Japan Travels Pt.3
Time to talk about Shimoda! I only have time to cover a little bit here but I promise the Japan updates will be done with soon.
From my last entry, we had just finished a lovely 24-ish hours in Atami at the top of the Izu Peninsula before starting our way down south to the town of Shimoda.
Quick history time!!
So, I mentioned last time that Shimoda is mostly known for its role in the end of Japan's self-isolation period which spanned from the early 1600s through til the mid 1800's. I also mentioned that we visited Kōdai-ji in Kyoto, built under instruction of the widow of Toyotomi Hideyoshi who had died in 1598. Hideyoshi was a samurai and significant leader in Japan, and after his death, his position was succeeded by Tokugawa Ieyasu, another samurai and significant leader in Japanese shogunate history. Despite some conflicts in their past, Hideyoshi and Ieyasu had ultimately made peace, and Ieyasu ended up supporting and funding the construction of the widow's temple for Hideyoshi. Fast forward a few decades, and it was Ieyasu's grandson, Tokugawa Iemitsu, who would become the one to close off Japan from Western trade and begin a period of isolation. There were a number of attempts from the outside world to restart trade, but it wasn't until a fleet of Black Ships from the US arrived in the port of Shimoda in 1853 with the threat of military force that a shift began. There is so much history about this and I've only scratched the surface (and probably botched it a bit, too), but it's pretty fascinating stuff. It essentially was the beginning of the 'new' Japan that grew into the modern world and I find that really interesting.
Anyway, for this reason, I was super interested in seeing Shimoda and visiting somewhere a bit historically significant (I know there are hundreds of historically significant places in Japan, but you know what I mean), as well as travel to a part of Japan I hadn't seen yet, and most importantly to get away from the chaos of the major cities.
We caught the express train down the Izu coastline, about 2 hours I think it took, with beautiful views of the ocean, seaside towns, glimpses of more rural life. I noticed the English beginning to disappear off signs, and the train stations becoming less and less busy.
By the time we pulled in to Shimoda station, we were the last ones out of the station - literally. A staff member closed off the gate behind us and save for a few Japanese people here and there, we were it. It was amazing.
Our accommodation was only a few minutes walk back along the train line (Shimoda is the end of the line) and I was so excited for this house. I don't think the rest of the group were all that chuffed about it, but it was such a normal Japanese house, and it brought back all sorts of memories from the times I've lived with host families in Japan. I think I've stayed with something like 8 host families over my travels, and Japanese houses have a certain way about them, so walking into this home was super nostalgic for me. I loved it - but I completely forgot to take any photos of it!!! Go figure.
Enough about that though. Shimoda was beautiful. We went for a little walk as the sun set and found dinner at Mos Burger, an old faithful (melon soda, my love). Chris and I split from the rest of the group after dinner to wander around the quiet streets and ended up having a beer in a local beer garden. We decided it might be nice to reserve a table there the next night for my birthday, so as we went inside to pay (there were only two other tables of people inside), I asked if we could make a reservation. The host laughed and gestured around at all the empty tables and said of course I could! I felt silly for asking but after the stress and 'tourist guilt' of Kyoto and Tokyo, it was nice to have a laugh with a local.
We wandered back to the house after this, feeling very excited to explore the next day, and finished the night off with some card games in the living room and a glass of wine. The next day was my birthday, and I was ready to have a chill day near the beach with no crowds - and spoiler alert, I got exactly what I wanted (it was great). So I'll update with that soon! :)