Satoshi Nihonyanagi
Welcome to my blog, Green Tea Club !
I'll show you all the beauties and goodies in Shizuoka through this blog.
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Hope to see you around in Shizuoka !
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02/07/2012 [Tue]
Izu Shaboten Park 3 ― Ancient ruins [Ito]
Now, here comes “what I found” in Izu Shaboten Park ! As I told you in the last report, there are 24 varieties of ancient relics in the park. How many could I get ? The first is this one. My favorite♪ Do you recognize what this relic is ? I call it by myself “a headless giant”. I don’t know the exact name because the guide was away from me by then. Sorry for that.＾＾；
You will thus find ruins sometimes during walking around and this is the one I found on the cactus mountain which peacocks flocked around. I wished I could have reached there but cactus were on my way ! It would be better with the blue sky behind it.＞＜
These pictures make me feel as if I went to South America for real.＾＾； No wonder these relics look so real and well arranged because they were made with an authorization of the Mexican Government.
Now, I’ve reported “Izu Shaboten Park” in three reports and how do you like it ? Shaboten Park is full of attractions such as “Capybara no Yu”, animals, cactus, cactus dishes, and old relics ! Please rememer the beautiful Izu Kogen Highlands and Mt. Omuro of Geo Park always behind you ! Explore the world of Izu and discover enchantment more than the guidebook tells.
Izu Shaboten Park
Access ： 40 minutes by #6 bus from JR Ito Station ／ 20 minutes by bus from Izukyu Izu-kogen Station
Admission ： ￥1800／adult, ￥900／student ( 6 – 15 ), ￥300／children over 4 years old
Open Hours ：
9:00 – 17:00（ Mar 1 〜 Oct 31 ）
9:00 – 16:00（ Nov 1 〜 End of Feb ）
Capybara-no Yu bathing can be seen every day from 10:30 until Mar 31
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02/03/2012 [Fri]
Izu Shaboten Park 2 ― Animals and Cactus [Ito]
“Izu Shaboten Park” stands on a small hill named “Mt. Iwamuro” right beside “Omuroyama”. Mt. Iwamuro, as well as Mt. Omuro, is also a part of Geo-Park and I just heard that the pond in the park had been made on the crater !
Now, let’s see what’s in Izu Shaboten Park ! It is basically a botanical & zoological park in the natural Geo-site created by old eruption, which focuses on nature and animals in Mexico or South America. You can also find lots of re-creations of old relics such as Maya Civilization there. I passed through the entrance gate very excitedly. They say there are 24 varieties ( 34 works ) in the park. I’ll show you some of what I saw next time.
Soon after you walk in the park, you will see a huge statue of a bird and some pyramids.
What the hell are they ?
Squirrel monkeys came up to me. The guide told me that they were living free in the park. I, though not liking wild animals, tried to take some pictures. Say cheese !＾＾ There are more animals living free in Shaboten Park. Please try to walk on to find and check all animals on the brochure ! Brochures available in English.＾＾ Be sure to dress yourself for it because the park is vast enough to walk more than 1 hour. I here attach the map for your information.
Animals (793KB)
Map (903KB)
In about 20 minutes, I finally reached the enigmatic statue. It is an imaginary object mixed with mammals, birds, and reptiles and they say that it was on TV for Ultraman and The Masked Rider series, which startled me very much ! This is the doorway to the greenhouse, by the way.
ε(*´･∀･｀)зﾞHELLO
“Shaboten” is a Japanese word for “Cactus” and there are more than 160 varieties of cactus in the greenhouse. The walkway made me feel as if I had been walking through the jungle ! Under the pyramid, you can find a spacious area with mountains of cactus. Some of them are of 50 years old, 100 years old and more ! I wondered if they lived forever.＾＾； At the last greenhouse, you can enjoy cactus picking. Please choose your favorites and assort them in a pod !＾＾
After cactus picking, enjoy yourself by shopping or lunch, and don’t forget to try dishes using cactus. I found cactus ice-cream, cactus juice, cactus curry, cactus soba noodle, and cactus hamburgers. I tried the curry and it was not so bad ! Anyway, have fun !＾＾
Izu Shaboten Park
Access ： 40 minutes by #6 bus from JR Ito Station ／ 20 minutes by bus from Izukyu Izu-kogen Station
Admission ： ￥1800／adult, ￥900／student ( 6 – 15 ), ￥300／children over 4 years old
Open Hours ：
9:00 – 17:00（ Mar 1 〜 Oct 31 ）
9:00 – 16:00（ Nov 1 〜 End of Feb ）
Join us in Twitter φ(・ω・ )
“Shizuoka Guide” is our official English blog website for events & sightseeing. Always with you ! ＾＾
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02/01/2012 [Wed]
Izu Shaboten Park１ ― Capybara no Yu ( Capybara in the bath ) [Ito]
“Izu Shaboten Park” is a theme-park located right beside Mt. Omuro in Izu Kogen Highlands, Ito City, Shizuoka. There you can find one of the hottest animals this season in Japan. It’s “Capybaras” and of course they are by no means typical capybaras. Believe it or not, they bathe in the open-air hot water, and funny thing is that their faces look like old gentlemen in hot spa to me.＾＾； They take their time in it until they get tired of it, the very scene you can see in such a great onsen resort as Izu Peninsula.＾＾
Capybara’s bathing time begins from 10:30 – as long as they like to be in. Basically around one hour, they say. While they are munching breakfast, the keeper gives us an interesting description of Capybaras. Of course, in Japanese, though. So I’ll here talk about it in English.＾＾
Capybaras live in South America and considered as a kin of rat. They eat vegetables such as cabbages, potato and carrots, and grow more than 50kg ! “Capybara” originally means “a ruler of the field” and it does look so dignified as the name says.＾＾；
They say that capybaras basically like to be around water but their taking bath is totally another story. Once, they say, while the keeper was washing the floor with hot water, capybaras somehow flocked together around it. He wondered how it would it be if he filled a basin with hot water and the next moment, he saw capybaras bathing in it and thought that’s the very scene of Izu, the largest hot spring resort in Japan ! Now, capybaras of Shaboten Park are so famous and popular as to gather visitors from across Japan ! Please stop by to see them when you visit Izu area by any chance.＾＾
Izu Shaboten Park
Access ： 40 minutes by #6 bus from JR Ito Station ／ 20 minutes by bus from Izukyu Izu-kogen Station
Admission ： ￥1800／adult, ￥900／student ( 6 – 15 ), ￥300／children over 4 years old
Open Hours ：
9:00 – 17:00（ Mar 1 〜 Oct 31 ）
9:00 – 16:00（ Nov 1 〜 End of Feb ）
※Capybara-no Yu bathing can be seen every day from 10:30 until Mar 31
※English brochure available at the reception desk
Join us in Twitter φ(・ω・ )
“Shizuoka Guide” is our official English blog website for events & sightseeing. Always with you ! ＾＾
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01/25/2012 [Wed]
A Geo-Park in Ito City – Omuroyama [Ito]
Today, I introduce one of the most enigmatic mountains in Japan located in Ito City. It’s Mt. Omuro ( or we say “Omuroyama” ). See its appearance first. Weird, isn’t it ? No trees, no animals, just grasses.
This mountain was created by the eruption of 4000 years ago and is counted as one of the most evaluated geological assets of Izu Peninsula. 580m in height and a huge crater is seen on its top. Torii gate in the picture indicates there is a Sengen Shrine on it. Visitors can go up the mountain only by the lift.
You might be more surprised if you hear that Omuroyama is totally burned out once a year, on the second Sunday in February. Accordingly, this year, it falls on Feb 12th, and by this mountain-burning done this season, it can be let make a brand-new young shoots in spring. The first picture is the one taken on Jan 19 this year but when I visited there last summer, it was like the pictures below ! Wonderful, isn’t it ?＾＾ Mt. Omuro has been designated as a national natural treasure in Japan.
in early summer
Now, let’s see what’s up the mountain. The crater is 300m in diameter, 1000m around, and 70m deep. It took me about 30 minutes to walk around. You can also walk down the crater and play archery at the bottom. Sengen Shrine is on its way.
From the top of Mt. Omuro, if weather permits, you can see Mt. Fuji over the mountains. Recently, they say that they can see even the Sky Tree in Tokyo ! I wish I could have seen it last week. Anyway, Omuroyama changes with season and the view as well varies depending on the time you overlook, just like a living creature.
Mt. Omuro is located in the middle of Izu Kogen Highlands in Ito City. Lots of attractions and fancy pensions ( private resort inns ) are around it. Please refer to the following for further information.＾＾
Mt. Omuro ( Omuroyama )
Access ： 40 minutes by #6 bus from JR Ito Station.
20 minutes by bus from Izu-kogen Station of Izukyu
Admission ： Free ( ￥500 for lift riding )
Open Hours ： 9:00 – 16:15 ( Oct 1 – Mar 5 )／9:00 – 16:45 ( Mar 6 – Mar 15 )／9:00 – 17:15 ( Mar 16 – Sep 30 ) ※Open 7 days a week
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09/14/2011 [Wed]
Izu Peninsula, originally deep in the sea. [Ito]
Believe it or not, Izu Peninsula was not originally a part of Japan. It came from the bottom of the deep sea. About a million years ago, a submarine volcanic cluster crashed into the land of Japan, which emerged out of the sea-level to form eventually current Izu Peninsula. About 600 thousand years ago. The history tells the fact that Izu is a huge volcanic island and you can find various vestiges from the nature.
“Geo Park” denotes a nationally designated terrestrial heritage. Currently, they’ve been trying to frame Izu for it. Then, what kind of heritage can we find ?
This is “Mt. Omuro” of Ito City, originated from the eruption of 4000 years ago. Also designated as a national natural treasure. You can go up the mountain on the lift and walk around the crater now.
Next comes “Kawazu Seven Falls” that I introduced the other day. Turning your eyes a bit away from the beautiful waterfall, you will find enigmatic cliffs. See the pillar-shaped rocks ? These are called “Columnar Joint”, created by cooled and regularly cracked magma.
The surface is basically shaped hexagonal. And by tracing the flow, we can tell how the volcanic flock formed Izu Peninsula. It is said that the oldest one can be traced back to 20 million years ago !
“Dogashima” that I introduced last year is also one of them. It looks so beautiful from a distance but it’s not only that. Focus your eyes closer, and you will recognize geological layers. These layers consist of volcanic materials, debris flows, and volcanic ashes.
“Nakagi Port” of Minami-izu Town is surrounded by mountain cliffs of Columnar Joint.
Taking up a unique geology, “Muroiwa-do” cave in Matsuzaki Town is definitely a must-see spot. Looks like some kind of ancient ruins, isn’t it ? People used to mine for “Izu-ishi” ( Izu Stone ) to trim off huge square stone. I just wonder, more than geology, how they carried the huge stone out of the cave up the mountain. More mysterious, isn’t it ? ＾＾；
Anyway, you can find lots of geological evidences in Izu Geo Park ( to-be ). So if and when you come to Izu by any chance, be sure not to put your eyes on merely facades of it. Find something distinct to understand these forming histories.
Have a good day !
Join us in Twitter φ(・ω・ )
“Shizuoka Guide” is our official English blog website for events & sightseeing. Always with you ! ＾＾
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