Shizuoka Follow-Up

フルサイズで表示

Joren Falls

Last month, I wrote about my Shizuoka/Izu plans. Here are some highlights from the trip.

First, the food! There are quite a few local specialties in this part of the country, including:

Matcha

Shizuoka Oden, characterized by the dashi powder on top

Wasabi

Wasabi ice cream (delicious, believe it or not!)

Fresh fish

There are a lot of other great places to explore around both Shizuoka City and Izu. To be honest, I didn’t do much research before this trip, but it was easy to find things to do. I looked at guide maps and pamphlets, asked the staff at restaurants and hotels, and sometimes just opened Google Maps and scanned the area. Renting a car made it much easier to get around the peninsula.

Mt. Fuji

Scuptures throughout Shizuoka CIty designed to look like plastic models

Chibi Maruko-chan

Kunozan Toshogu

Shuzenji Onsen

A dinosaur-themed park

Waterfalls and volcanic rocks

This park in Izu Kogen was one of my surprise favorite places of the trip. The illumination event here, which is held every winter, is called グランイルミ.

I know Shizuoka is not the most common destination for people in west Japan, but it was well worth the trip. Actually, it reminded me of Okayama in some ways - a smallish city surrounded by nature in all its forms, but reasonably close to some big-city action.

And don’t sleep on the wasabi ice cream. It’s fantastic.