Tide Pools

The best way I could think to celebrate the end of my Tuesday night class was to head to the beach! I drove Dina and Katie to Jogashima Island. Sonia and I went to Jogashima Island a few weeks ago. When I was telling Katie about our experience, I realized that Sonia and I didn’t actually explore Jogashima Park. Looking at the photo I took of Goggle Maps, we explored Joga Island, not Jogashima Park, the area in green.

It took us about 45 minutes to drive down to the island from Ikego. Parking was very easy because it was a week day. We parked and then set off to explore! The park had nicely paved trails with steps and lined with hydrangeas. They are only starting to bloom. If I have time, I’ll need to return next month!

Beyond the trail, we found the lighthouse, waves, and tide pools. It was beautiful. The lighthouse was very futuristic looking.

I could have watched this wave pool for hours.

Here is a video. I was mesmerized.

The view of the tide pool to the left.

Dina took us over to a small little tide pool she found. There were so many hermit crabs who appeared to be working so hard!

We continued to walk along the coast. Enjoying the sea breeze and brine smell in the air.

We then walked over to where Sonia and I discovered the rock bridge. Just as lovely as it was in April.

And many more tide pools.

It was fun to share a beautiful and remote place with my local friends. I hope we have time to take the journey when you visit. Going to Jogashima Island is a nice counter balance to the hustle and bustle of Tokyo. And you know what they say, on a clear day, you can see Mt. Fuji.

Jogashima Park is located at the Southern tip of the Miura Peninsula. I am the blue dot in Zushi and Jogashima Park is the red marker at the bottom.

It has been on my list of places to visit for a couple months. We had another glorious spring day that demanded an outdoor exploration. I was able to convince Sonia to go with me and she convinced me we should take the train and bus vice driving. This would be my first Japanese bus experience!

We met in Yokosuka and headed south on the train and then further south on the bus. Here was a shot from the bus ride. To ride the bus, you can use the same pass that is used to ride the train. You just have to remember to swipe it when you board. We missed that the first time and the driver adjusted our fairs when we exited the bus.

I forgot to screen shot the trip down, here is the shot from the trip home.

The grey stops are the bus stops. The bus wasn’t very intimidating after all. Pretty simple. Google Maps once again helped me navigate there and back without issues!

Jogashima Park was beautiful! The views of the water and horizon were impressive.

The trails were a combination of pavement, stairs, and dirt. Overall, it was very easy to navigate the park with the many cute signs directing the way.

Besides the Japanese Seahawks, we also saw the country’s largest earthworm!

In several places along our hike, the water was so clear!

Simultaneously, the rock formations made me turn into a little bit of a Science geek on Sonia. She laughed and was a good sport about my teachings. These guys paid me little attention…

Maybe my favorite picture of the day.

We continued on our hike to the lighthouse and enjoyed more amazing views and lunch along the way.

For lunch, we ate ramen and black vanilla ice cream. Whitebait (whitefish) was also a flavor. Gross. Almost as gross as corn ice cream. The black vanilla ice cream was very good. It tasted like vanilla!

After lunch, we walked around a little more and found more beautiful rocks and a shrine. Also, on a clear day, we would have been able to see Mt. Fuji across the water.

Finally, one last set of stairs took us up to the lighthouse.

We shopped at a couple cute local stores as we headed to the bus stop. We wondered if it would be difficult to find the bus…. nope. Not too difficult in the least!