Shimmering Shizuoka (Part 2 of 2)

–Gorgeous Beaches and Mountains in One Prefecture

6. Train rides along the Oi River

This was hands down my favorite activity in Shizuoka! As a big fan of trains, I was thrilled to learn that Oigawa Railway, a local train company, still runs steam locomotives. I expected the ride to be more bumpy, but it was just as smooth as electric trains–the only difference were the puffs of smoke we could see from the window and the slightly smoky smell! It’s usually an hour-long ride on the Oigawa Main Line running alongside the Oi River. After a typhoon last fall, the ride has been cut to 30 minutes, but it was still well worth it!

Great train rides should always be enjoyed with food, and I was super excited to find cute train-related sweets. I particularly enjoyed one called “SL (steam locomotive) food,” a pack of peanuts coated in a mixture of black sesame powder, soy bean powder, and sugar. It’s meant to look like the coal that’s “fed” into the steam locomotive–and I thought that concept was so cute! I melted upon seeing the back of the package: it has an illustrated disclaimer (probably meant for little boys) that warns, “unfortunately, eating this won’t turn you into a steam locomotive”!

After enjoying the steam train, I switched to the Ikawa Line (a regular train also run by Oigawa Railway), which goes further up the Oi River. I really wanted to visit Okuoikojo Station, which is on a tiny piece of land jutting into the riverbend. The isolated station looks like it’s on top of an island, and the contrast of the greenery, the turquoise water, and the red bridge is absolutely gorgeous. Part of the bridge is walkable on foot, so it’s easy to cross to the other side of the river and head to the vantage point where you can take in this incredible view.

Okuoikojo Station is so remote and free of light pollution that on weekends during the winter, Oigawa Railway runs special roundtrip trains to the station at night. Passengers spend an hour gazing at stars before the train heads back. This sounded really nice, too (it reminds me of Kenji Miyazawa’s story, “Night on the Galactic Railroad”), but it was fully booked that evening. Maybe some other time!

Incidentally, Ikawa Line is the only line in Japan that uses what’s called an Abt system, a rack-and-pinion railway that allows trains to go up or down steep inclines. The steam locomotive, the beautiful Okuikojo Station, and the Abt system all make train rides along the Oi River a fun trip worth exploring!

7. Shizuoka City (Other Highlights)

While I’ve already discussed various locations within Shizuoka City (such as Kunozan Toshogu and Miho no Matsubara), downtown Shizuoka has many other locations to sightsee.

One of the main spots is Sumpu Castle, which Tokugawa Ieyasu built. While only part of the castle remains today, the premises have been turned into a park, so it’s a very nice place to walk around, read the descriptions, and learn about history. The park is surrounded by a moat, and crossing the bridge to enter the park feels like you’re traveling back in time!

2023 happens to be a special year to commemorate Ieyasu, because NHK, Japan’s public broadcaster, is airing a year-long historical drama that focuses on him. Until I visited Shizuoka, I didn’t realize how strong his ties to this area were. Dozens of historical locations throughout the city highlighted their connections to Ieyasu, often by displaying posters of the drama.

Another highlight is Shizuoka Sengen Shrine, which is just a 10-minute walk away from Sumpu Castle. It’s a collection of seven shrines, each with distinct buildings that enshrine different gods.

One of the shrines sits atop a mountain, and behind it is a hiking trail. On that trail I found this fascinating set of stairs. I thought it could serve as a metaphor for the many different paths we can take before reaching a goal: shall we climb steep stairs quickly, go up more gradual steps slowly, or give up and and go back down?

Another place worth visiting is the Shizuoka City Museum of Art. It’s a compact but modern space atop a building in downtown Shizuoka, less than a 10-minute walk from Shizuoka station. I enjoyed an excellent exhibit on Sugiura Hisui, who was a pioneer in modern Japanese graphic design.

Setsubun was not the only seasonal event celebrated. In the lobby of my hotel was a wonderful display of dolls for Hinamatsuri (Doll Festival or Girls’ Day), which celebrates the health and development of young girls. I, too, grew up decorating hina dolls, but have never seen dolls hanging down like this. They are apparently called tsurushibina, and I was delighted to learn that Shizuoka is one of the prefectures that has this tradition. Because hina dolls tend to be expensive, family members and friends would apparently visit girls together, bringing pieces of cloth and sewing them to create dolls.

Shizuoka is a dynamic city with many different faces. Apparently it is also known for plastic models (major toy companies like Bandai have factories here). I was delighted to come across this cute sculpture in Shizuoka Station: a plastic model of payphones!

8. Yaizu City

Yaizu is a port city where a lot of the seafood Shizuoka is known for is caught or processed.

The Yaizu Fish Center is a big fish market with several eateries. The lunch I had there packed so many Yaizu / Shizuoka specialties: tuna and bonito sashimi, shirasu (whitebait), a kakiage of tiny sakura shrimp, and miso soup with crab.

The fish market had many gacha (capsule toy) machines or simple arcade games. That in itself isn’t surprising, but upon closer inspection, I found that the prizes were related to seafood! This included salmon roe, frozen lobsters, and even a 3kg tuna delivered to your home. The gacha machine that offered the tuna grand prize was expensive, costing a cool 1,000 yen to enter (although there are consolation prizes of seafood-related trinkets)!

I also loved this sign encouraging visitors to maintain a social distance worth the length of two bonitos (but I wonder how many people know how long bonitos are?!).

9. Yui (Shizuoka City)

Yui is another area in Shizuoka City that has its own distinct flavor (literally!). It’s known as the place where sakura shrimp are caught, and I very much enjoyed seeing quirky shrimp sculptures everywhere.

Yui is also part of the old Tokaido Road that connected Tokyo and Kyoto during the Edo period (early 1600s to late 1800s). It was a post station where travelers could rest, and has maintained historic buildings such as honjin (large local residences where traveling samurai stayed), some stores, and even water troughs for horses.

The main reason I was in Yui was to visit the Shizuoka City Tokaido Hiroshige Museum of Art. As Yui makes an appearance in Hiroshige’s masterpiece, 53 Stations of the Tokaido (a series of ukiyo-e highlighting post stations along the old Tokaido Road), this seemed like the perfect place to appreciate both Hiroshige and Shizuoka.

The museum was fairly small, but I loved the comprehensive permanent exhibit that explains the history and technique of ukiyo-e. It makes interesting comparisons to modern equivalents, describing how scenic ukiyo-es (such as 53 Stations of the Tokaido) were like travel guidebooks, while portraits of kabuki actors were like entertainment magazines.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Hiroshige prints on display as well–I love the subtle humor he exudes in the expressive body language of tiny people and animals.

One of the best parts of the museum was a small station that allows visitors to make their own ukiyo-e prints to take home. The design changes periodically, and on this day it was “Yui” and “Okitsu” from 53 Stations of the Tokaido Road.

10. (Bonus) Food

I thoroughly enjoyed the food in Shizuoka prefecture. This included seafood like sakura shrimp and shirasu, as well as agricultural products like strawberries. Local dishes like Shizuoka oden (stew with fishcakes) and Hamamatsu gyoza (fried dumplings) were memorable, too.

But one of the best discoveries for me was related to unagi (eel). I visited a lovely restaurant (left photo) where they use unagi raised with sashimi. It was so good! And there, I learned about snacks called “unagi bones” (right photo)–fried eel bones! I’d never had these before, and loved these crispy, calcium-rich snacks so much that I bought several packets (in salt and soy sauce flavors).

When I visited Hamamatsu, I also came across a cute dessert place called Unagiimo. I was surprised to learn that this store uses Japanese sweet potatoes grown with fertilizers made from unagi parts, such as bones and heads. (Its mascot, which reminded me of Slime from Dragon Quest, is in fact a sweet potato whose body is an eel.) I love how innovative and environmentally friendly this concept is!

One of the best known Shizuoka specialties, though, is probably green tea. I couldn’t resist visiting Nanaya, a cafe and store that specializes in matcha desserts. They’re well known for their tea-flavored ice cream, which runs the gamut from matcha (in SEVEN different levels, depending on how strong you want the matcha flavor to be) to hojicha (roasted green tea) to genmaicha (green tea with roasted brown rice). I tried genmaicha, black sesame, and matcha No. 7–the latter has a very rich, deep flavor, and definitely worth experiencing!

All in all, I had a wonderful three weeks in Shizuoka. I feel so lucky to have had the chance to explore the prefecture in depth, and would love to revisit again soon!