Yesterday we had an opening ceremony of Sakura (Cherry blossom) Festival here in Izu peninsula.
In Japan the most famous Sakura blooms in April, which is called "Someiyoshino".
But Kawazu Sakura is different from them and it blooms for about one month!
Yes, it is very famous for its long blooming and pink color.
This Kawazu Sakura festival is taken place from February 5th to March 10th in Kawazu town and Minami-Izu town every year.
In these days I sometimes walk around Shirahama.
Yesterday I had to go to Rendaiji for shopping, and I was going to take bicycle.
But I found out I had a flat tire, so I decided to go by walking to Rendaiji town in Shimoda through the mountain.
Last week I went to the top of Mt. Takane and went down to Rendaiji, but I took a different route to Rendaiji yesterday.
Long time ago the local peple who lived in Shirahama didn't have a car or a bus to go to Shimoda, so they had to go to school by walking.
Especially the high school students had to take the route going through Mt. Takane.
Last week I took the different route to the top of mountain, but I walked the same route like this.
It was a little hard to walk, but the fresh air made me happy and healthy.
Today we had a little cold wind, but it was very warm.
At around noon I departed from Sakuray and went to the sea for walking.
There is a small fisherman's port called Itami-kou, and I walked on the rocks to get here.
The water here is very clear and we can see Shirahama beach over there.
This morning I woke up a little later than usual, so I took my daughter to her school by car.
Of couse she got to the school on time!
On the way home I took this photo.
It was very good scenary with sunrise and clouds on the horizon!
It was a little cold because of west wind, but good weather for walking.
This afternoon I went to the nearest beach Shirahama with my son.
There is Shirahama shrine on the north part of Shirahama beach, and there is a red gate of shrine called Torii in Japanese on the big rock.
We were able to see Izu seven islands clearly from the tip of this big rock.
Today it was almost cloudy, but sometimes we were able to get sun shine.
I wanted to buy something at home improvement center called "Handy".
It is located at Rendaiji town in Shimoda on the oposit side of Shirahama, and we can go there through Mt. Takene.
It means, if I climb Mt. Takene and went down it I can go there.
So I decided to climb the mountain today.
From the top of Mt. Takane we can see the pacific ocean and Izu seven islands.
It takes about 1 hour from Sakuraya by walking.
Today it was sunny and very warm here in Shimoda, so I went for walking.
I took this photo at the tip of Mihogasaki cape.
It takes about 20 minutes by walking from Sakuray.
As the air was very clear I was able to get the beautiful scenary with Izu seven islands on pacific ocean.
Of course we can see Shirahama beach on the other side.
This season it is very good for walking, because we can take good photos of the ocean and the naturre.
This morning, as I woke up a little later than usual, I took my daughter to her school by car.
When I left my house the sun had just risen up on the horizon.
So I went to the beach behind Shirahama shrine to take photos.
By the way, now in Shimoda there are many people who got influenza after last weekend.
My daughter had already got it on last Friday or Saturday, so this had prevented her from going to school.
And my wife has had fever at last.
Are you going to visit Japan this winter?
Please be careful not to get influenza.
You should bring or buy a flu mask and wash your hands every time.
I took this photo at around 7:30 am at the different place from yesterday.
It was sunny this morning, and there was no big cloud in the sky.
That's why I was able to take a photo with shinning sun and there was a golden road on the sea.
Do you see the island under the sun?
That's called "Toshima" island.
It takes about 1 hour and 35 minutes by ship from Shimoda harbor.
Do you know what the circumference of that island is?
It is only 8 kilometers and only 300 people live there.
80 % of that island is covered with camellia trees and the amount of production of camellia oil is best in Japan.
There is no beach in that island, so the most popular sports are diving and fishing.
Would you like to go there?
There was an article on the snow in Shimoda yesterday in the newspaper this morning.
I was thinking we had snow at all places in Shimoda, but the paper said the snow lay only 2 centimeters in the coastlands between Shirahama and Shimoda.
I took this photo on the way home at around 7:00 am when I took my daughter to the junior high school by car this morning.
It was really cold this morning too.