Izu Peninsula Pt. 2 – Shimoda

Our second portion of our Izu trip was to spend a few days in Shimoda, a town in the southern portion of the peninsula. This area is notable for being the location that Commodore Perry visited during his second voyage to Japan in order to open Japan to international trade, by force if necessary. Perry visited modern day Yokohama and signed a treaty with Japan stipulating that Hakodate and Shimoda would be ports to be opened to American ships, and then voyaged to those locations to officially conduct trade. This visit was crucial in Japanese history as the catalyst that drove Japan from the relatively primitive Edo Period into an era of rapid technological growth due to its new access to the world market.

We stayed at the Prince Hotel, a pretty cool oceanfront property with some nice views. The weather was still a bit chilly this time of year, but the kids still had a great time playing in the sand and exploring the tide pools in the area. The water was surprisingly warm so it was pretty nice being ankle-deep too. There were some really cool rock formations there too, probably from the same volcanic lava flows that we saw further north on the peninsula.

For lunch one day we went to a beautiful barbecue joint on a plateau overlooking the ocean. We bought a huge platter of meat and veggies to grill ourselves. The food was super good and the atmosphere was really nice. There was yard furniture to lounge around in and lots of open grass for the kids to run around in. We stayed there for a while and ate way too much food.

We checked out an aquarium in South Shimoda that was mostly outdoors and featured dolphin and seal shows. It felt sort of like a tiny Sea World without the rides. The huge indoor aquarium was definitely the coolest part though, especially during feeding time. I think the boys liked it, though both had some tantrums on separate occasions. It did get cold and rainy which Jeffrey definitely did not enjoy. The weather kind of ruined the dolphin show for him, but he did seem to like the seal show a lot. Overall though it was pretty cool, seeing animals with the boys is always a good time.

Finally, we checked out Perry Road, obviously named for Commodore Perry, and which is a really cool historic shopping street. It’s pretty small and can be walked in a few minutes, but had a really cool vibe and seemed almost a cross between traditional Japan and Europe. Unfortunately the really cool restaurant we wanted to get lunch at was packed and we were hungry, so we passed on eating there and just did some exploring instead.

We decided to get a snack at Perry Berry. Jackie wanted to go mostly because of the name, but it was super good. It’s a pancake cafe, and those pancakes were awesome. We got a variety of flavors to share and a few hot chocolates as well.

To round out our Perry Road stop, we checked out the Commodore Perry commemorative plaza. It was sort of strange seeing a statue celebrating the guy that initially threatened Japan with war if they didn’t open up trade, but Japan does have a very complicated history with the US, and most view this visit as a largely good thing for Japan. This memorial was especially meaningful for me because I’m in Japan with a job to actively strengthen the US-Japan relationship. Somehow after WWII, Japan is easily our strongest ally in the Pacific, and I get to play a tiny part in making that bond even stronger in a time where Pacific allies are more important than ever.

That about wraps up our Izu trip. This area would probably be even better a little later in the year when it’s a bit warmer, but we still had a great time exploring the next peninsula over.

BRB, Out to Japan – Taylor