Things to do in Izu Hantō
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Ryōsen-Ji Treasure Museum
Located next to Ryōsen-ji temple is the Ryōsen-ji Treasure Museum, displaying exhibits relating to the arrival of Westerners in Japan. These include pictures depicting Okichi-san, a courtesan who was forced to give up the man she loved in order to attend to the needs of the brutal barbarian, Harris. When Harris left Japan five years later, Okichi-san was stigmatised for having had a relationship with a foreigner and she was eventually driven to drink and suicide.
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Black Ship Cruises
Black Ship cruises around the bay take about 20 minutes and depart from Shimoda Harbour every 30 minutes. There are three boats per day (9.40am, 11am and 2pm) that leave on a course for Iro-zaki. You can leave the boat at Iro-zaki (one way ¥1530, 40 minutes) and travel by bus northwards up the peninsula, or stay on the boat to return to Shimoda. Note: three boats per day leave on Monday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday; during holiday seasons the schedule is daily.
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Ryōsen-Ji
About 700m south of Izukyū Shimoda Station is Ryōsen-ji, which is now famous as the site where Commodore Perry and representatives of the Tokugawa shōgunate signed a treaty whose conditions (favourable to the US, of course) supplemented those outlined in the Treaty of Kanagawa, which was signed, in 1854.
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Page One
Tucked away in a row of old shops on Perry Rd, shop-eatery Page One sells women’s clothing along with pizza and pastas such as the watarigani no tomato kurīmu sōsu pasuta (Japanese blue crab pasta with tomato sauce; ¥1600).
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Sushi Take
Try the excellent sets at this friendly spot near Perry Road such as the jizakana sushi setto (local-fish sushi set, ¥1500). There’s a picture menu, and a green-and-white sign outside.
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Chōraku-Ji
Next door to Ryōsen-ji is Chōraku-ji, a pleasant little temple that is worth a quick look.
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Hōfuku-ji
In the centre of town is Hōfuku-ji, a temple that is chiefly a museum memorialising the life of Okichi.
The museum is filled with scenes and artefacts from the various movie adaptations of her life on stage and screen. Okichi's grave is also here, in the far corner of the back garden, next to a faded copper statue. Other stones in this garden are dedicated to her, with the names of actors who played her.
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Gorosaya
Elegant, understated ambience and fantastic seafood. Try the simmered fish, usually a whole red snapper (kinmedai) in a delicate, sweet and salty broth. The Isōjiru soup is made from over a dozen varieties of shellfish and looks like a tide pool in a bowl. Look for the wooden fish decorating the entrance and come early for lunch.
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Musashi
In business since 1916, serving hearty comfort food like kamo nabeyaki udon (duck hotpot; ¥1000); there's a big badger out the front.
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Zendera Soba
This local institution serves its speciality namesake Zendera soba (¥1260) with a stalk of fresh wasabi root to grate yourself. It's steps from the bus station on the river side of the street, and has white and black banners.
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Tosaya Bar
One of the oddest mash-ups we've seen: a traditional residence from the era of the Black Ships that's now a soul-music bar complete with disco ball. It's actually wicked fun. Just look for the lattice-pattern walls and twinkling lights.
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Shimoda Kōen & Wakanoura Promenade Park
If you keep walking east from Perry Rd, you'll reach the pleasant hillside park of Shimoda Kōen, which overlooks the bay. It's loveliest in June, when the hydrangeas are in bloom. The coastal road is also a fine place to walk. If you have an hour or so, keep following it around the bay, passing an overpriced aquarium, and eventually you'll meet up with the 2km-long Wakanoura Promenade, a stone path along a peaceful stretch of beach.
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Ryōsen-ji & Chōraku-ji
A 25-minute walk south of Shimoda Station is Ryōsen-ji, site of the treaty that opened Shimoda, signed by Commodore Perry and representatives of the Tokugawa shōgunate. The temple's Black Ship Art Gallery displays artefacts relating to Perry, the Black Ships, and Japan as seen through foreign eyes and vice versa.
Behind and up the steps from Ryōsen-ji is Chōraku-ji, where a Russo-Japanese treaty was signed in 1854; look for the cemetery and namako-kabe (black-and-white lattice-patterned) walls.
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Porto Caro
Colourful, 2nd-floor trattoria specialising in pasta dishes with local seafood, and pizzas; look for the English sign two blocks down from the post office.
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Nami Nami
This friendly counter bar has a retro vibe and an inventive menu. Local fish (honjitsu no sakana) and assorted delicacies, like quail eggs (uzura no tamago) and camembert (kamanbēru chīzu), are served yakitori style or breaded and fried. It's right next door to Ōizu Ryokan, with a yellow sign.
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Mimatsu
No matter that there's no English menu, everyone orders the same thing anyway – the kurofune sushi set (¥2000), a selection of the freshest local catch. With a crisp interior and seating for no more than 15, there's little to distract you from the pleasure of eating it. Look for the white sign and black door curtains.
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Hiranoya
A vintage residence filled with antiques, history and slightly overpriced burgers, cakes and coffee.
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Gyokusenji
Founded in 1590, this Zen temple is most famous as the first Western consulate in Japan, established in 1856. A small museum has artefacts of the life of Townsend Harris, the first consul general. The bas-relief of a cow in front of the temple depicts the serving of the first glass of milk in Japan, which Harris requested during an illness. It's a 25-minute walk from Shimoda Station, or take bus 9 to Kakizaki-jinja-mae (¥160, five minutes).
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Fuji Ichi
The coastal road is lined with restaurants and fishmongers – this is both. The casual upstairs eatery (enter through the shop) is noted for its grilled squid (ika maruyaki teishoku, ¥1100), but you can't miss with the sashimi set (sashimi teishoku, ¥1100). Heading south, it's a block past the Aoki supermarket; look for the vertical blue signs on the right.
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