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

2013/06/09 Thank you for staying!

They are French family who live in Tokyo and had stayed at Sakuraya during last Golden Week in May, and came again for the 2nd time.

On the 2nd day they went to the beach and Shimoda Park to see the hydrangea flowers. And they went to Tsumekizaki cape after checked out.

They are very beautiful family!

Thank you very much for staying with us.

See you again in September!!

2013/06/09 Thank you for staying!

They are from Russia and live in Tokyo.

Two of them have stayed at Pension Sakuraya 2 years ago, and they came with their friends this time.

After they checked out they went to Hydrangea Festival, Aquarium and Mt. Nesugata Cable car, but were you able to go to all these places today?

All of them speak Japanese very well, so we had a good comunication with them in Japanese.

Thank you very much for staying with us.

We look forward to meeting you again!!

2013/06/08 Thank you for staying.

They came from California and stayed for 3 nights.

During their stay they went to Shimoda park to see the hydrangea flower festival, walked in Shimoda town and went to Mt. Nesugata by cable car.

He is a college teacher and a steel drum player and she is a creator of Shibori things in California.

Thank you very much for staying with us.

My wife and I had a great time with you!!

2013/06/08 Loquat wine

We have a loquat tree in our garden and can get a lot of loquat fruit every Juny.

We made loquat wine yesterday and these bottles will be in strage.

We will be able to meet them several years later.

2013/06/04 Summer day!

We have a little wind this afternoon, but it's very hot and almost summer today.

The blue sky and the green leaves are shining under the sune.

We should dry sleeping mats before rainy days.

 

2013/06/03 A long intermission of rainy season

The Japan Meteorological Agency announced that Tokai area including Shimoda got into the rainy season on May 28th, but now we are in the long intermission.

The weather forecast says the sun will stay in a next week and it's getting hotter and hotter over the weekend.

By the way, I took this picture on the slope on the other side of Pension Sakuraya.

The flowers of hydrangea are changing its color and getting more beautiful.

I love this stage of coloring better than full colored and full bloomed hydrangea.

2013/05/29 Rain drops on hydrangea leaf

Shimoda had gotten into the rainy season yesterday, but the rain came on Shimoda today at last.

It's still small rain but the hydrangea leaves look like glad to get water in our garden.

2013/05/19 Thank you for staying with us.

They live in Kanagawa Pref. and came to Shimoda to see the Black Ship Festival for the 1st time.

We are very happy to hear that one of them is a school teacher and her student's family has stayed at Sakuraya in last May and they recommended our Pension to her.

Thank you very much for staying with us.

2013/05/19 Thank you for staying with us.

They live in Kanagawa Pref. and came to Shimoda for the 1st time.

They departed from Kanagawa at 6:00 AM and arrived in Shimoda at around 10:00 AM.
They saw the Black Ship Festival Official Parade in Shimoda and came to Sakuraya after that.

Thank you very much for your stay at Pension Sakuraya.

2013/05/19 Breakfast this morning

I took this picture this morning.

Last night all rooms were occupied with only foreigners, and English, German and French were spoken at breakfast this morning.

I was not able to go to Black Ship Festival because of my job after all, but I had a great time with a lot of foreign customers at Pension Sakuraya this weekend.

If I spoke not only English but also German and French it would be much more excited to have good comunication with them.

2013/05/17 Thank you for staying with us.

They are from France and stayed at Sakuraya for 2 nights for the 1st time.

They rented bikes for 3 days and went to many places in Shimoda by bike.

On 2nd day, as it was a beautiful day he rented a surf board and played surfing at Shirahama beach.

Thank you very much for staying with us.

2013/05/12 Rice Ball Lesson!

They came from New York to Japan for the 1st time and stayed at Sakuraya for 2 nights.

After 2 nights stay in Tokyo they came to Shimoda because she wanted to surf in Shimoda.

We are very sorry, but it had been rainy on the 1st and the 2nd day, so she was able to surf in only the last morning.

They are ineterested in Japanese cooking, and she sometimes make a rice in her home.

When they had breakfast in the last morning she asked me to make a rice ball, because it is hard for her to make it, and she always too big  rice ball.

So I showed them how to make a rice ball after breakfast, because we didn't have any other customers this morning.

They tried to make some rice balls and made very good ones.

They went to Kyoto and Osaka after check out.

Have a nice trip in Japan!

Thank you very much for staying with us.

2013/05/04 Thank you for staying.

They live in Tokyo and have come to Shimoda for several times.

But it was a first time to stay at Pension Sakuraya and they stayed for 5 nights.

Thank you very much for staying with us.

 

2013/05/01 Shirahama beach this morning.

My daughter has now a small trouble on her knee by bike accident several days ago.

Of course she can walk as usual, but it is a little hard for her to ride a bike.

So I took her to the school by my car again this morning.

I took this picture on the way home and I was able to see the Oshima island clearly, but it's still very cold today.

Why not?

I have been thinking about the weather, it was changed before noon.

The blue sky goes well with Shirahama beach.

2013/04/23 Carp streamer and Parasols

It's sunny but there are a lot of clouds in the sky here in Shirahama this morning.

I set up parasols above the tables for the 1st time this year today.

2013/04/22 A present from Switzerland

Our customers, a family from Switzerland gave us chocolates as a present.

They will stay for 8 nights from today.

My children love chocolate very much. Of course, me, too.

Thank you very much for your wonderful present.

2013/04/18 Shirahama Beach this morning

It's sunny and very hot here in Shimoda this morning.

I took this picture when I walked.

As the air is clear we can see the mountains coverd with fresh green leaves clearly.

If the air temperature would be getting higher we would be able to swim in Shirahama during Golden week.

Click here to see the other photos.

2013/04/17 タンポポ

In last about 10 days I have been looking forward the dandelion by the sea everyday, because I wanted to take pictures of dandelion backed by the sea.

But I couldn't find it out.

I took this picture this morning.

2013/04/13 Carp Streamer "Koinobori"

My son and I set up Carp Streamers for children's day which takes place on May 5th this afternoon.

The children's day is a Japanese tradition to celebrate Japanese boys and we pray that they will grow up healthy and strong.

Click here to see the other photos.

2013/03/14 Green leaves of Kawazu Sakura

We have very cold rain here in Shimoda this morning.

The TV news said that they had first blooming of Sakura in Fukuoka in Kyushu island, a southern part of Japan yesterday.

There are a lot of kinds of Sakura in Japan, and the most famous and popular 'Someiyoshino' will start blooming from now.

I took this picture in our garden this morning.

This kind of Sakura called 'Kawazu Sakura' is now going to finish blooming, and this tree has already had fresh green leaves.

2013/02/19 Kawazu Sakura in the rain

Today we had cold rain here in Shimoda.

I saw the pictures on the live camera of Izu peninsula this afternoon, and they had a lot of snow on the mountains.

Sakura blossoms were freezing today, I think.

2013/02/18 Cold rain in Shirahama

As the weather forecast said it has been rainy here in Shirahama since this morning.

And also we have strong wind.

But Sakura tree is fully blooming in our garden.

2013/02/17 Sakura tree in our garden

There are some kinds of Sakura tree in our garden.

One of them is now fully blooming and we can see it through the window in the dining room.

2013/02/12 Sakura is blooming.

I took this picture in our garden this afternoon.

This winter, aloe, narcissus, rape and sakura are blooming at the same time in our garden.

These are Sakura blossoms raised from seed of Kawazu Sakura, and bloom earlier than Kawazu Sakura.

They are deep in pink color, and are blooming 40% now.

2013/01/25 Present from Germany!

Today we got a great present from Germany.

Our customers who live in German and have stayed at Sakuraya three times sent us these two bottles of wine.

They are made in German and one of them is an icewine.

I have never drunk icewine and have not tried them yet.

So we are looking forward to drinking them.

Thank you very much.

2013/01/04 Thank you for staying.

They are from Germany and some of them have lived in Tokyo since last July.

It was the 2nd time for them to come to Shimoda, and they stayed at Sakuraya for the 1st time as their friends who stayed at Sakuraya 2 years ago recommended them our Pension.

When they checked out they said, "We will come back here with my sister in law this summer."

We were very glad to hear that!

Thank you for staying with us and we are looking forward to meeting you in summer.

2013/01/01 Happy New Year, 2013!

I took this picture this morning.

This is the 1st breakfast this year.

We had a lot of customers in this new year holiday.

Thank you very much for staying with us.

We wish you, everybody, a happy new year!

2012/12/31 Thank you for staying.

They are from England and Thailand, and have lived in Tokyo.

They have come to Izu and Shimoda some times, but it was a first time to stay at Sakuraya.

Thank you very much for staying with us.

We wish you a happy new year!

 

2012/12/13 Japanese room in Sakuraya

This morning it is a little warmer than yesterday here in Shimoda.

This room is the Japanese style with 10 tatami mats.

We basically accept 5 or 6 people for this room.

2012/12/01 Cleaning the floor

Today I'm cleaning the floor of the dining room.

I have already put all of tables and chairs out of this room and will wax later today.

My son was excited to play in this big room.