A few years ago in Izu
Izu peninsula is located some 60 km west of Tokyo, south of Mt. Fuji.
Shimoda, near its southern tip, is where Admiral Perry first landed to open
Japan to the outside world. The village of Anjiro where much of Clavell's
"Shogun" is set lies in eastern Izu.
This picture of Shintaro and me was taken in Iwachi Onsen, a fishing village on the
Matsuzaki coast in southwestern Izu, my favourite part of the peninsula.
It's a very quiet part of Izu, offers some stunning scenery and breathtaking
sunsets over the Pacific in the west and good views of Mt. Fuji in the north.
The bath towel I'm wearing here bears the inscription "One square metre
of Bavaria" and was a gift from one of my uncles when I got married.

View of Matsuzaki coast in Izu.
In areas where there was little flat land farmers used to contruct terraces
using dry stone walls. Many of these have now become abandoned and often
were absorbed by forests or planted with trees.
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