Stills from 40 years ago by Momoe Yamaguchi and Yukazu Miura / "The Dancing Girl of Izu"
On the first day of the Chinese New Year, Abu Travel Notebook wrote a scene behind "Detective Chinatown 3" (specific click: "Tang Detective 3" Tokyo Gameplay Revealed), which mentioned the 1974 movie "The Dancer of Izu", and said that we have travel customization users because it specially went to the Izu Peninsula to punch cards.
Later, idle, at home to revisit this old movie, still feel classic and enduring. Whether it is 15-year-old Momoe Yamaguchi or 22-year-old Yuwa Miura, they are full of a kind of exquisite and subtle youthful beauty that is different from the New Year's film, which is really invincible.
Seeing the mountains in the middle of the film, suddenly sad from it, this will be the time when the Izu Kawazu cherry blossoms are in full bloom, instead of the usual epidemic, maybe people are already there, and then a few Shizuoka strawberries, but now you can only continue to stay at home, then first write out this punch card route across the Izu Peninsula.
Yasunari Kawabata's travels
As we all know, "The Dancing Girl of Izu" is adapted from the novel of the same name by Japanese Nobel Prize winner Yasunari Kawabata, but many people may not understand that the film's own travel characteristics are precisely given by the author's own travel on the Izu Peninsula a hundred years ago, which also makes the route in this movie still very reproducible for today's tourists.
At the end of October 1918, the 19-year-old Yasunari Kawabata went to the Izu Peninsula for the first time and met the dancer of Izu halfway through, and for the next 10 years, he traveled to the Izu Peninsula almost every year, and often stayed for a while between Shuzenji Temple and Mount Amagi, the hot spring hotel "Yumotokan" on Yukaji Island, and his famous autobiographical novel "The Dancing Girl of Izu" was published eight years later in 1926.
Yushima Onsen Yumotokan, open-air hot spring pool by the stream / official announcement
In other words, the male student of Izu Junior High School (roughly equivalent to the preparatory department of the University of Tokyo) who came to Izu to travel from Tokyo to the film was himself a shadow of Yasuhito Kawabata's trip to Izu, and the route shown in the film was also the route he had taken and left a deep impression on.
However, to say that the travel of modern tourists, just according to the punch card route in the movie, is actually not complete, because it only discloses the second half of Yasushi Kawabata's trip to the Izu Peninsula a hundred years ago, and if you want to fully understand this route, you still have to start from Tokyo, after all, most foreign tourists go to Izu, that is also from Tokyo.
At that time, Yasunari Kawabata first took a train from Tokyo to Mishima Station, then changed trains, and continued to take the train south to a place called "Ojin Station" before starting the Izu Peninsula trekking tour.
Screenshot of travel notes from Tokyo to Mishima Station/Abu
Careful readers, seeing this may already have questions, how did Japan have trains from Tokyo to the Izu Peninsula in 1918?
Indeed, the same railway line that Yasunari Kawabata took from Tokyo to Mishima Station, which is now accessible to tourists, is the Tokaido Main Line, which opened in 1889. This line is not only one of the oldest railway lines in Japan, but it is also very long, starting from Tokyo and extending all the way to Kobe, nearly 600 kilometers away.
This Tokaido main line is also a proper slow train, and it takes nearly 9 hours to travel from Tokyo to Osaka, but if you have a "Youth Eighteen" JR Pass, it is perfect for walking and stopping from Kansai to kanto, and Abu Travel Notes has a friend who does it.
Even if you can take the faster Tokaido Shinkansen from Tokyo to Mishima Station, you won't be able to slowly enjoy the sea view outside the window on the train. Moreover, the fare of the Shinkansen ticket is not generally expensive, compared to the "Youth Eighteen" with only 2410 yen for a single day pass, you can take a shinkansen from Tokyo to Osaka for 14720 yen.
Whether you take the Shinkansen or the Tokaido Main Line to Mishima Station, you have to change trains, and to the south of it is the Izu Peninsula, and the railway line that you transfer to is the Hakone Railway Surudou Line, which ends at Shuzenji Station. It opened in 1898, but only in the year of Kawabata Yasunari ride, it was still a new line that had not been open for a long time, and it only extended to Ōin Station, so it was only there to get off.
Screenshot of travel notes from Mishima Station to Ōhito/Abu
Train/official photo on the Hakone Railway Surudou Line
Until now, Yasunari Kawabata takes the train to Izu, in fact, and in previous years, China's Qinghai-Tibet Railway was opened, and many domestic college students went to punch card tourism. Young people's curiosity about the world is always constant – when a new travel route appears, it always has to be a journey to get over it, a hundred years ago, and a hundred years later.
Ōhito hiked to Shimoda
Get off at Ōhito Station and the young Yasunari Kawabata officially begins a walking tour of the Izu Peninsula.
Refer to the following map:
Screenshot of the hiking route from Ōhito to Shimoda /Abu Travel Notes
Yasunari Kawabata first walked from Ōhito to Shuzenji Temple, soaked in the hot springs and continued south, then continued to the hot springs at Yumotokan on Yuka island, then went south, and met the dancers of Izu at the tea shop near the Amagiyama Tunnel, and then the group followed the valley to Yukano further south, and stayed for 2 days, then continued to hurry, and finally to the southerner end, Shimoda by the sea.
This route, even today, is also a very feasible outdoor hiking route, with really good scenery along the way and more fun than the film.
Shuzenji Temple
Ōhito Station is only 4 km from Shuzenji Temple, so after leaving the station, walk directly to Shuzenji Temple, there is no problem at all. Although the history of today's Shuzenji Temple can be traced back to the Heian Period, for modern people, Shuzenji Temple is famous, and it is really inseparable from the vacation of Japanese cultural people such as Yasunari Kawabata a hundred years ago.
The temple on the black and white photo has not changed much to this day / screenshot of Abu Travel Notes
The biggest impression of the custom users who have been to Shuzenji Temple, Abu Travel Notes, is that all kinds of posters and advertisements along the way will be related to "literati love", "directors, stars, and literary and artistic people creating here", and the fact is that if there is no blessing from a Japanese literary hero like Yasunari Kawabata, and a hot spring village with incomparably rich leisure and entertainment content such as Hakone and Lake Kawaguchi, the place of Shuzenji Temple will probably become monotonous.
At Shuzenji Temple, the greatest pleasure is the century-old hot spring inn where these literary heroes have stayed, and although the surrounding scenery is good, there is no more popular sightseeing content, which may also make it more quiet, which is more suitable for these creators to stay.
It is worth mentioning that there are three Shuzenji hot spring hotels, in addition to what we have written before, the one that starts at 6,000 yuan / night, and is often full of ASABA (specific click: The Secret Hot Spring Tour of the Japanese Female Poet Nearly a Hundred Years Ago), and the other two are Arai Inn and Kikuya.
Arai Inn/ Rakuten Official Announcement, founded in 1872
Compared with the extravagant ASABA, the Arai Inn and Kikuya, both of which have a history of hundreds of years, are relatively affordable and can appreciate the atmosphere of Kawabata Yasunari's time.
The Arai Inn, which we have arranged for customized users, was also once the hotel where Japanese cultural celebrities such as Ryunosuke Wasagawa, Ozaki Momiba, Izumi Kyoka, and Yokoyama Taikan who are familiar to Chinese. In this hotel, most of them are single-family accommodation, a building of three, can live five or six people, an average of about 1500 yuan per person per night.
After our customized users have lived, they have indeed feedback that the impression is particularly good, saying that it is compared to some internet celebrity high-priced hotels, or such old famous accommodations are more cost-effective, although it is a hundred-year-old building, but the interior is well maintained, and it is particularly spacious and comfortable to live in.
Another, The Yu Cloister Kikuya, famous for Natsume Soseki, is indeed a beautiful wooden large cloister in the store, and the atmosphere is excellent.
Large cloister/official picture of Kikuya
By the way, yugoshima is not mentioned in the film, but Yasunari Kawabata goes to Izu and especially favors Yumotokan there. It is located 5 km south from Shuzenji Temple. This Yumotokan features an open-air hot spring pool by the stream. It was also after soaking in the hot springs at Shuzenji Temple and hiking to Yubashima Island that Kawabata Yasunari discovered the Yumoto inn.
Whether it is Shuzenji Temple or Yushima Island, Kawabata Yasunari's activity is not large, that is, soaking in hot springs, and the film "Izu's Dancing Girl" also explains that the dancer Akatsu and her party have also been to Shuzenji Temple, but they have not yet met.
Amagi Pass Itokeno
From Yugoshima Island, we will go to the tea shop near the Amagi Tunnel to enter the itinerary of the movie "The Dancing Girl of Izu".
To be precise, the tea shop where the Tokyo students and the dancers met in the film is not far from the Amagi Pass, on the north side of today's Old Amagi Tunnel. Now there, it still has the appearance of the tea house of the day, but it has been changed to a resting place. In the forest promenade 1,000 meters north of the old Atenjo Tunnel, there is also a Kawabata Yasunari Literary Monument.
Screenshot of the Tunnel in the movie/The Dancing Girl of Izu
Old Asteric Tunnel / Miteco Official Annunciation
By the way, the most anticipated scenery of mountain travel, naturally is the prospect of the mountains slowly unfolding, although there are walking in the open place between the mountains, you can see the pictures of the distant mountains, but if you really follow the route in the story, the average tourist really can't do it.
If you must see the scenery of the mountains in the movie, Abu Travel Notes recommend one - from Mishima Station, take the Sadatsu Line to Shuzenji Temple, get off at the "Izu Nagaoka" station in the middle, there is an "Izu No Kuni" observatory nearby, if the weather is good, you can not only see the mountains of Izu, but also overlook Mt. Fuji.
10 minutes by car from Izu Nagaoka Station, 3 kilometers away from this observatory, not only the scenery is very good, the observation facilities are also very stylish, and even designed a VIP prospect private seat where you can lie down and rest, and the fee is not expensive. This is the pleasure of travel that Yasunari Kawabata can't enjoy, 100 years later.
On the Izu Observatory, grab a snack at the mountain view/retrip official photo
Back at Mount Amagai, in the film, the group goes further south to a place where they stay, which is Yukano in Kawazu-cho, and the student lives in a hot spring inn called "Fukuda Family".
This Futian home has indeed been operating until now, and the guest evaluation is very good. As a very small hot spring town in the valley, today's Yukano and the appearance shown in the film have hardly changed much, and from Mt. Amagi to Yusano, the road will also pass the famous Kawazu Seven Waterfalls, which is the filming location where the students and the dancing girl big brother chat in the film, which is only 3 kilometers away from Yutsuno.
Waterfall background in the movie / Screenshot of the Izu Dancer movie
Autumn /official announcement of Kawazu Seven Waterfalls
The Amagi-san area, which is also a famous production area of wasabi in Japan, is a tea house near Kawazu Seven Waterfalls, the most famous of which is the wasabi tea house that Abu Travel Notes wrote earlier (specific click: Many people go to Izu, and they do not choose Kawazu).
Assuming that you go to Izu in February, the early spring when Kawazu cherry blossoms are in full bloom, not only is the section from Kawazu Nana Waterfall to Yuzuno perfect for hiking and cherry blossom viewing, but 6 kilometers east from Yuzuno, it is the densest place where Izu Kawazu cherry blossoms are most densely packed, where there are larger pieces of Kawazu cherry blossoms to enjoy.
Shimoda and Oshima
Returning to the film, the students and Izu Maiko stayed for two nights in Yusano and continued south to Shimoda.
From Yuyuno to Shimoda, there is a distance of 20 kilometers, but this section, Abu Travel Notes feel that it is better to take a car, and there is not much to say along the way.
When they arrived in Shimoda, the group lived in shimoda old street, which is today's Shimoda Old Town, which is located between Shimoda Station and Shimoda Port.
What shimoda old street looks like /co-trip official announcement
In a way, the area is lackluster and hasn't done much new development, so visitors in 100 years may not be comfortable even if they live there.
Compared to the old town, Shimoda is worth mentioning in Suzaki, which is southeast of it.
This Susaki is a very concentrated location in the fishing village, Abu Travel Notes has arranged customized users to stay there, and also met a Chinese daughter-in-law married to Japan, because the Chinese, the communication is very smooth, the local is also very willing to do sightseeing business, and will also provide a fisherman experience of fishing in the sea.
Near Suzaki, there is also a 3-kilometer or so Section of the Yarmuzaki Seaside Promenade, along which you can see the scenery of the nearby cape, and because it is beautiful, it is famous throughout the Kanto region.
Every winter in January, Jawuzaki opens a large area of daffodil seaside walks/official photo
To the northeast of Shimoda Station, there is also an Izu Shirahama. It is similar to Kii-Shirahama in the Kansai region, both are large beaches with white sand, but the difference is that the clarity of The water in Kii is not as high as that of Izu, after all, the clarity of Izu's sea water is comparable to that of Okinawa.
It is also for this reason that every summer, Izu Shirahama will be crowded, if you do not suspect crowded must go, or have to pick a non-Japanese rest day to go there, or simply avoid the summer peak season, it is not impossible to consider.
Further southwest from Shimoda Station, take a bus to the end of the Izu Peninsula, which is the southernmost tip of Izu, Ishigaki.
Although this stretch of coastline does not have the large sandy beach of Shirahama, the coastal road is lined with beautiful small beaches and scattered with various seaside homestays.
Small beaches on the Tianniu Coast/official photo
Abu travel notes are very recommended for this paragraph, but also because of the seaside homestay here, several of which we have arranged for customized users, people who have stayed, have feedback that they must give praise to the homestay here, saying that it is particularly heartfelt.
As for the vicinity of Shimoda Station, there is no need to go too far, there is also a mountain cable car, after reaching the top of the mountain, you can see the entire Shimoda Bay, the most beautiful thing on the mountain is when the hydrangea blooms in June, which will not only be the off-season of Izu tourism, but also because there are many hydrangea flowers planted near the observatory.
In addition, the Shimoda Aquarium is also worth a visit, the aquarium has an arrangement to take a kayak, with the dolphins to swim on the water experience, after all, it is a rare domestic way to meet the game, recommended.
Finally, let's talk about the Oshima Island, the hometown of the Izu Dancers and her party in the film.
Open-air hot spring overlooking the sea / official announcement of Izu Oshima Island
On the map, it is closer to the Izu Peninsula, but in fact, it is administratively geographically an outlying island under the jurisdiction of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. In the film, it is unknown whether the group of Tokyo students went directly back to Oshima from Shimoda, but today, from Shimoda to Oshima, there is no direct ship, and the closest location of the Izu Peninsula to Oshima is not Oshima, but Ito on the eastern coastline.
As a modern visitor 100 years from Shimoda to Oshima, consider taking the "Izu Dancer" train and heading north along the east coast of the Izu Peninsula to Ito, then changing to a cruise ship to Oshima. In February, the big island, which specializes in camellia oil, coincides with the season when the camellia flowers are in full bloom. In addition, you can take a boat from the big island to the smaller Shigejima Island and soak in the hot springs while watching the stars.