Only three hours away from Tokyo is the Izu Peninsula, a UNESCO Global Geo park full of incredible coastline.
Come with me as I take 3 days to explore this amazing location on what will be an unforgettable journey.
Let's go!
[Life in Japan Theme Song]
Day 1
Ok we're packed up here.
I've got my bag ready, I've got my drone here...
Got my pillow, because you want to sleep with your own pillow when you can
And bag with clothes, extra shoes, and a bag
I think we're ready to do this thing — let's go!
Life in the city goes by at an almost frightening pace.
It’s far too easy to get caught up in all the little details of life that we lose perception of the big picture.
I've come to this trail here. I'm going to go to the suspension bridge.
In order to keep the big picture in view, each year I hop in the car and go on a 3-day personal retreat.
These retreats are times of reflection and processing,
a time to enjoy nature and to take a personal inventory on life.
What’s going well?
What needs improvement?
How can I develop as a person?
The answer to these questions and many others keeps my life on track.
I'm currently on Jogasaki Nature Course
It's a several kilometer course along the coastline and it is just beautiful.
This whole coastline was formed as the volcano erupted
And this giant lava flow came out and met the sea
And more stairs
What an absolutely gorgeous place.
Getting out into nature is one of the things I love to do for my own personal retreat.
A time to think clearly, to reset priorities,
I'm almost to the Hashidate Suspension Bridge...
And then I get to turn around and go back to the car
Which is probably about—almost 4 kilometers back
And then on to my hotel for the night.
If you’re a nature lover like me, then Japan is a fantastic place to live
and getting out into nature puts me into a peaceful state of mind.
Here's the bridge.
If you don't want to do the bridge, there's a chicken out route.
We will not be taking the chicken out route.
Very cool.
There's people practicing repelling down there it looks like.
And over here, oh yea!
And that's the bridge.
Well now I'm heading back towards the car
But on a trail like this the nice thing is that even when you start heading the other way,
It looks like you haven't been there, because you haven't seen this before.
The sun has come out
And it is absolutely gorgeous coastline.
Well, I found the perfect spot for lunch here. And what's for lunch?
I have a sandwich: tomato, lettuce, ham & egg.
A tuna & mayonnaise onigiri
And blueberry yogurt with an orange juice.
I think there's a bird over here that wants to steal my food. But you can't have it.
Those rocks down there are really wild.
I'm starting to feel a little bit chilly, so it's time to get moving again. I'll warm right up.
A little bit of time in nature, and I’m already unwinding from the busyness of life.
How do you unwind?
Here we are. Back to the parking. Oh!
So nice. It's a great walk and it's good to be back.
Look at this.
From here it's a 48 minute drive to my hotel.
And these three days are off to a great start.
So many beautiful stops along this road. It's just one beautiful coastline after another.
I love it. This is the first time for me to be down this coastline this far.
It's been a lot of fun.
I’m planning 3 days, 2 nights in the Isu Peninsula.
This should give me enough time to unwind and reset.
And here's my room. It's got a nice place to work, a bed, a toilet... everything I'll need.
Definitely to the beach.
Oh yea.
Beautiful.
Driving along here, it is just absolutely gorgeous.
What a beautiful evening.
The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
The skies display his craftsmanship.
What a beautiful looking breakfast, oh yes!
OK, let's eat!
So I talked with the host, he's a super nice guy and made a great breakfast...
We sat there and chatted for awhile
And he gave me some points of things that I should check out here
And so I'm very excited to go check them out today.
And while I go, the whole time I'm listening to audio books,
I'm listening to the Bible, I'm praying,
And this is just a great way that I really am able to connect with God
And I'm able to hear his voice. It's great.
My first stop was at Shimogamo to see the joint blooming of the Sakura, or Cherry blossoms with the yellow Canola flowers.
You can walk for kilometers up and down the Aono River and take it all in, one step at a time.
It was the perfect day for this once-a-year experience.
So I like the Japanese: I love nature and I love that this is a country that loves nature.
Next I returned to the shoreline to explore some of its famous points.
This right here is the southern most tip of the Isu Peninsula.
And it has this incredible lighthouse here.
And just astonishing views
It says sunset and sunrise are great here.
It is extremely windy here at the tip.
Here are the seven islands of the Isu Peninsula
And from here, you can see most of them.
There's Ooshima, Toshima, Niijima, Shikinejima...
And some others
And there's where we are
From here you can see back to the parking.
It's just a short walk from there to here.
(Cell phone dings) Looks like I got reception.
I'm climbing this loop that is supposed to have incredible views.
Just like everywhere else here has incredible views.
I'm so thankful for my wife. She makes this all possible—that I can go away for a couple of days.
And do this, it really makes a difference for our marriage, for our family, for our own lives and direction. We need this.
Oh yeah.
Aww Ruth, where are you?
Aw!
Wouldn't I love to get a picture with you here.
I definitely enjoy getting lots of footage here
But later on it has to get edited, so I should take some time and pace myself.
There's probably only so many seashores that we need to see.
It looks like I have a bit of a hike coming up.
So let's start the climb. Boy, it's a good thing I just had some lunch.
My friend back at the hotel, who runs the hotel, kindly told me about this place
And that it has spectacular views of (Mt) Fuji, and that it's worth visiting.
So I'm giving it a try, right here.
So apparently that first stairway was only a warm up — check this out.
That is a whole lot of stairs.
One step at a time...just like life, one step at a time.
You don't have to do it all at once, you don't have to race up it.
You just gotta take it step by step, and it will be alright.
A lot of these places, they have a lot of stairs leading up to them.
I think the idea of working hard to get there is part of the attraction.
If it sounds like I'm breathing heavy, it's because I am.
The top!
Oh! It's the top of this stairway. Look at that thing.
Look at this! It's just sheer rock face there
The view from the top, I imagine, is going to be awesome.
But we're not done yet, because the trail goes on.
So let's move on.
Well now it's a full-out trail.
With switch backs and everything.
This thing is all-out mountain climb.
Gnarly, Dude.
Climbing up a mountain is considered a spiritual experience for people all over the world, Christians included.
There’s something about the struggle of reaching the top and the perspective you gain from it that is so rewarding.
I think that's the top right up there. It could very well be.
Just a little bit more to go.
I was correct.
I can see the shrine. I can see a final stairway.
Here we go.
The water here is just incredibly blue.
Whew! I hiked up from all the way down there.
And you can still go a little bit higher yet.
The best view must be from up here. That would be my guess.
The very top point of this mountain.
What a great suggestion from my friend back at the inn.
Wow!
Eh!
Holy cow!
Mt Fuji would be over there, but you can't see it now because of the clouds.
But it really doesn't matter — what a view!
What a place!
Somebody worked really really hard to build that there.
This mountain is absolutely crazy because it sits apart—like outside of the main peninsula,
You see, there's the main peninsula, it just goes all the way around,
And then there's like this mountain right in the middle of it
What craziness!
Going down is certainly easier on the heart, but harder on the legs.
And you have to be a little bit more sure footed on the way down because
It can be easier to slip if you're not careful.
Too bad I just can't ski down this thing. That would be cool.
I mean, not with these shoes, that wouldn't be cool.
Not without skis, on snow...
Not on a stairway...
But assuming this was a mountain with snow, and I had skis on, I would totally go for this.
The ironic thing is that my hiking shoes are in the car. I had no idea.
Oh, here we go. It's the end—almost the end of the journey.
The parking lot's down there, my car's down there
And I have water down there, so that's good.
Look at that—that's what I just hiked up—that huge pointy mountain.
I had no idea it was going to be like that, but what a great suggestion.
Big stairway up a mountain leading to a great view? Hey, why not?
I am just an absolute sucker for these things...
I see one and I can't pass it up.
It's just too good— too awesome.
That's one of the things I absolutely love about living in Japan—
Is that I share this love for nature, for incredible places
And the Japanese certainly have that down pat.
Some absolutely wild trees down in here.
Gorgeous view.
It looks like they've cleared out a lot of trees here.
And a lot of trees through there so that they could build their flower garden
Which I'm sure will be spectacular when it's in season.
It's been just a great day. It's time to head back to the hotel and rest a little bit.
Before we keep going: a quick pitstop for some coffee, oh yes!
Before heading back to the hotel, I decided to take one final detour.
This time I would walk through the gardens at Tsumekizaki Park and head up to the lighthouse on it’s cliffs.
There really is no lack of incredible places here in the Isu Peninsula.
This is awesome.
And it might be the end of the day but hey stairs! Why not?
Oh! Well now if that isn't just perfect framing.
It's like they were expecting you to come this way.
Yes! Don't mind if I do.
Seeing the lighthouse at dusk was a perfect way to close up the second day.
And as I reflected more, I was overcome with thankfulness for my family, my friends, Japan and our lives here.
I’m thankful for each one of you who is making this journey with us.
And I am thankful for a hotels with onsens.
Oh! What a fantastic day, and now I'm back in my room. It feels good to be back!
And it's time for an onsen bath!
Here we go — into the stone onsen!
You get changed right here, and after you get changed you come over here...
You shower off. Japanese always shower off before entering the onsen.
And then right here you take the top off and enjoy!
Day 3
As day 3 dawned, I made my way down to Ryugu Sea Cave.
The persistent tides of the ocean carve impressive structures out of these rocky coastlines.
Here at Ryugu, they say that the cave that was formed even looks like a heart from above.
I wondered if there would actually be a heart. There's a heart. Look at that.
Look at those sand dunes there, my goodness!
Yesterday I was mentioning how I would love to ski down that slope,
Well that sand slope right there could definitely be skied down.
I just don't have my skis with me.
As I began my trek back home, I stopped along the way to see Kawazu Seven Waterfalls.
Each waterfall, separated by a decent hike, was beautiful and unique.
The way the falls cut through the volcanic rock was mesmerizing.
And here's the top waterfall! Whoa, look at that! It goes right on over there!
Oh my goodness!
Here it is — Joren Falls, one of Japan's top 100 waterfalls.
Oooo, check it out.
There it is.
The falls—they are awesome.
Beautiful Izu Peninsula was the perfect place for my 3-day retreat in nature,
and I look forward to coming back here again someday with my family.
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and I’ll see you next time on Life in Japan.