Weekend Getaway in Ito


The weekend following my trip to Kanazawa I again left Tokyo, this time for a closer get-away: the Izu Peninsula. The peninsula is located about 100 km southwest of Tokyo and is a popular spot for Tokyoites to enjoy seaside cliffs, beaches, and numerous onsen (Japanese saunas). 

Japanese Google map of the Izu Peninsula, with Tokyo
top right. Ito is between Atami and Shirata.

I had been to the Izu Peninsula twice before--once to Atami on a solo day trip from Tokyo, and again on an overnight road trip with a few friends. This time I went with my girlfriend. Girlfriend, you say? Yep, I know I'm usually the single guy, but we met via mutual friends over the summer, one thing led to another, and by October we were officially dating. 

I normally don't like to divulge many personal details online, so I'll keep it short! We both wanted to take a trip together, but as I mentioned previously, as of November I still thought I would be staying in Japan longer, and I wanted to save up my vacation days in case I could visit home for the holidays. So we opted to go to the town of Ito, which is about half an hour south of Atami along the east coast of the peninsula, and three hours by local train from my place in Tokyo. After spending nearly $200 on the bullet train and a few hundred more on meals the weekend before, it was also nice to have a more affordable trip.

Ito Station is about 30 minutes south of Atami (which is a stop on the bullet
train). There is a lot more to see further south and on the west side, but it
takes much longer to get there from Tokyo. Maybe next time!

I took a half day on Friday and left my apartment around lunch time; I had to transfer twice, in Fujisawa and Atami. My girlfriend took a separate train from her place, and we met at Ito Station. I arrived a bit earlier than she did, so I checked into our Airbnb, which was less than a 10 minutes' walk from the station. The apartment was a remodeled restaurant; what had been the two private dining rooms are now bedrooms with traditional futons. Luckily for us, the other bedroom was unoccupied both nights, so we had the place to ourselves.

Traditional futon bed at our Airbnb in Ito

The kitchen, which was previously part of a restaurant

The common area, which we had all to ourselves!

The first evening we explored town; Ito itself didn't have much to offer, although the seaside park and lighted path along the Ito River were a pleasant walk. We also found a good izakaya serving classic Japanese bar food and sashimi. After the meal, we went to a small onsen which is on the first floor of a hotel, but is also open to the public.

The second day we took the train further south to Izu-Kogen Station and the Jogasaki Coast. After a soba noodle and tenpura lunch, we walked along the coast, which has picturesque seaside cliffs and hiking trails. I wanted to make it up to the northern end of the seaside trail, but the winding path up and down the cliffs was slow going, and we had to turn back. Fortunately my girlfriend didn't complain that I took her on an endless hike through the woods; I know her legs were sore! By the time we made it back to Ito it was time for dinner, and we were worn out from all the walking.

On Sunday, our last day in Ito, we visited Mt. Omuro, an extinct volcano covered in grass. We took a chair lift up to the rim of the volcano, which has panoramic 360 degree views of the ocean, the town of Ito, and the surrounding hills. After circumnavigating the rim we headed back down and grabbed a bus back to our Airbnb. From there we rode the local train back to Tokyo, arriving around dinner time.

Mt Omuro; obviously I didn't take this photo!

Little did I know that this was one of my last trips in Japan! That week I learned that training for my new job would start in mid-January, and I had less than a month left before my flight. Just before leaving for the US, I used my vacation time and I was able to visit Okinawa in southern Japan. I'll save that for another post!

Some more photos from Ito:

View of Ito port from Nagisa Park

Path to the Tsushima Waterfall along the Jogasaki Coast



Chair lift up the side of Mt Omuro

In the center of Omuro is an archery range. Not nearly as
green as the stock photo!

View of the coast and Oshima (means large island) in the distance



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