headed north into the mountains to visit the below before returning car. Stopped by Nirayama to have sushi lunch and also the strawberry farm with self-picking. However, the strawberries were less tasty than our first visit in Mar 2005 and thus we gave it a pass.
Headed to the southern tip in Izukyu Shimoda for a bay cruise. The cruise was named after the “Black Ship” to commemorate the arrival of the same commanded by Commodore Perry from US in Shimoda when Japan was still in self-isolation.
5th visit to Izu but first time to self-drive around the Peninsula in 3 days. We commenced from Atami and headed south to Izu Atagawa onsen, stopping by a few spots.
Day 1 driving
visited Ito onsen town and Izu Kogen. Sakura blossom was later than yearly average by about 1 week. We had gone to Kyoto prior to this but were disappointed as almost all sakura trees were still in budding stage. Thus, we were so glad that we made the right decision to detour back to Kanto as sakura was in full bloom in Ito and Izu Kogen. At the end of the 4km long sakura boulevard (tunnel) uphill we arrived at the Sakura-no-sato (hometown).
Visited during peak Sakura blossom in late Feb for super-early species Kawazu-zakura (河津櫻), with larger pink petals. Isn’t it amazing that prior to visiting this we were skiing in Hakuba ? It’s like we have visited 2 different countries in a single trip.
The Kawazu-zakura were planted on both sides of the Kawazu river, which stretched for 4km+ from the river mouth upstream.
Before returning to Tokyo, we stayed in an onsen hotel in nearby Imaihama, with a beach by the sea.
