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

2012/10/28 Thank you for your presents from France!

Several days ago we got a postcard from our customers who live in France and stayed at Sakuraya in last June.

And in this message they said they would sent us a souvenir of Toulous in France.

As they told us we got a pretty and sweet candy yesterday.

Thank you for sending your postcard, message and wonderful presents from France!

 

We are really appreciated and are very glad that you remember us.

Please come and visit Japan someday again in the future!!

Click here to see the pictures of the postcard, message and sweet candy on our Facebook album.

2012/10/11 Thank you for staying.

They came to Japan from Switzerland for the 1st time, and came to Shimoda as the last place of 3 weeks travel in Japan.

During their stay we had strong north wind, so they went to Shimoda city, Shimoda Park, Tatado beach and Nesugata Yama cable car.

As they didn't have strong wind on the last day they went to the beach for swimming before check out.

We had a great time with this lovely family.

Vielen Dank für Ihren Aufenthalt!

2012/10/07 Thank you for staying.

They are from India and live in Kawasaki city, Kanagawa Pref., and came to Shimoda for the 1st time.

They went to Jogasaki suspension bridge on the 1st day and Dogashima on the 2nd day.

Thank you for staying with us.

2012/10/01 Blue sky in Shirahama

The typhoon has already gone and the blue sky came back again!

2012/08/07 Restaurant this morning....

They were talking in English, German, Norwegian and Japanese this morning.

2012/08/6 Our customers gave us these presents.

Our customers from Germany started staying with us last night for the 3rd time.

And when they checked in they gave us these lovely German wines as a souvenir.

Thank you very much, my friends.

I have already tried  one tof them yesterday.

This wine is dry and it's delicious.

Pension Sakuraya in Shimoda, Japan

2012/07/25 Message from our customers

After the customers checked out we found out this message on the bed.

We appriciate that they had a great time here at Pension Sakuraya.

Thank you very much.

 

2012/07/25 Breakfast!

This morning all customers were foreigners.

 

2012/06/24 Playing cards under the starry sky!

Our customers from Tokyo played cards drinking wine on the terrace after their children went to bed last night.

In this season this is a good place to talk and drink under the starry sky.

They were on this terrace until midnight after all and had a good time there.

Pension Sakuraya in Shimoda, Japan: 4 minutes walk away to the beach

 

2012/06/22 Japanese Apricot Homemade Wine

There are some trees of fruit in our garden.

In this season we always make 2 kinds of wine, Japanese apricot and loquat.

They will be aged for more than 8 years in the store room, and will be served as a dinner wine after that.

See you then!

Pension Sakuraya in Shimoda, Japan

2012/05/26 Last weekend for Koinobori

We have displayed Koinobori (carp streamer) when it was sunny and we had customers because My 5th was a boy's day in Japan.

Today, it is windy and a good condition for them.

But this weekend it would be the last chance for them to swim in the sky, I think.

Next week they will go to bed until next April!

I took some pictures on Shirahama beach and Sotoura beach today.

Pension Sakuraya in Shimoda, Japan

2012/05/07 A Chocolate from Switzerland

Our customer who came from Switzerland and stayed for 3 nights gave us this present.

This is a chocolate which is very famous in Switzerland.

Thank you for your stay with us and a sweet present.

Pension Sakuraya in Shimoda, Jpaan

2012/05/04 Sun shine and Blue sky came back!

On May 2nd they had a lot of rain and a land slide in Amagi mountain.

But today we could see a sun shine and a blue sky.

They made our customers very happy.

Koinobori (Carp streamer) also loves blue sky!

Pension Sakuraya in Shimoda, Japan

 

2012/04/28 Koinobori (Carp Streamer) and Shirahama Beach today

This morning I went to the nearest beach "Shirahama" to clean up with the other local people.

And after that I set up Koinobori ( Carp Streamer) with my son.

It was very hot here in Shimoda, Japan today.

Click here to see the album with 19 photos which I took today.

A family running accommodation: Pension Sakuraya

2012/04/25 Plum in our garden

It was sunny and very hot today again.

Now it's around 8:00 PM, but I put on just only T-shirt.

By the way I took this picture in our garden this afternoon.

This is a plum tree and it has a lot of plums getting bigger and bigger.

We  make a plum wine by ourselves on every June, but we will provide it 8 or 9 years later.

Yes, we serve 8 years old plum wine for dinner this year.

Pension Sakuraya in Shimoda, Japan: 4 minutes walk to the nearest beach "Shirahama"

2012/04/06 My son goes to school on this road. - - Shirahama Beach

Today it was a first day of new school year.

My son finished classes at 11:00AM, so I went to pick him up.

On the way home I took this picture.

My children go to school on this road everyday looking over the blue sea like this.

They are very happy, and we have to appreciate that we can live here, a beautiful place in Shimoda.

Kids friendly accommodation: Pension Sakuraya in Shimoda, Japan

2012/03/29 A Tiny Angel of Violet

When I was cleaning up the road this afternoon I found out it.

This is a tiny violet blooming in a crevis of road.

I hope this flower will not be run over by  car....

Kids friendly accommodation: Pension Sakuraya in Shimoda, Japan

2012/03/25 A Ladybug says "Hello!"

When I was playing with my son yesterday I found out a ladybug in our garden.

She is also a small messenger of spring.

We can find out spring at many places in this season.

Pension Sakuraya in Shirahama, Shimoda, Japan

2012/03/23 A small, small violet in our garden

Since this morning it has been raining here in Shirahama.

But, as we don't have wind it's very quiet.

We can hear the singing of birds from the mountain, and the booming(?) of the sea as well.

When I walked around I found out a small violet in fron of the entrance of our Pension.

This flower is also telling that the spring has come.

Pension Sakuraya in Shimoda, Japan

 

2012/03/17 Sakura blossoms falling in Shimoda

Since this morning we have a strong wind and a heavy rain in Shimoda.

Kawazu Sakura blossoms next to the entrance are fallen by them.

This cherry blossoms falling is telling us the end of Kawazu sakura season at last, and the real spring and the another kind of Sakura will be coming in Izu peninsula.

It's getting warmer and warmer in Shimoda.

Pension Sakuraya in Shimoda, Japan

2012/03/11 One year after the earthquake

Thank you everyone and thank you everything.

Pension Sakuraya in Shimoda, Japan

2012/03/08 Wao! 520,000 access to our website!!

I have just noticed that the access counter had turned over 520,000 this month.

It has been 12 years since I made and started our website in 2000.

Thank you for visiting.

In addition, I put the QR code on the main page.

You can access out Facebook through it.

Please try it with your smart phone!!

Pension Sakuraya in Shimoda, Japan

 

2012/03/05 Smart Phone Holder

I've been listening the Internet radio KQED or BBC in my car, but I had to put my smartphone on the seat.

So I wanted to get any holder and found out it on the Internet.

This holder is sticked to anything by its sucker, so we don't need any bolts to put it on.

When I want to use my smartphone as a GPS this holder is the best tool from now.

Pension Sakuraya in Shimoda, Japan

2012/02/23 Water drop on Kawazu Sakura

We had heavy rain in Shimoda this morning.

This season Kawazu Sakura is blooming slowly, but the rain gave them an energy to bloom.

I could find out the water drop on Sakura in our garden.

Click here to see the other photos which I took today.

Pension Sakuraya in Shimoda city, Japan

 

2012/02/18 Kawazu Sakura has just started to bloom.

In Japan we have a lot of kinds of Sakura.

And the earliest blooming is Kawazu Sakura, which usually starts to bloom from the end of January.

But this season it is later than usual.

Kawazu Sakura festival has already started from February 5th, but it is only 5 % blooming on this stage.

In our garden there are some Sakura trees and they also have just started blooming.

The best timing to watch Kawazu Sakura in this season will be after the end of February, I think.

Kawazu Sakura festival in Kawazu town and Minami-Izu town

Pension Sakuraya, a family running guest house in Shimoda, Japan

2012/02/08 Beautiful morning in Shimoda

We had heavy rain and strong wind like a storm here in Shimoda yesterday.

My second daughter has a marathon competition in Shimoda yesterday, but it was cancelled due to the weather.

Today my first daughter will have a marathon of high school.

We had a beautiful sunrise again this morning after 2 days.

As this Japanese room has a southern aspect, it is very sunny and warm though we are in the winter.

Pension Sakuraya in Shimoda, Japan

2012/02/05 Red letters "Sakuraya" on the sign board

On last Friday I put the red letters "Sakuraya" on the sign board on the corner near Pension Sakuraya.

Our foreign customers sometimes lost the way to our Pension on this corner.

So I wrote the red letters.

Please find out this sign and don't loose the way!!

Pension Sakuraya in Shimoda, Japan

2012/01/26 Thank you for staying with us!

They came from Taiwan and stayed at Sakuraya for the 1st time.

On the 1st day they went to Tsumekizaki cape in Shimoda to see the daffodil flowers, and they were going to Amagi mountains after checked out.

How did you like it?

Did you still have a lot of snow on the mountain?

We appreciate we could have a happy and great time with you.

Thak you very much for staying.

Pension Sakuraya in Shimoda, Japan

2012/01/24 White Beach by hailing in Shirahama

This morning we had a lot of hail from around 8:00 AM, and the beach became white by hailing.

It rarely snows or hails in thie region, but all the places in Shirahama were covered by small hails.

Unbelievable!!

My children may be excited with this at school.

Click here to see the pictures which I took this morning.

Pension Sakuraya in Shimoda, Japan

2012/01/22 Thank you for staying with us!

They are French family who live in Tokyo.
The 2 years old child is very cute!!!

On the 1st day we had strong wind here in Shimoda, so they could not go to the beach, but they could walk on the beach on 2nd day because we didn't have wind and rain.

They were going to walk in Shimdoa downtown after check out, but how did you like it?

We are looking forward to meeting you again in warm season.

Thank you very much for staying with us.