today it was a beautiful day in Shirahama.

After cleanning up the kitchen we went to Shirahama beach with my son, "Yuuki" and my daughter, "Hikari".

There were many surfers in the sea, but we were very surprised when we found one thing on the beach...

Sunny day Shirahama

Last weekend it was cloudy and we had strong wind in Shimoda, but it was very beautiful day today.

I took this picture from the top of mountain behind Pension Sakuraya.
We can see Amagi mountain, Inatori cape and Izu seven island from here.

The white sand and blue sea are excellent ..... .

Over that tunnel there is a paradise !!

Today it was more beautiful day than yesterday !!

From this morning my children were very excited, because they could go to the beach today too.

My son, Yuuki went to the bed too late last night, so he was not fine this morning.
But I said, "Let's go to the beach !!"
He became be really excited soon and went to the beach holding his hands with his grand father.

As I had a job this morning I went after my job was finished.

During summer we go to the beach through the buiding of  "Resupo Shirahama".

This morning I could see the beautiful scenery over this buiding. ....

On the beach with grand'pa and grand'ma !

Today my parents came to Shimoda from Miyazaki Pref. in Kyushu by airplane and train to meet their grand children.

So we, my children, parents and me went to the beach for swimming together.
(It was 3rd time for my children to swim. We can not go to the beach as we are very busy during summer season.)

As usual my son was not scared the sea and wanted to go into the water with his grand father.
(A baby with red swim wear is my son, Yuuki.)

At that time my daughter, Hikari was playing with her friends of the school. ...

Blue sky, Blue sea and .....

It was very beautiful day in Shirahama today !

During summer we can't see clear sky and blue sea many times, so they were lucky today.

I took this picture on the way to Shimoda for shopping, but there were a lot of people today too.

When I was taking pictures I found white clouds in the sky ......

It was a picture that I took 3 days ago.....

Yes, when I went to Shimoda for shopping I took these picture at Shirahama beach.
Actually I was going to post it soon but we are very busy and tired every day in summer, so I couldn't do it.

Well, in spite of that Obon holidays were over there were a lot of people in the beach.

I took this picture in front of Family Mart.

I am showing you the another picture which I took on Route 135......

After Obon Holidays it is still swimming season in Shimoda !

During Obon holidays we had a lot of traffic jam in Izu peinsula, but we don't hear about it in these days.

One of our guests who arrived at Shirahama this morning
, they could get to Shimoda after about 4 hours drive from Tokyo.
Actually they left from Tokyo at around 4:00 am.

Anyway I could see a lot of people at Shirahama beach today.....

Traffic Jam in Izu Peninsula !

"I have been coming to Shimoda every summer these 20 years, but it was first time to have an experience of the big traffic jam in Shimoda."

"It usually takes about 15 minutes by car from Kawazu town to Shirahama, but took 2 hours today !"

Our guest who arrived at Sakuraya this morning said so.

"Walking was faster than driving on route 135 today."

Today was Sunday, during Obon holidays and beautiful summer day, that's why they had a traffic jam. .....

Before a storm it was the best blue sky today !!

Today it was a very beautiful day !

When I was working I found the blue sky, so I went outside and took this picture standing on the roof of Sakuraya's building.

Actually I wanted to go to the beach to take beautiful sea, but I was very busy today.

Our guest who came back from the beach said,
" It was excellent the blue sea under the blue sky !!"

In the summer we can not see a beautiful sky like today, because it is misty even if it is sunny.

By the way the typhoon is coming toward Japan, it  was a calm before  a storm, I think.

Prohibited to swim today

"It is prohibited to swim today, so we came back."

Our guest who went to the beach this moring said so.

"Let's go to the beach to check the condition !"

I went to the beach with my children after job.

When I saw the sea from the 2nd floor of Family Mart I could see a looooooot of people and fog over there.

We have many foggy days this summer, because the temparature of water is colder than usual......

Good Helper, Yuuki !!

One of my daughter's jobs of this summer is cleaning up the bath.

Yuuki is always following after his sisters and wants to do same things.

So when she started to clean up the bath he did it too. So she teaches him how to do it.

By the way yuuki's job is ......

Tatado Beach in Shimoda

My daughters, Akari and Hikari caught a cold at last.
Because it had been a little cold in these days in the last weekend.

So I took them to the hospital in Shimoda.

After that I went to Tatado Beach to take pictures.

Today it was very hot here in Shimoda, so I could see a lot of people in this beach..... .

A Summer came back again !! - Shirahama

The rainy season had already been over, but after that, it had been almost cloudy here in Shimoda in these days.

And today, a summer came back again to Shimoda at last.

I went to "Shirahama Chuuou Beach" to take pictures under the sunshine.

I took this picture from the road on the hill.

Well, let's go to the beachside......

A Sunrise in Shirahama beach, Shimoda

At around 4:30am on July 13th, I could see a really beautiful sunrise at Shirahama beach.

Before coming to Shimoda I wanted to see this scine which I saw in Sakuraya's webpage.

We stayed in Shirahama for 4 days and could see it on a last morning at last because it had been cloudy for 3 days.

This place is behind Shirahama shrine, and there is a red gate "Torii" on the big rock.
We can see Izu seven islands from here, and this gate seemes like a  place to meet gods from these islands.

When I took this picture the sun had just been rising.

- - - - - - - - -

Actually I did not take this picture.
Our guest came from Tokyo went to the beach in early morning to take this picture, and sent us this picture to us later....... .

Summer ! Summer came back to Shimoda

It had been sunny in these 3 days here in Shirahama.

When the weather is good there are a lot of beach parasols in the beach.

And the area of the parasols are becoming to spread day after day.

Actually how many people were there today ? ......

Today is Saturday, but ......

When will be the rainy season over ?

Last year it had been already finished on July 18th, but we are still in the rainy days this year. *sigh* .... .

However we could sometimes have sun today, so our guest could go to the beach and swim.

When I went to the beach to take picutres today, there were a lot of people there. ...

Sotoura Beach in Shimoda

Since yesterday we had benn having a heavy rain in Shirahama.

Actually I was going to take a picture of Shirahama beach today when I went to Shimoda, but I could not do it because of rain.

In these days I always show you the pictures of Shirahama, so I introduce the another one today.

This is "Sotoura Beach" located in a small village between Shimoda town and Shirahama, which is one of 9 beaches in Shimoda, and it takes about 10 minutes to the nearest bus stop from Shimoda train station by bus.

They usually don't have big waves here because this beach is in a creek (a small bay).

They provide one thing to play in this creek in summer, and we can have a fun with it.
It is ............ .
   

A beautiful summer day, Shirahama Beach !!

Yes, it has come to Shirahama today at last !!

Today, it was a first day of 3 holidays in Japan.
We were worrying about the weather of today, but it was very beautiful day.

"I must take a picture of beach !"

We were very busy today, but I went to the beach to take pictures.

On the way to the beach from Sakuraya I could see a lot of parasols under the blue sky. ......