Reaching Paradise in 2 hours from Tokyo, Day 2

Destination:      

Tateyama, Chiba Prefecture (Distance from Tokyo:   115km,  approximately 72 miles)

Map　→　  (http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/regional/chiba/minamibousou.html)

Date:     August, 2007　

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After dinner, the owner of B&B told us there would be a firework festival in a neighbor town and would be able to see it from a beach nearby. Great! We didn’t expect there was a firework festival while we were staying. What a lucky night!  So we walked down to the nearest beach.

We had to kill some time till the firework festival kicked off. So we got a couple of bottles of local brewed beer, Awa Beer (http://beer.awa.or.jp/), from a convenience store. Their ale type beer was so smooth and have such a pleasant flavor of hop. 

We sat down on the beach with the tasty beer in our hands. It was a great dreamy time. The atmosphere of the beach was so mellow. No noise but the sound of waves, cool wind with the smell of ocean (and beer), and the stars were shining like gorgeous diamonds in the sky. This absolutely does NOT happen to you in Tokyo. Unfortunately our digital camera didn’t work well to take the photos of firework and fancy stars.  Sorry.  But I promise you I’m not lying. You’ll definitely see it when you go over there.  

The venue of firework was a little bit far from our beach. So it was an ok view. Instead, the sweet environment of the beach made up the deficiency of remote distance. Just sting on the beach gave us a lot of peace of mind.

On the next morning, we had the breakfast at a patio of the B&B.  Again, fresh air and cool wind were surrounding us.  I think the temperature in Tateyama is 2 - 3 degree Celsius lower than in Tokyo in the morning, because of the abundant nature - greens and ocean.  At least we felt so.

The breakfast was, of course, so yummy. They used the original herbs they grew in their garden for some food, like jam, sauce and tea. The tasty homemade ingredients.  

Breakfast with the original herbs

After the slow breakfast time, we headed down to the beach where we were last night for the fireworks for a little bit swimming. My wife is so good at swimming, but I’m not. So my main activity was just sunbathing.  


The beach wasn’t crowed at all. We thought it was because the time was too early to swim. But it didn’t get cramped even around  noon. We actually found that many beaches in this area were not as packed as other popular ones of the Tokyo metropolitan area during our drive yesterday. If you want to relax on a beach with much enough space and without distractions by nuisance guys, this is where you should come up.

Road to the beach

We checked out the B&B and drove down to a local sea food restaurant which offers some special menus only for the B&B customers.  You can ask the owner to book a table at the restaurant and order one of the exclusive meals when you show up. Our selection was a dish of mackerel invented by the local fishermen called Namero (I don’t know the exact meaning of this word, but just taste good).

@ the sea food restaurant 

The recipe is quite simple. Minced meat of mackerel with chopped green onion, ginger, Japanese basil, and dress them with miso (soybean paste). It tastes so mild without the fishy smell, but might be too rich if you prefer light taste. 

After we efficiently spent our 2 days to enjoy everything we could do in Tateyama,  the time did come to get back to the hot city. On the way back to a bus depot, we stopped by at a small shrine which had such a great view from the top of the hill.

View from a shrine. 

Tateyama and the southern Ciba region are not a famous destination for the tourism, but, thanks to its unpopularity, this handy paradise gives you a lot of enjoyment in a slow and peaceful manner with fewer tourists than other popular beaches. 

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Travelling Tips in Tateyama

-  Getting there by:   

• Train;  Japan Railway Company (JR) Uchibo line from Tokyo station (2.5 Hours).  JPY 8,040 for a round-trip express train ticket
• Bus;  JR Highway bus from Tokyo Station (2 – 3 Hours).  JPY 4,400 for a round-trip ticket.
• Car;  Tateyama Expressway (2 -3 hrs) from the central Tokyo 

- To get around the Tateyama area:

Renting a car is strongly recommended.  Using the public transportation system isn’t a good option to explore the area and taxi costs a lot.  JR provides a good package service of train ride and car rental for their passengers (http://www.ekiren.co.jp/index.html (Japanese))

- Accommodation in Tateyama :

There are many B&Bs and small inns offering a room at a reasonable price, but with the same degree of hospitality as major hotels. If you want to feel the excitement of local atmosphere, better to stay at one of them. But most of them don’t speak English well, so you need to prepare for the language barrier.

Major Hotels in Tateyama

• Hotel Sunosaki Kazenosho  (http://sunosaki.com/top.html) 
• Familio Tateyama   (http://www.familio-tateyama.com/)
• Shinra  (http://www.psr-shinra.com/language/eng/)
• Hotel Accion  (http://www.accion.co.jp/)
• Kyuka Mura  (http://www.qkamura.or.jp/q_e_fdetail.php?nfacid=2257)

 - Travel Expenses:         

Approximately JPY 30,000/per person for a 2-day trip, including transportation, accommodationmeals, car rental, and other expenses. The hotel cost takes big bucks.

- Local Tourist Information Center:

Tateyama City Tourist Center  (http://www.tateyamacity.com/ (Japanese))

Tateyama City Municipal Office (http://www2.city.tateyama.chiba.jp/Guide/?tpcid=53&stoid=3583)