Shimoda

Hi there!

This guy loved the beach!

This is the last post before you are up to date on our happenings in Japan! Ok, let's talk about Shimoda, this cute little beach town about 2-3 hours south of Tokyo by train that we decided to travel to during Joe's week off from work in mid-August. We booked our room at the White Beach Inn, which is located directly across the street from the beautiful Ohama Beach, about a month in advance and were ready for some rest and relaxation on the beach. The only problem was that when we arrived a typhoon warning was in full effect. At that point, that meant that we could walk on the beach but couldn't go in the ocean. And for good reason! The waves were HUGE and the water came much farther up the beach than usual and with the kiddos in tow, we wouldn't want to get near the water. So we spent time exploring the town the first day.

Jacob and Daddy and the huge waves on this side of the Pacific

The weather was nice even with the typhoon nearing, so we walked around the cute little downtown area and explored Perry Road, named after Commodore Matthew Perry, who in 1854, formally opened Japan to the West after many years of isolation. There we discovered buildings that have been preserved since the 1850's to look just as they did to Commodore Perry. Inside them though, were nice clothing and antique shops, restaurants, cafes, and bars. We also rode the Shimoda Ropeway which is a tram that took us essentially from the train station in Shimoda to the park at the top of Mt. Nesugata. We all had a wonderful time exploring all the attractions there. We walked through beautiful gardens, saw a Japanese horned beetle exhibit (which interested all of the boys, but definitely not me!), looked out over the ocean, visited a shrine to Ragaraja, the Buddhist deity of love, who I just have to say is the scariest-looking Buddha I've seen (I thought that was odd seeing he is the deity of love!), and took a long hike around the mountain. This by far made up for the fact that the beach was semi-closed. In fact, this is a must-see if we go back to Shimoda!

Perry Road

The view from the top of Mt. Nesugata

Buddhas dedicated to the safety of children near the shrine to Ragaraja

The next day, the beach was completely closed, which meant no one was even allowed on the sand, let alone in the ocean. We were bracing for the typhoon to hit, so we stayed near or in our hotel. Even though it was raining off and on, we were still able to walk around and find crabs and Jackson and Jacob were able to enjoy the kiddie pool the hotel had set up on its grounds.

I got so much joy out of watching
Jackson play in the sand

The following day we woke up to discover the typhoon had weakened and also traveled north of Shimoda and that the beach was open! We were surprised and so happy! The sun was out and we were ready for that R&R I was talking about! We rented an umbrella and enjoyed our last two days in Shimoda on the sandy beach. The water was a different story. The lifeguards were being, cautious, so they set up two flags about 50 yards away from each other on the beach. If you wanted to enter the water above ankle-deep, you had to be between those two flags. There were hundreds of people between the flags! I guess it made sense since the waves were still pretty big but it was hard to enjoy our time in the water with so many people in such close proximity. Instead, we walked along the beach picking up cool seashells that the strong tide had brought in the day before, buried each other in the sand, took naps and read books. We also found this AMAZING little taco hut near the beach that we ate at at least 4 or 5 times during our time in Shimoda. Mexican food is difficult to find here in Japan and the tacos and burritos (and margaritas) were so good!

Ohama Beach, Shimoda

Thank you so much for reading. I love you.

XOL