A Shizuoka Getaway: Shimoda, Hydrangeas & Wasabi Adventures | Ramen and Tacos | Japan

A Shizuoka Getaway: Shimoda, Hydrangeas & Wasabi Adventures | Ramen and Tacos | Japan

Today we are in Shimoda. Our morning faces. Hello there! Welcome back to the channel. For those of you who are new, I’m a Canadian Latina living in Yokohama with my Japanese husband. We moved to Japan last September, and this week we’re celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary! I recently learned that apparently,  I’m a June bride, and in Japan, that’s a thing. There’s a belief here that getting married in June brings happiness and good fortune. It originally came from Europe but really caught on in Japan. I didn’t plan it that way, but hey — I’ll take the extra luck! Today we are in Shimoda. Un, Shizuoka prefecture. We are going to Perry Road. This is the perry road area. And we are going to have a light lunch because a heavy heavy dinner awaits us,  a luxurious- So pretty. It is so pretty. This year, we originally planned to go to  Okinawa, but with rainy season kicking in, we didn’t want to risk bad weather. Instead,  we found this beautiful spot closer 
to home — Shimoda, a peaceful little coastal city in Shizuoka Prefecture. Shizuoka is actually known for a few cool things! It’s Japan’s biggest green tea producer — so you’ll see a lot of tea fields if you drive through the countryside. It’s also famous for real wasabi — the kind that grows in clean mountain water. When we arrived in Shimoda, our first stop was Perry Road. It’s this lovely little historic street lined with willow trees and retro architecture. There are lots of cafés and small shops, and it’s just really cute for strolling. Don’t get run over. Yes, we just had a quick lunch at Pepe and we are going to continue to explore. Its an old style kissaten. Mm Mm, kissaten. Shimoda has deep maritime roots—it played a  key role in Japan’s early international exchanges in the 1800s. These days,  it’s loved for its relaxed beach town vibe, rich seafaring history, and popular surf spots that draw ocean lovers year-round. We are gonna go up a little hike to get to Shimoda 
Park. And I’m scared of hikes in the heat because I tend to get a nosebleed. Let’s hope I don’t get a nosebleed. Might not be that much of a hike. Up next we went to Shimoda Park, where we caught 
the Ajisai Festival. That’s the hydrangea festival held every June. Go back hehe. Wow We were lucky with timing because the flowers 
were almost in full bloom and it wasn’t raining. Oh atsui (its hot) I thought it would be a good idea to look cute and wear a skirt. I swear there  is probably a spider in my hair. Atsui! Even in nature Japan has so many stairs. Sound of drums, or the taiko. I made it! I made it to the top. This here is to keep cool. It’s a wet cool nappy for the summer. There was this pretty photo spot with a pink wooden door surrounded by flowers. Kirei. You want to go to the yatai even though we just ate? I want to see! douzo How does this work? Mmm food, ooh ice cream. My hair.. This is like that time I went to Alcatraz Island. After the park, we walked along the bay towards the floating aquarium. We opted to take it slow by the water and check out some of the islands along the way. So nice. Weee hahaha. Mi amor gambatte. Then we headed to our hotel, Shimoda Yamatokan and honestly, the check-in was one of the most relaxing I’ve ever had. As soon as we parked, the staff greeted us, and 
inside, they served us wagashi (a traditional Japanese sweet) and tea in this beautiful lobby with a full beach view. We just sat there, sipping  and snacking while they prepared our check-in. Okay and now what we are really waiting for the view. I want to be impressed. Oh this is the view but this is the.. its pretty. Tana.. I have my sun glasses on because I’m heading to the 
beach. I’m playing game. I’m going to the beach. Our room had a private onsen and a full view of 
the beach. We chose the in-room dining option for dinner and breakfast — and it was so worth it. There was some construction happening and yeah, a few areas felt a little dated… but honestly, the food and service totally made up for it. We aren’t nitpicky — we just wanted to relax, and that’s exactly what we got. There are all waiting to catch a wave. Oh, there is a bell. So, we are starving now but I’m really enjoying the view. They are going to start preparing dinner in a few minutes here and we went all out. We got like a lobster, a Japanese lobster I think and it’s a lot of food. The sun is setting the opposite way. Its setting over there. So we are not gonna get that lovely sunset on the beach. We’re thinking the sun rise will come up this way. Unfortunately like sunrise has been really early like 4 in the morning. So, I doubt we will be getting up that early. So warm! I mean I hope no one can see  us here at night. Probably not. This does not have.. uhh yeah. So, this is where they will prepare our dinner. They had the option to eat in their dining area or we could eat in our room so for dinner we decided to eat in our room. After dinner they’re gonna prepare this as a sleeping area. So, they’ll bring out the futons and everything. Natural colour alcohol. What did you get? Yuzu honey juice. Oh juice? 
With soda. Not drinking, hey? This is Masa sitting here with the first course I 
guess. First round of food. And this is my view. That’s his view. I have to like… eh eh eh ahha Okay mi amor, what have you learned about coming to eat at a ryokan style hotel? Come with an empty stomach. Even then expand your stomach. Giant food baby right now and I even got the smaller quantity of rice. Somebody here- what size did you get? Medium 
or large? Large. Haha. Of course. Uhh. So full. So if you come to a ryoakan style, yeah, expand your stomach. This is their own cup and Shizuoka is famous 
for their tea. Their green tea. Hopefully one day I can go and see where they harvest tea. Our bed is set. oh and our table got moved over there. Watch Tv. And it is dark outside. We were down at the beach earlier looking up to see if they can us when we are like, you know.. (in the onsen) but we couldn’t. So maybe since we are higher, we can see down but they have no access to us. Because that would suck. It’s like 4:30 in the morning and you can’t really see the sun. But I think it started raining. The nice view behind me. I thought you were gonna give me your spot today. Nope. Haha. It’s mine. He’s not actually being mean,  it’s just better for him to sit there because he speaks better Japanese and when they come to serve us everything, they come from behind. Otherwise he would totally give me that spot, right mi amor? Uhn. He’s a nice guy. It’s making sounds. Can you hear it? Omg and I can’t open it so I’m scared. Yeah, I can’t open it either. Uogh, Kowai. Oh,  oh ahh. Thank you. Let’s not close it. Yeah, let’s leave it, I can’ handle hot hot anyways. I’m dead. This is food coma. I ate almost 
everything. The dessert was really good,  went to a different stomach. But I’m gonna pass out here from too much food. Goodbye Hoteru. (hotel) Tada. Wait are we going down? We are going down first.
Oh my gosh look at that. Oohh. You can hear it. It’s so nice, it’s not even busy. Oh my god! Hahaha. How much do we need to go up? Oh my gosh. What’s this one? You can see from here. Come. I’m too short. Come, come up. She’s so short. I’m too short. Oh it’s a shrine. Ryuosha. Dragon 
King. Oh! Dragon King? Etto, it says if you’re in a rush, just bow once. It’s a heart view spot. Heart view spot. Oh, here probably. There is a step. Oh you go first. I go first? Ahh, kinda a heart. This is a horrible view- oh because it’s this. 
This is the sand- people ski down this? Yeah. We’re gonna get some coffee and head back  home. So that was our trip, ijou desu. 3 hours and 40 minutes to get home? We have a quite a drive. We are gonna see if we can find some wasabi. We’re going up that circle? We came down now we have to go up. Tantito (car name) gambatte. On the drive back, we stopped at a few Michi no Eki — these awesome roadside rest stops with local snacks and souvenirs. We passed through Izu and actually saw wasabi being grown — which was cool! There was wasabi everything — wasabi miso, crackers, even ice cream. Too bad I don’t like wasabi, but Masa does, so it was fun watching him geek out over it. He loves wasabi. Wasabi. We also grabbed the best ichigo Daifuku I’ve ever had in Japan. So juicy and sweet… I’m drooling just thinking about it. This somehow turned into a michi no eki (trip). I saw the ichigo. Ahh, a dog run, so if you have your dog, you can bring them here so they can run.

We just hit a milestone — our 5th wedding anniversary — and decided to celebrate somewhere new. Our original plans got rained out, so we pivoted to a quiet coastal town in Shizuoka… and it turned out to be exactly what we needed.
Between blooming flowers, seaside walks, and one of the most relaxing hotel check-ins we’ve ever had, this little getaway surprised us in the best way.
Come along for a slow travel kind of trip — and maybe get a few ideas for your own escape from the city.

All my videos have English and Spanish subtitles.