I love Tokyo and in my next life I imagine you’ll find me in my suite on the 47th floor of the Park Hyatt showering and dressing for drinks and dinner with Scarlett Johansson between takes of, “Lost in Translation,” which was filmed at the hotel. Tokyo invokes manic fantasies like that. It’s a city of controlled chaos where anything happens, contradictions gather quickly.
But Tokyo isn’t Japan. Being there has as much to do with how most Japanese live as visiting New York City and thinking you’ve seen Topeka or New Orleans. Each time I go to Japan I try to get out of town and see at least one new prefecture. Seeing new venues adds context. It enriches my understanding and appreciation of Japan, which has been my favorite destination for the past decade.
I was invited by the local government, this past March, to visit Shizuoka prefecture, whose border lies less than an hour southwest of Tokyo, rimmed by the Pacific ocean and, in its center a mountainous range spiraling to the pinnacle of Mt. Fuji. No place in Japan is more evocative of the jumble of modern and ancient histories that makes the country so fascinating.
Shizuoka City
Use the city as your center for exploring the region. Ultra-modern, like many Japanese cities destroyed by earthquakes, fires, and wartime bombings, Shizuoka City is made up of dull, modern offices, a few good restaurants, and many little shops, but it has an infrastructure ideal for a base. Your best bet, if you’re interested in seeing the city, is to visit Tatsumi Yagura and Sumpu Koan.
Tatsumi Yagura is a spectacular castle built in 1635 as a fortress with moats, turrets, courtyards, and grand entrances. No guards, few restrictions, and you glide through and can embrace the silence. From tall buildings, “salary workers” can look down and see the inner splendor accentuated by a variety of trees and a minimalistic aesthetic. Their probable envy may add to your pleasure.
Next to the castle is a good, quiet park, Sumpu Koan, where paths enable you to seek a measure of calm lost to jet lag.
Shimoda
Getting out of Shizuoka City is easy by train. You skirt the gorgeous coastline of the Izu peninsula, marked by small island resorts and jutting rocks that resemble spires, where beaches attract hardcore surfers and families. Shimoda itself is a tiny former fishing village renowned in Japanese history for being one of the first ports visited by Commodore Matthew Perry in 1854. Negotiations that followed led to Japan opening itself to trade with the United States. There’s even a Matthew Perry walkway running from the Ryosenji temple to the commodore’s bust along which are some very cool pubs and dives playing bebop and serving good, small bites. The town itself is lovely, the streets lined with mom and pop sake shops, grocery stores and fishmongers. Small byways and traditional food shops co-exist alongside monuments to the newcomers. It’s also rich with commemorations to the fateful treaties that brought Japan forward into modern life. Shimoda provides a glimpse of Japan before the U.S. transformed its identity. You can see in its streets and memorials the struggle that continues between wanting to emulate the West and yet resist its cultures.
Shuzenji
By far the most exquisite town in the prefecture, this ancient center for hot springs had the good fortune to avoid World War II bombardment. Beautiful, old structures line its one long street, a path winds through bamboo forests, and there are nearly a dozen fine udon noodle shops. For about $15, you can enjoy a tray of fresh noodles and a cold beer. Shuzenji is the place to experience the ryokan experience. Ryokans are the Japanese version of an inn combined with an old-fashioned spa. You enter a reception area, hand your bags, shoes, and worries over to kimono clad staff, and follow in long, silent hallways on tatami mats to your room. There you are given green tea and a yukata (a robe). For the remainder of your time at the ryokan, your mind and body are meant to be reinvigorated through hot, communal baths, kaiseke meals, and inactivity.
Kaiseke dining is made up of small, intensely flavored plates of seasonal food, principally fish and vegetables, with a small amount of Waygu style beef occasionally. The high end ryokans make an art of this kind of dining and for me it’s the epitome of Japanese cuisine – refined, concentrated tastes, highly specific textures and temperatures, and everything presented with aesthetics in the foreground. The ryokans in Shuzenji are near huge strawberry greenhouses and you can eat your fill there for about $12, but an equally appealing choice is to remain in your ryokan and try to put your mind and body at ease. The idea is to bathe constantly, nap, make love, drink sake, and sleep. If I had a year to spend anywhere, I would spend it in a ryokan.
Mishima
I ended my trip by visiting this old crossroads town where travelers rested enroute to Mt Fuji and further north. You can get bicycles for free at the train station of this ecologically minded city. Here in Mishima there’s a concern for the environment as well as a reverence for traditions and together these find a common ground. Beautiful, nostalgic shops line its wide avenues, a lovely brook traverses its center, and the town’s pride is the Grand Shrine. The Grand Shrine has a huge courtyard filled with a variety of cherry trees, a pond, and several wooden temple buildings. No place is more serene and as you look at the crowds showing devotion, you might consider the contrast to Tokyo. Staying in the old prefecture just an hour away was like visiting the older relatives of a loved one. When I returned to Tokyo, I understood better its restlessness and its calm.
Country Code for Japan is (81)
Where to Stay:
Hotel Century Shizuoka – Right next to the train station, the hotel has a great rooftop bar with good cocktails and views. Rooms are comfortable. The breakfast buffet is lavish. Several fine restaurants. 18-1 Minami-cho Suruga-k u, Shizuoka-city 8154 284-0111.
Shimoda Kurofune Hotel – The perfect place to stay for people traveling with small children. Rooms are beautiful with harbor views. Some have private outdoor bathing pools. Family owned. Kakizaki 3-8, Shimoda-city 81558 221234.
Sanyoso Ryokan – Exquisite, super high end ryokan with huge private park and modern baths. The food here is first-rate; the service and ambience exceptional. 8155-947-1111; www.princehotels.co.jp/sanyo-so
Where to Eat:
Teppanyaki Grill– Offers beef grilled while you watch and the quality of the steak is terrific. You must reserve in advance as there is limited seating. 18-1 Minami-cho Suruga-ku, Shizuoka-city; 8154-289-6413.
Yukura– Overlooking the Oi river, this rustic restaurant serves wonderful local dishes like eel on rice with a poached egg or udon noodles. Simply delicious. Kanaya, Shimoda-city, 1700-38; 428-0034.
Muan- In the center of Shizuoka City and up a flight of stairs, Muan is a good example of urban dining. Private rooms where you can enjoy flavorful vegetables and fish washed down with sake. Well worth a visit. 1-4 Showa-cho, Aoi-ku, Shizuoka City +81(0)54 273 8855, fax +81(0)54 273 8806. http://www.nasubi-ltd.co.jp
Hirano-ya – A very nice family owned restaurant in Shimoda City in a century old building where you can enjoy Western dishes amidst an array of fascinating antiques that tell the story of the city. 3-1-4, Shimoda-city, SHIZUOKA, +81-558-22-2525
Midu – On the one and only main drag in Shuzenji, this local joint offers a taste of good food that is served quickly and efficiently in Bento boxes. The vegetables are very good. 765 Shuzenji Izu-city, +81(0) 558-72-0546
Must See:
MOA Museum of Art– This museum holds national treasures and numerous important cultural properties including paintings, works of calligraphy, sculptures and a true Japanese garden. The museum was established soon after World War II to prevent these wonderful works of art from being sold abroad. 26-2 Momoyama-cho, Atami-city, Shizuoka-prefecture 413-8511. +81(0)557-84-2511. www.moaart.or.jp