![Sunrise at Shirahama beach, where a few pines still stand above the rocky coastline, taking the brunt of the typhoon winds that blow across this region during the summer months. Behind the hill to the left lies Shirahama Jinja [白浜神社], the oldest Shinto Shrine on the Izu Penninsula. There is a so-called "torii [鳥居] gate" facing to the sea - a gate that marks the seaward entrance to the shrine. No human would find this entrance convenient - the torii stands at the edge of a huge rock that juts into the ocean, and from there it points back towards the shrine. The front door for spirits coming to the shrine from the sea . . .](images/0947-5D-8620.jpg "Sunrise at Shirahama beach, where a few pines still stand above the rocky coastline, taking the brunt of the typhoon winds that blow across this region during the summer months. Behind the hill to the left lies Shirahama Jinja [白浜神社], the oldest Shinto Shrine on the Izu Penninsula. There is a so-called \"torii [鳥居] gate\" facing to the sea - a gate that marks the seaward entrance to the shrine. No human would find this entrance convenient - the torii stands at the edge of a huge rock that juts into the ocean, and from there it points back towards the shrine. The front door for spirits coming to the shrine from the sea . . .")
![Dawn at Shirahama [白浜] beach. The torii [鳥居] gate standing at the edge of a huge rock jutting seaward provides a spiritual path towards Shirahama Jinja [白浜神社], one of Japan’s oldest Shinto shrines, said to be over 2000 years old, which lies just outside the left margin of this image. The long exposure time here softens the movement of the waves and the advancing and retreating movement of the foam on the sand.](images/0947-5D-8635.jpg "Dawn at Shirahama [白浜] beach. The torii [鳥居] gate standing at the edge of a huge rock jutting seaward provides a spiritual path towards Shirahama Jinja [白浜神社], one of Japan’s oldest Shinto shrines, said to be over 2000 years old, which lies just outside the left margin of this image. The long exposure time here softens the movement of the waves and the advancing and retreating movement of the foam on the sand.")
![Rays of early morning sun catch the wave tops at Shirahama beach. Toshima Island [利島], one of the seven islands of the Izu Chain [population 330], lies on the horizon.](images/0947-5D-8688.jpg "Rays of early morning sun catch the wave tops at Shirahama beach. Toshima Island [利島], one of the seven islands of the Izu Chain [population 330], lies on the horizon.")
![[No caption available for this image.]](images/0947-5D-9246.jpg "[No caption available for this image.]")
![[No caption available for this image.]](images/0947-5D-9299.jpg "[No caption available for this image.]")
![[No caption available for this image.]](images/0947-5D-9300.jpg "[No caption available for this image.]")
22 Nov 2009: Shimoda and Shirahama [photos from 21-22 Nov 2009]
Shimoda lies at the southern tip of the Izu Peninsula, and one of its claims to fame is that it is where Commodore Perry and the so-called "Black Ships" made landfall on Japan's main island of Honshu in 1854. It was Perry's second visit to Japan. In July of 1853 he landed near Edo [modern day Tokyo] and forced the Japanese to allow him ashore to present a letter from President Millard Fillmore that demanded the opening of trade between the United States and Japan. After an eight-month sortie to the Chinese coast, Perry returned to execute a trade agreement based on Fillmore's terms that ended several hundred years of Japanese isolation and a virtual trade monopoly held by the Dutch through a few restricted ports in Japan.
Shimoda has a beautiful, well protected harbor [photo below left] surrounded by the rugged, rocky coastline that is typical of the Izu Peninsula. A narrow inlet from the west end of the harbor leads to a city wharf populated by a fleet of fishing and pleasure craft [photo below right].
|
|
Special thanks to Yamamoto-san and his wife for their warm hospitality and friendly advice during my stay at Pension Sakura-ya [ペンション桜家] at the lovely beach town of Shirahama, just a few minutes from Shimoda.
どもありがとうございます！